A storey (also spelled story^[1]), floor, deck or level is the level of a building above (or below) the ground. In Architecture, Construction, Engineering and real estate development the word building may refer to one of the following Any man-made

Buildings are often classified by how many levels they have. Low-rise, mid-rise, and high-rise buildings are all common, with the tallest skyscrapers having upwards of a hundred. A high-rise is a tall Building or structure Normally the function of the building is added for example high-rise Apartment building or A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable Building. There is no official definition or a precise cutoff height above which a building may clearly be classified as a skyscraper Multi-storey buildings usually must have additional safety systems, such as fire sprinklers and fire escapes, as mandated by building codes. Safety is the state of being "safe" (from French sauf) the condition of being protected against physical social spiritual financial political System (from Latin systēma, in turn from Greek systēma is a set of interacting or interdependent Entities, real or abstract A fire sprinkler is the part of a Fire sprinkler system that discharges water when the effects of a fire have been detected such as when a predetermined temperature has A fire escape is a special kind of Emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a Building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of A building code, or building control, is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as Buildings and Nonbuilding

The height of each storey is based on the ceiling height of the rooms and the thickness of the floors between each. Height is the measurement of vertical Distance, but has two meanings in common use A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that bounds the upper limit of a room. A room, in Architecture, is any distinguishable space within a structure Generally this is around ten feet or three metres total, however it varies widely from just under this figure to well over it. Storeys within a building need not be all the same height — often the lobby is quite spacious, for example. A lobby is a Room in a Building which is used for entry from the outside Higher levels may be smaller than the ones beneath (a prominent feature of the Sears Tower). The Sears Tower, a Skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, has been the tallest building in North America since 1973

Some houses have an extra storey of living space in the attic, basement, or both. House generally refers to a Shelter or Building that is a Dwelling or place for Habitation by Human beings. An attic is a space found directly below the pitched Roof of a house or other building (also called garret, Loft or A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the Ground floor. Split-level homes have two sides of the house offset from each other by a half-storey, while some homes have only a split-level entry, with the front door opening to two half-sets of stairs leading up to the main floor and down to the basement door. A split-level home is a style of House in which the floor level of one part of the house is about half way between a floor and its ceiling of the other part of the house A door is a panel or barrier usually hinged or sliding that is used to cover an opening in a Wall or partition going into a building or space

There are also multi-storey car parks, also known as parking garages.

Numbering

Elevator plate with floor numbering. An elevator or lift is a Transport device used to move people or goods vertically from one floor to another In most buildings in U. S. A. and Canada, there is no thirteenth floor^[2]. The levels of a multi-story Building are numbered sequentially from "basement" "one" or "ground" upwards

Floor numbering is the numbering scheme used for a building's floors; it varies depending on the level of the "first floor" and on the names given to the subterranean levels. There are many different numbering schemes for assigning Nominal numbers to entities

Room numbers generally start with the floor's number; occasionally the first element may be the letter representing the floor. In large buildings, two conventions are common:

• Odd numbers are used for one side of the building and even for the other.
• The second digit in the room number indicates a specific block or wing of the building.

Confusion arises from the two forms of floor numbering in use worldwide.

In most of continental Europe, as well as the British Isles and much of the Commonwealth and Latin America, the floor at the ground level is the ground floor and the floor above is the first floor, which maintains the continental European use that dates from the days of the construction of palaces. For example, in French, the term for the ground floor is rez de chaussée which is numbered zero. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people In Spanish it is known as planta baja. In Peru particularly these have blended and the planta baja and primer piso are one and the same. Or, alternatively, the former extends to any space within the building's property at ground level whether constructed or not, while primer piso applies exclusively to the area that contains human constructs.

But in North American usage (with certain exceptions in Quebec; however, "rez-de-chaussée" and "premier étage" are now generally equivalent in Quebec), the floor at the ground level is usually, but not always, the first floor and the floor above is the second floor; this system is also used in Russia, parts of Scandinavia outside Denmark^[3] and some countries of the former Soviet Union or Eastern bloc. Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 During the Cold War, the term Communist Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) was used to refer to the Soviet Union and countries it either controlled or that were China, Taiwan, and Japan follows the American system, except that the numbers used are cardinals ("1F, 2F") rather than ordinals ("1st/2nd fl. This article describes cardinal numbers in mathematics For cardinals in linguistics see Names of numbers in English. In Set theory, an ordinal number, or just ordinal, is the Order type of a Well-ordered set. " or "fl. 1/2").

The principal floor is the floor that contains the chief apartments, whether on the ground floor or the floor above; in Italy they are often on the latter and may be known as the piano nobile. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The piano nobile is the principal Floor of a large House, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture. The floor below the ground floor is called the basement even if only a little below ground level, or the lower ground floor; the floor in a roof is known as the attic or the loft. A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the Ground floor. Vietnam roofjpg|thumb|The roofs of Vietnam.]] A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a Building. An attic is a space found directly below the pitched Roof of a house or other building (also called garret, Loft or Loft mainly refers to two different types of rooms It typically refers to an upper story or Attic in a Building, directly under the Roof

In the U. S. , the expressions one pair, two pair, etc. , apply to the stories above the first flight of stairs from the ground (see also carpentry). A carpenter (builder is a skilled craftsman who performs carpentry - a wide range of Woodworking that includes constructing buildings,

Lower floors

Subterranean levels vary in numbering systems, often using B for Basement or P for Parking, for the first level below ground, although L (or LL) for Lower Level or Lobby is sometimes used. A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the Ground floor. Parking is the act of stopping a Vehicle and leaving it unoccupied for more than a brief time In British department stores, "LG" for "Lower Ground" is commonly encountered, as the term "basement" is considered inappropriate for their image. The next level down may be SB for "Sub-Basement", although numbering more frequently occurs at this point, either B1/P1 etc. or use of negative numbers -1 etc.

It is worth noting that in certain buildings in the US with a subterranean parking lot, the basement parking floor is labelled G, representing "garage". Such a labelling in elevators may be misleading, as the button for G is directly below the button for the first floor and may be understood as "ground".

Occasionally, buildings in the US will have both a 1st floor and a Ground floor. The Ground floor is typically partially or completely underground. Sometimes in this configuration, the Ground floor will be accessible from outside the building as well.

First floor

In British English, in reference to typical buildings, the "first floor" is the first floor above the ground; but in American English, it is another name for the ground floor. British English or UK English ( BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the Phonology North American English regional phonology In many ways compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its Phonology.

Most European countries, Latin American countries, countries of the Commonwealth (except Singapore and parts of Canada, which use the American system), and former British colonies like Hong Kong, follow the same convention as the British. Singapore Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders Finland, Norway, Russia, some countries of East Europe, and most of eastern Asia (including China and Japan) have a convention similar to the American system. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.

Hong Kong is unusual in that it follows the British rule in English, but for some old tenement buildings the Chinese characters follow the American rule. A Chinese character, also known as a Han character ( is a Logogram used in writing Chinese (hanzi Japanese ( The existence of two systems in Hong Kong has led to confusion in water bills there, as the Water Supplies Department attempted to translate some English addresses (using British system) into Chinese (the older buildings use American system but the new ones often use the British system) [1].

Higher floors are then numbered consecutively in each case, as illustrated by the following table:

It is obvious that this can lead to some confusion, but little else can be done other than being aware of this issue. A storey (spelled story in the USA only floor, deck or level is the level of a Building above (or below the Ground. If it is necessary to be unambigious, possibly "Floor X excluding (or including) the ground floor" may be clearer. Put simply, the rule is:

• American English floor number minus 1 = British English name
• British English floor number plus 1 = American English name

Idiosyncrasies

For buildings with entrances on two different floors, such as those built into a hill, different naming schemes may be used in different parts of the world. In North America, the lower floor would typically be called the "ground floor" and the upper floor the "first floor" In the UK, the lower of these floors would be known as the lower ground floor, while the upper would be called either the upper ground floor or simply the ground floor. Some U. S. high-rise buildings follow the British system, often out of a desire on the part of the building's architect or owners to suggest a posh UK/ European setting. A high-rise is a tall Building or structure Normally the function of the building is added for example high-rise Apartment building or An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction

Non-numeric names may be used in some buildings such as hotels; for example, the uppermost level may be PH (for Penthouse), R (for Roof), or OD (for Observation Deck), and the entrance level may sometimes be denoted M (for Main), or L (for Lobby). A penthouse apartment or penthouse is an Apartment or Condominium that is on one of the highest floors of an Apartment building or condominium Vietnam roofjpg|thumb|The roofs of Vietnam.]] A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a Building. An observation deck is a platform situated upon a tall architectural structure or natural feature A lobby is a Room in a Building which is used for entry from the outside However, some buildings use extremely idiosyncratic denotation - one hotel in Toronto marks the first six floors as A, M, MM, C, H, and 1 (for Arcade, Main, Main Mezzanine, Convention, Health Club, and 1st floor). Toronto (təˈrɒntoʊ colloquially pronounced or) is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario In Architecture, a mezzanine or entresol is an intermediate Floor between main floors of a Building, and therefore typically not counted The North Carolina Museum of Art, whose entrance is on the third floor up, has the floors lettered C, B, A, (main floor) and O, meaning office.

American and Canadian buildings typically omit the thirteenth floor in their floor numbering because of common superstition surrounding this number. The levels of a multi-story Building are numbered sequentially from "basement" "one" or "ground" upwards The floor numbering may either go straight from 12 to 14, or the floor may be given an alternative name such as "Skyline". In some Asian countries, because the number four sounds like "death" in Chinese and related languages, it is sometimes skipped in hospital buildings, and some business buildings follow this convention as well.

Other deviations from the norm can be seen around the world. Examples of such deviations include sometimes numbering basement or the lowest level basement as floor 1. Thus, the ground floor may be numbered 2 or even something higher. Another occasional deviation is numbering the ground floor as 0. One sometimes finds buildings where different parts of the same building are numbered differently, e. g. , the carparks have a separate level numbering from the occupied spaces at the same level. Often these buildings will have a star next to the elevator button for the floor with the "main" street level exit.

Many shopping centres in Hong Kong use unusual floor labelling systems. For instance, Festival Walk, a high-class mall in Kowloon Tong, effectively has four "ground floors" labelled LG2 (lower ground 2), LG1, G, and UG (upper ground). "Level 1" at Festival Walk would actually be the fourth floor if LG2 were to be considered the ground floor.

Romania uses Roman numerals for floor numbers in postal addresses, but Arabic numerals in all but the oldest elevators. Roman numerals are a Numeral system originating in ancient Rome, adapted from Etruscan numerals.

Floor zero

In buildings in the USA, there is usually no floor numbered zero. The first floor is immediately above the first basement.

Outside of North America, Japan and Russia, the ground level is referred to as 0 or some other local variant indicating the name of the ground floor in that language.

See also

• Floor
• Mechanical floor
• Thirteenth floor

Notes