How To Measure Premises Distance In Community Pharmacy

Premises registration of community pharmacies come with so many laws. One of them is that the shop should be 200 meters from any other premises. The other is that the shop must be more than 30 square metres (SQM) if retail or 50 SQM if wholesale.

Many pharmacists who want to open new premises find it hard to accurately estimate this measurement. However, this post will provide basic tools you can use.

How To Measure 200 Meters

If there is another premises within the vicinity, chances that the pharmacists council of Nigeria (PCN) must confirm the new premises is more than 200 meters apart. They will come with their official measuring devices. If they find out that the distance is not up to, the new premises will be asked to relocate.

Read Also: Pharmacy registration

Nobody will want to experience that after paying for shop rent. To avoid paying for shop rent and then losing out of registration with PCN, it is better to measure it before renting the shop.

When PCN measures the walking distance between premises and not the distance between them. What this means is that two premises may be behind each other but their walking distance is more than 200 meters.

To find out, get your own measuring tape. But this method is too cumbersome. It means you need to be walking up the street with a measuring tape. You need a simple method. One easy method to use is Google map.

Google map

Android

Step 1: Add the first point

a. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Maps app.

b. Touch and hold anywhere on the map. You'll see a red pin appear.

c. At the bottom, tap the name of the place.

d. On the place’s page, scroll down and choose Measure distance.

Step 2: Add the next point or points

a. Move the map so that the black circle, or crosshairs, is on the next point you want to add.

b. At the bottom right, tap Add +

c. Add points until you're done.

Step 3: Get the distance

At the bottom, you’ll see the total distance in miles (mi) or kilometers (km).

If the old premises is not on Google map, just go to the premises. Mark the location on the map as your starting position. The name given to that place on Google map will pop up. Go to the new shop you want to rent. Locate it on the map. Make it your present location and the other premises as your other location. Check the distance.

Google map is also available on iOS and Windows OS. Now there are many other apps on the internet for measuring distance. You can choose any that suits you. This is to avoid the problem with estimating with your eyes as many do.

How To Measure Shop SQM

According to PCN, the shop size must be more than 30 SQM for retail and 50 SQM for wholesale. This includes the office and other rooms attached. To measure, you need to use a tape. Too cumbersome if you ask me. Let's make life easy.

Read Also: Pharmacist registration for NYSC

There are many apps on the internet that can help you measure the length and breadth of a room. Better than your tape. Just download the app and follow their instructions. Majority use GPS location but few use cameras to do the measurement.

If you use an app that only gives you the measurement without the calculation, worry no more. Set the app to measure in netter. If it measures in another unit, convert the figures to meter. Measure the length and breadth. Multiple both and you have your SQM measurements.

Now you have it. Easy ways to estimate the distance between two premises and measurement of the size of the shop.