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floor area is a defined term in the New York City Zoning Resolution glossary (§12-10). It is referenced in 100 ZR sections. Last amended December 5, 2024.
General Definition “Floor area” is the sum of the gross areas of the several floors of a building or buildings, measured from the exterior faces of exterior walls or from the center lines of walls separating two buildings. In particular, floor area includes: (a) basement space, except as specifically excluded in this definition; (b) elevator shafts or stairwells at each floor, except as specifically excluded in this definition; (c) floor space in penthouses; (d) attic space (whether or not a floor has been laid) providing structural headroom of eight feet or more; (e) floor space in gallerias, interior balconies, mezzanines or bridges; (f) floor space in open or roofed bridges, breeze ways or porches, if more than 50 percent of the perimeter of such bridge, breeze way or porch is enclosed, and provided that a parapet not higher than 3 feet, 8 inches, or a railing not less than 50 percent open and not higher than 4 feet, 6 inches, shall not constitute an enclosure; (g) any other floor space used for dwelling purposes, no matter where located within a building, when not specifically excluded; (h) floor space in accessory buildings, except for floor space used for accessory mechanical equipment; (i) floor space used for accessory off-street loading berths in excess of 200 percent of the amount required by the applicable district regulations; (j) floor space that is not otherwise exempt pursuant to this Section and is, or is made, inaccessible within a building; (k) floor space in exterior balconies or in open or roofed terraces if more than 67 percent of the perimeter of such balcony or terrace is enclosed and provided that parapets, railings or safety guards, whether applied singly, or in combination, shall not constitute an enclosure when meeting the following criteria: (1) parapets shall not exceed four feet in height; (2) railings shall not exceed 4 feet, 6 inches, and shall be at least 50 percent open for the portion that exceeds four feet in height; and (3) safety guards shall not exceed 10 feet in height and shall be at least 90 percent transparent for the portion that exceeds four feet in height. In addition, where such balcony or terrace has a roofed portion above it, there shall be an opening that is not less than 40 percent of the height between the bottom of the roof and the finished floor level of such balcony. For the purposes of such calculation, exterior building walls on adjoining #zoning lots abutting# an open or roofed terrace shall not constitute an enclosure. A sun control device that is accessible for purposes other than for maintenance shall be considered a balcony; and (l) any other floor space not specifically excluded. However, the floor area of a building shall not include: (1) cellar space, except where such space is used for dwelling purposes. Cellar space used for retailing shall be included for the purpose of calculating requirements for accessory off-street parking spaces, accessory bicycle parking spaces and accessory off-street loading berths; (2) elevator or stair bulkheads, accessory water tanks, or cooling towers, except that such exclusions shall not apply in R2A Districts; (3) uncovered steps; (4) attic space (whether or not a floor has been laid) providing structural headroom of less than eight feet; (5) floor space in open or roofed bridges, breeze ways or porches, provided that not more than 50 percent of the perimeter of such bridge, breeze way or porch is enclosed, and provided that a parapet not higher than 3 feet, 8 inches, or a railing not less than 50 percent open and not higher than 4 feet, 6 inches, shall not constitute an enclosure; (6) floor space used for accessory off-street parking spaces provided in any story: (i) up to 300 square feet per single- or two-family residence, on zoning lots where individual parking spaces accessory to residential uses are provided; (ii) within group parking facilities located not more than 23 feet above #curb level, except where such floor space used for accessory# parking is contained within a public parking garage; or (iii) within automated parking facilities located not more than 40 feet above #curb level, except where such floor space used for accessory# parking is contained within a public parking garage; (7) floor space used for accessory off-street loading berths, up to 200 percent of the amount required by the applicable district regulation; (8) floor space used for accessory mechanical equipment. Such exclusion shall also include the minimum necessary floor space to provide for necessary maintenance and access to such equipment. For the purposes of calculating floor space used for mechanical equipment, building segments on a single zoning lot may be considered to be separate buildings; (9) floor space in exterior balconies or in open or roofed terraces provided that not more than 67 percent of the perimeter of such balcony or terrace is enclosed and provided that parapets, railings or safety guards, whether applied singly or in combination, shall not constitute an enclosure when meeting the following criteria: (i) parapets shall not exceed four feet in height; (ii) railings shall not exceed 4 feet, 6 inches, and shall be at least 50 percent open for the portion that exceeds four feet in height; and (iii) safety guards shall not exceed 10 feet in height and shall be at least 90 percent transparent for the portion that exceeds four feet in height. In addition, where such balcony or terrace has a roofed portion above it, there shall be an opening that is not less than 40 percent of the height between the bottom of the roof and the finished floor level of such balcony, For the purposes of such calculation, exterior building walls on adjoining #zoning lots abutting# an open or roofed terrace shall not constitute an enclosure. A sun control device that is accessible for purposes other than for maintenance shall be considered a balcony; (10) floor space within stairwells: (i) at each floor of buildings containing residences developed or enlarged after April 16, 2008, that are greater than 125 feet in height, provided that: (a) such stairwells are located on a story containing residences; (b) such stairwells are used as a required means of egress from such residences; (c) such stairwells have a minimum width of 44 inches; (d) such floor space excluded from floor area shall be limited to a maximum of eight inches of stair and landing width measured along the length of the stairwell enclosure at each floor; and (e) where such stairwells serve non-residential uses on any floor, or are located within multi-level dwelling units, the entire floor space within such stairwells on such floors shall count as floor area; (ii) at each floor of buildings developed or enlarged after April 28, 2015, that are 420 feet or greater in height, provided that: (a) such stairwells serve a space with an occupancy group other than Group R-2, as classified in the New York City Building Code, that is located at or above a height of 420 feet; and (b) such floor space excluded from floor area shall be limited to: (a) the 25 percent of stair and landing width required by the New York City Building Code which is provided in addition to the stair and landing widths required by such Code for means of egress; or (b) the one stairwell required by the New York City Building Code which is provided in addition to the stairwells required by such Code for means of egress. For the purposes of this paragraph, such additional stairwell shall include the stair and landings as well as any walls enclosing the stair and landings; (11) floor space used for the storage of equipment by the Fire Department pursuant to the New York City Fire Code, Section 511.7 (Storage space for pre-positioned department equipment) in buildings that are 420 feet or greater in height; (12) qualifying exterior wall thickness; (13) floor space in a qualifying rooftop greenhouse; (14) floor space on a sun control device, where such space is inaccessible other than for maintenance; (15) floor space within a fully electrified building or an ultra low energy building, of an amount equivalent to five percent of the floor area located within such building, and exclusive of any floor space otherwise excluded from floor area; (16) floor space in buildings containing multiple dwelling residences allocated to building amenities, corridors, refuse storage or disposal, or access to elevated ground floor dwelling units that is provided in accordance with the provisions of Section 23- 23, inclusive; (17) floor space in Quality Housing buildings that was exempted pursuant the Quality Housing Program, as such program existed prior to December 5, 2024.
100 sections reference this term. Showing first 100.
"floor area" is a term defined in §12-10 of the New York City Zoning Resolution glossary. General Definition “Floor area” is the sum of the gross areas of the several floors of a building or buildings, measured from the exterior faces of exterior walls or from the center lines of walls separating two buildings. In particular, floor area includes: (a) basement space, e
The term "floor area" is referenced in 100 sections of the NYC Zoning Resolution. Every section that uses this term must be read in light of the §12-10 definition.
Yes. "floor area" is an officially-defined term in §12-10 of the NYC Zoning Resolution maintained by the NYC Department of City Planning. The authoritative source is zr.planning.nyc.gov.
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