Is it allowed to exceed the floor area ratio? How much can be built over?

Hello everyone,

we are currently preparing for laying pavement, driveways, etc.
Unlike the building application, the planning and idea have changed.
Initially, only 2 parking spaces with 3m width were specified.

Now we want a garage on the left side of the house measuring 3.60 x 9.50 plus a parking space in front of it with 5m length.
Additionally, we want to make another parking space on the right side of the house measuring 3 x 5m.
Our terrace will be 40 sqm in size.

The documents state that the floor area ratio, that manageable area, is only 0.3.
But I am well above that.
Our plot is 436 sqm and the house has a built-up area of 103 sqm.

Now I read somewhere that driveways etc. up to a maximum floor area ratio of 0.8 are even permitted.

We are also using eco-paving.

Question, are we allowed to build so much or not?

We have WA1




This is the development plan.

What also caught our attention is that our plot has the field number 752. And in the applications, for the floor area ratio, instead of using 436 sqm, 752 sqm was calculated and nobody noticed, neither the city nor the building authority.

I assume this is about Hesse? Although I think in this context it might not even matter? To my knowledge, according to the Baunutzungsverordnung, you are allowed to exceed the floor area ratio by fifty percent (but up to a maximum total of 0.8). Try searching for "Grundflächenzahl Hessen Außenanlagen" on Google. You should directly find as the first search result a PDF ("(Grundflächenzahl) und Geschossflächenzahl (Geschossflächenzahl) - Stadtplanungsamt Frankfurt") from the Stadtplanungsamt Frankfurt.

Otherwise, §19 Abs. 4 of the Baunutzungsverordnung is your friend.

So, with a fixed floor area ratio of 0.3, you would be allowed to build up to 0.45 with appropriately permitted installations according to the regulation. For everything beyond that, you need to apply for an exception from the provisions of the development plan at the city.

What we also noticed is that our property has the cadastral number 752. And in the applications, the floor area ratio was calculated not with 436m² but with 752m², and no one noticed it, neither the city nor the building authority.

Do you believe in a god? Then go to the nearest house of prayer and ask Him to let it stay that way.
Jokes aside, it probably (hopefully) won’t be that bad.

Question, are we allowed to build that much or not?

No.

I had read somewhere that driveways etc. up to a maximum floor area ratio of 0.8 would even be permitted.

It should correctly say: … can be permitted. That is the upper limit up to which the authority can grant approvals in special exceptional cases.

We are also using eco-paving.

That doesn’t matter for the floor area ratio calculation and is required anyway by the development plan.

I don’t know if you ever posted plans of your construction project; searching through 350 of your posts is too tedious for me, so here are a few questions:
Is the house already built?
Did you build according to §56 HBO (exemption from approval) or §57 HBO?
Did you submit the open space plan required by the development plan?
Do you want to notify the municipality about the changes?
Are the privilege conditions for setback areas (new coined term!) from the garage observed (<25m² wall area)?
Without a plan, it’s also hard for me to assess whether you are even allowed to create a second parking space under the conditions of your development plan excerpt.

Hi, so

Yes, the house is already built and the move-in was in March this year.

§56, the construction was exempt from approval.

The open space plan including the required marking and calculation of which plant occurs where was submitted.

I called the city and asked how it looks if you want to design it differently. As long as you stay within this floor area number and permanently green 25% of the front yard, everything is fine.

Yes, we could just about comply with the 25m² wall area.

In the development plan that I attached above, it says something about parking spaces at a property boundary, but further down it says that parking spaces in the front yard area are permitted, so it does not say only in one place.

A neighbor, for example, has completely paved everything, a big house, a 6x9m garage and in front as well as on the side everything paved, a large terrace around the house etc. and he has just 20m² more property.

He just said to me, "I don't care," somehow I have to get into the garage and into the garden (on the side of the house where everything is paved).

§56, construction was permit-free.

Then no one had to check either. The builder and the draft author are solely responsible for compliance with public law regulations. If you now deviate from the draft author's plans, he is also out.

As long as you stay within this floor area ratio

You are already not doing that now.

so it does not say only at one point.

Yes, but with a total width of 6m. As I said, without a plan you can only consider my comment as a mnemonic aid. Since you are probably already an outlaw with the current condition, those few square meters maybe no longer matter, especially since there is nothing to fear from the neighbor either, as he has also already entered illegality.

Driveways and parking spaces can also be designed (partially) permeable to show good faith in the above situation. Drivable plastic grass grids with 80-90% grass content and, if necessary, only the tire tracks paved with proper cobblestones. The floor area ratio also serves the purpose of somehow maintaining a quality of life in the residential area, which suffers when every square meter of green space is concreted over.