Built FAR

Built FAR is arithmetic on public records: the floor area of what stands on a lot today, divided by the lot area the Department of Finance carries for it. Against the district's maximum FAR it yields the fastest first-pass signal in NYC property analysis — headroom, fullness, or overbuild — before any deeper work begins.

Its honesty depends on its inputs. Recorded floor area can lag alterations or carry data-entry artifacts, and the lot-area denominator can mislead where a zoning-lot merger has changed what the rules measure against. An implausible built FAR — far above the maximum, or absurdly low for the visible building — is a records question before it is a zoning finding.