Fact Sheet 10

Floor Space Ratio

Refer to Clause 4.4 and 4.5 of draft Newcastle LEP 2011 and the Floor Space Ratio Maps. Limits on floor space ratio for buildings are not new for Newcastle - controls were previously found in the Development Control Plan (DCP).

Floor Space Ratio (FSR)

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. It controls how much floor area (bulk) can be built on a parcel of land.

Purpose of FSR
The purpose of the FSR is to ensure that any development built on a parcel of land is appropriate in its size and scale to the land

Calculation of FSR
FSR= gross floor area divided by total site area

Gross floor area

The gross floor area (has its own definition) and is measured from the internal face of the external walls within each level of the building but excludes a number of things such as lifts, stairs, basement, carparking etc.

Example of calculating FSR

For a one storey house: if site area is 500m2 a 0.5:1 FSR means that 50% of the site will be built on i.e. 250m2. For a two-storey house: if site area is 500m2 a 0.5:1 FSR means that both levels (ground floor and 1st floor) cannot exceed 250m2 in floor area. It takes up less of the overall site area.

(image taken from Mosman DCP)