Floor Area Ratio (FAR) or Floor Space Index (FSI) is the ratio of the total floor area of buildings

on a certain location to the size of the land of that location, or the limit imposed on such a ratio. The Floor Area Ratio is the total building square footage (building area) divided by the site size square footage (site area). As a formula: Floor Area Ratio = (Total covered area on all floors of all buildings on a certain plot)/(Area of the plot) Thus, an FSI of 2.0 would indicate that the total floor area of a building is two times the gross area of the plot on which it is constructed, as would be found in a multiple-story building.

FSI Calculation Example

In Bangalore we call Floor Area Ratio (FAR) or In Mumbai floor space index (FSI) is the ratio of the total floor area of buildings on a certain location to the size of the land of that location, or the limit imposed on such a ratio. As a formula: Floor area ratio = (Total covered area on all floors of all buildings on a certain plot)/(Area of the plot) Thus, an FSI of 2.0 would indicate that the total floor area of a building is two times the gross area of the plot on which it is constructed, as would be found in a multiple-story building. PREMIUM FSI:

Premium FSI introduced to permit extra built-up space in Chennai Metropolitan Area
Jayaraj Sivan, TNN Sep 11, 2009, 03.47am IST

CHENNAI: It's bonanza time for builders and developers in the city. After slashing infrastructure and amenity charges, the state government has introduced premium floor space index (FSI is the ratio of land area to built-up area) in the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) with a view to permitting builders construct extra floor space against payment of a premium. According to a government order passed on Wednesday, the premium FSI is applicable to the entire CMA limits, comprising 1,189 sq km area falling under Chennai corporation, 16

municipalities, 20 town panchayats and 214 village panchayats in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts. The Red Hills reservoir catchment region and areas adjoining water bodies maintained by the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board for drinking water purpose have been exempted from paying premium FSI. Premium FSI was announced in the second master plan for CMA, released in September 2008, but it has come into effect only on September 9, 2009, the date of issue of the GO. FSI can be availed on all plots abutting roads that have a minimum width of 30 feet. The premium FSI for plots abutting roads that have a width of 30 feet or more and below 40 feet is 20% of the normal FSI. For plots that abut roads that are 40 feet to below 60 feet, the premium FSI is 30%, and for plots that abut roads having a width of 60 feet or more, it is 40%. For example, a person who proposes to avail premium FSI on 1,000 sq ft land abutting 40 feet road (which has a normal FSI of 1.5) can construct up to 1,950 sq ft instead of the normal 1,500 sq ft. However, a maximum cap of one FSI has been fixed for the premium FSI. Otherwise, the promoter cannot avail a premium FSI of more than 1,000 sq ft on land measuring 1,000 sq ft. Regarding payment, the promoter who avails one sq metre premium FSI on land eligible for a normal FSI of 1.5, has to pay the guideline value of 0.66 sq metres of land as premium FSI charges. In case the land is eligible for two FSI, for every one sq metre of premium FSI the promoter avails, he has to pay a guideline value of 0.5 sq metre of land as premium FSI fees. If the land is eligible for a normal FSI of 2.5, then the promoter has to pay a guideline value of 0.4 sq metre of land for every one sq metre premium FSI he builds. The guideline value fixed by the registration department is applicable for calculating the charges. The applicant has to remit the premium FSI charges upfront to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) before getting planning permission for the project. The amount thus collected from the promoters will be remitted in a separate government account, which will be utilised for infrastructure development in that area, the GO said. Since the premium FSI has not been introduced with retrospective effect, all building violations which have taken place in the city in the past will not stand to gain from it. Reacting to the GO, Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India's Tamil Nadu chapter president Prakash Challa said, "It will help builders exploit fully land in the city where price is prohibitively high."

The Development Regulations of the Second Master Plan for Chennai, defines Floor Space Index as under: Floor Space Index (FSI) means the quotient obtained by dividing the total covered area (plinth) on all floors excepting the areas specifically exempted under these regulations (given in Annexure XVIII) by the plot area which includes part of the site used as exclusive passage. FSI = Total covered area on all floors/Plot area In other words,FSI is the ratio of the Plinth area in a Project to the Land Area. It helps you understand the maximum extent of the floor area that could be constructed in a space (Plot).

Classification of Buildings, Land Use Zones and FSI Buildings are generally classified into ordinary buildings- less than 30 height, Special Buildings- less than 50 height and Multi-Storeyed buildings- above 50. All lands are categorised into 10 Zones like Primary Residential Zones, Mixed Residential Zones, and Commercial Zones etc. The FSI is different for different category of building and for different land use areas. We are concerned here mainly with the Ordinary Buildings in CMA areas in Primary Residential Zones. The FSI for these ordinary buildings are 1.5. This means, the total Plinth Area shall not exceed 1.5 times the plot area in which the construction takes place.Of course, the calculation must also take into account the following:

1. 2. 3. 4.

Plot Coverage Set back space Height of the building Abutting Road width etc

Plot Coverage: At the ground floor, the constructed area coverage, shall not exceed 70% of the Land area. Setback space: Front, side and rear set back space shall be allowed as per Regulations. Height of the building: Shall not exceed 1.5 times the width of the road or a maximum of 9 metres In view of these restrictions on calculation of the FSI, in many cases it may not be possible to achieve the permissible FSI. There are some exemptions, however, that are detailed in the Regulations that are not taken into account while calculating the FSI.They are: ANNEXURE XVIII [DR No. 2(21)& 2(34)] Spaces excluded from FSI and Coverage Computation 1 The following shall not be counted towards FSI and plot coverage computation: (1) Areas covered by stair-case rooms and lift rooms and passages thereto above the top most storey, architectural features, chimneys, elevated tanks (provided its height below the tank from the floor does not exceed 1.5 metre.) and WC (area not exceeding 10 sq.m) (2) Staircase and lift rooms and passage thereto in the stilt parking floor (3) Lift wells in all the floors (4) Area of fire escape staircases and cantilever fire escape passages. (5) Area of the basement floor / floors used for parking (6) Area of the stilt parking floor provided its clear height (between lower floor and the bottom of the roof beam) does not exceed 3.0m and it is open on sides, and used for parking

(7) Area of structures exclusively for, accommodating machineries for water treatment plant and effluent treatment plant proposed with clearance from Tamil Nadu Pollution control Board, (8) Areas covered by service ducts, and garbage shaft. (9) Area of Balcony / Service verandah to an extent of 5 percent of each dwelling unit area in case of residential buildings and 5 percent of room area in the case of hotels and lodges. (10) Porches /Canopies / porticos (11) Service floor with height not exceeding 1.5 metres (12) The following services and incidental structures necessary to the principal use subject to a maximum of 10 percent of the total floor area. (a) Area of one office room not exceeding 15 sq.m for co-operative housing society or apartment/ building owners association in each block (b) Servant's/drivers bath room and water closet (not exceeding 20 sq.m.) for each block in cases of special building, Group development, and Multistoreyed Building at ground floor /stilt parking floor (c) Gymnasium of 150sq.m in floor area (d) Area covered by (i) Metre room in Ground floor or stilt parking floor (ii) Air-conditioning plant room in basement or ground floor (iii) Electrical room (conforming to Annexure XXIV) in Ground floor or Stilt parking floor (iv) Watchmen or caretaker booth/room in Ground floor / Stilt parking floor (v) Pump room in Ground floor or stilt parking floor. (vi) Generator room in basement floor or ground floor or stilt floor. (vii) Lumber room in basement floor or ground floor. (viii) AHU in all the floors. (ix) Electrical /switch gear rooms in all the floors. (e) Area of one room in ground floor of residential and commercial Multistoreyed building, Special buildings, Group developments for separate letterboxes. Violation of these rules may invite penal actions that may include demolition. Achievable FSI affects the value of the property The market value of properties of almost same size in the same locality with different abutting road width will differ widely. Higher the abutting road width, higher the rate the property will fetch. This is so because, higher FSI could be achieved in a property having wider abutting road width, which in turn means more income by way of increased floor area that can be constructed and sold.