Floor Area Ratio

From PlanningWiki

Floor Area Ratio (FAR), also called Floor to Area Ratio, is a measure often used to determine the intensity of land use on a given parcel or area of land. To determine FAR, the total floor area of all buildings or structures on a lot divided by the total area of the lot.

A higher FAR signifies a higher intensity of land use, and a lower FAR likewise signifies a lower intensity of land use. FAR is increased as a building occupies a greater portion of the parcel, or when additional floors are added.

Examples

The following are examples for computing FAR

Parcel size	Building footprint	Number of stories	Resulting FAR
100 sq. meters	25 sq. meters	4	1.0
100 sq. meters	100 sq. meters	1	1.0
200 sq. meters	100 sq. meters	3	1.5

External Link

• FAR Illustrated - A series of maps and pictures illustrating various Floor Area Ratios.