Understanding Floor Area Ratio

Floor area ratio far is the measurement of a building s floor area in relation to the size of the lot parcel that the building is located on.

Understanding floor area ratio. A two story building on the same lot where each floor was 500 square feet. Floor area ratio or far is a critical decisive element for the legal construction of any residential or non residential building. Understanding floor area ratio is a basic requirement for real estate development. Understanding floor area ratio far a build out analysis can include residential dwelling units and or commercial or mixed use buildings.

A condition that the total floor area ratio could be increased far bonus if one provides more open space for public use or provide more car parking within range of a specified mass transit station. It is a tool used by the planning body of any city or town to identify densely constructed areas from the others. In layman s terms far is the total floor area including all the space covered by the floors in the building divided by the total area of the land on which the building set. In this article wealthhow tells you how to calculate floor area ratio and equips you with a calculator for the same purpose.

Download original report pdf grant of power for the purpose of promoting health safety morals or the general welfare of the community the legislative body of every municipality is hereby empowered to regulate and restrict the height number of stories and size of buildings and other structures the percentage of lot that may be occupied the size of yards courts and. The floor area ratio of a 1 000 square foot building with one story situated on a 4 000 square foot lot would be 0 25x. The floor space ratio of buildings on a site is the ratio of the gross floor area of all buildings within the site to the site area once we ve obtained the definition of floor space ratio we need to consider the definitions of gross floor area and site area which are referenced above. As a formula far gross floor area area of the plot.

The strict definition of far is the ratio of the total building floor area to the size of the plot. Understanding the basics of far will allow you to determine how many square feet can be developed on a property or if there is any room for expansion of a current building on a lot. The terms can also refer to limits imposed on such a ratio through zoning. Although the build out concept is the same the way density is specified for commercial buildings is often different from how it is specified for residential buildings.

Far is expressed as a decimal number and is derived by dividing the total area of the building by the total. However such a description will fly over the heads of most people so it helps to simplify it.