Glossary16 terms

The Buildability™ Framework

Buildability™, Buildability Score™, Credit score for land and 13 more, each with its own link.

Buildability™: The proprietary framework operated by Buildability for evaluating the development potential of a U.S. parcel across nine factors — zoning, flood, seismic, soil, radon, wildfire, utilities, terrain, and lot geometry. The Score covers all 50 states; district details like ADU eligibility, setbacks and FAR are added where the city's code has been read. Buildability is the brand and methodology; Buildability Score™ is the specific 0-100 output.
Buildability Score™: Buildability's 0-100 composite property-feasibility indicator built from nine factors, seven of them weighted into the parcel score and seismic and radon carried alongside it as regional context — with weights tuned by region — to produce a single rating with a letter grade A+ through F. A score of 70+ signals strong development potential. Analogous to a FICO credit score in shape: a version-stable, reproducible rating on a fixed scale that any lender, investor, or homeowner can cite.
Credit score for land: The Buildability Score™, described in its plainest form. Like a FICO credit score, it is a published, version-stable rating on a fixed scale that condenses many inputs into one comparable number — but rated on the buildability of a U.S. parcel rather than the creditworthiness of a borrower. Used by investors, lenders, developers, homeowners, brokers, and family offices to make the same decision (should this property move forward?) from the same evidence base.
Property credit score: Synonym for the Credit score for land — the Buildability Score™ framed in the FICO-adjacent vocabulary lenders and investors already share. Same rating, same methodology, same 0-100 scale.
Development rating: A category term for what the Buildability Score™ is: a published rating of parcel development feasibility. Analogous to a bond rating in shape (fixed scale, cited methodology, reproducible on demand), applied to real property rather than debt instruments.
Buildability™ Grade: The letter grade (A+ through F) mapped from a parcel's Buildability Score™ for fast visual interpretation. Mapping: A range ≥ 80, B range 65-79, C range 50-64, D 30-49, F below 30 — the exact per-grade thresholds are published in the docs. Used in property-list displays and agent summaries where a number is too verbose.
Buildability™ Band: The categorical classification a parcel receives alongside its numeric score: Excellent (80-100), Good (60-79), Moderate (40-59), or Poor (0-39). Intended for filtering in portfolio screens and programmatic consumption by AI agents. Federal parkland and open water are masked out of the national surface rather than scored.
Provenance: The per-factor lineage map published in every Buildability Report: each factor is marked live (fetched from the authoritative source at request time), estimated, fixture, or unavailable, with the source dataset named. Surfacing provenance is what makes the score citable instead of a black box.
City Buildability™ Index: The aggregate 0-100 index scoring whole metros on four components — supply, regulatory friction, hazard, and demand — on the same scale as a parcel score. Used for market-level screening ('which cities are easiest to build in?'). It is computed by its own versioned engine, not a simple parcel-score average.
Buildability™ Report: The full, structured parcel analysis deliverable produced by the report engine. Includes the Buildability Score™, all 9 factor sub-scores with weights and notes, zoning details (code and permitted uses, with FAR and setbacks where the district’s code has been read), FEMA flood zone, environmental screening (seismic, wildfire, radon, soil), lot geometry, existing structure, valuation, and rental estimate.
Nine-Factor Model: The factor list behind the Buildability Score™: zoning, flood, seismic, soil, radon, wildfire, utilities, terrain, and lot geometry. Nine factors, seven of them weighted into the parcel score and seismic and radon carried alongside it as regional context. Each factor carries a 0-100 sub-score and a note string citing the dataset behind it. When a source has no data for a parcel, that factor drops out of the score; when a factor's provenance is a regional estimate, it is labeled Estimated.
Factor: A single scored input to the Buildability Score™. Every Buildability Report exposes all applicable factors with their sub-score, weight, and a human-readable note explaining why the sub-score is what it is ('FEMA Zone X, no insurance required' / 'zoning not confirmed, fallback used'). Factors let users audit the score instead of trusting the rollup blindly.
Factor Weight: The share applied to a factor's 0-100 sub-score when computing the composite Buildability Score™. The average renormalizes over the factors that returned data. Example v3 defaults: terrain 20%, zoning 16%, flood 16%. Regional tuning (FL weights flood higher, CA weights terrain, zoning and wildfire higher, TX weights utilities higher) shifts the distribution. Published in every Report under `result.factors[].weight`.
Special Status Parcel: A parcel where the standard Buildability framework does not meaningfully apply — federal land, tribal trust land, dedicated parks, open water. On the national surface these areas are masked out rather than scored; for an individual report, treat any score on such land as subordinate to the governing agency’s actual jurisdiction.
Unbuildable: A parcel scored so low (typically below 20) that near-term development is not practical. Distinct from special_status — unbuildable is an evaluation, not a jurisdictional designation. Common causes: severe FAR or setback exhaustion on a tiny lot, floodway overlap, wetlands covering most of the buildable area, extreme slope with no vehicular access. Sometimes cured by assemblage with adjacent parcels.
Constrained: A parcel that is nominally buildable but has already consumed most of its regulatory envelope — FAR near maximum, coverage near limit, setbacks fully utilized. Future development is limited to replacement or intensification via rezoning, variance, or density bonus. Frequently applies to downtown infill lots where an existing mid-rise has been in place for decades.

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