Which element is excluded from FAR calculations?

• A. Structured parking
• B. Nonresidential floor area
• C. Residential floor area
• D. Total site area

Answer: (A)

FAR measures how densely a site is used by comparing the building’s floor area to the site area. It counts floor areas that contribute to occupancy, such as residential and nonresidential space, but excludes spaces that aren’t habitable or occupiable. Structured parking fits that exclusion because it is a parking structure for vehicles, not usable interior space. Including it would skew the density metric without reflecting usable space on the site. The site area remains the denominator in the calculation, but it’s not counted as floor area. So, structured parking is the element excluded from FAR calculations.