What is an upper floor?
An upper floor is a level of a building above the ground floor: the space between two floors. The Dutch word is verdieping. In everyday Dutch, as in British English, the ground floor does not count as an upper floor: the first floor is the level directly above it. A house with a ground floor, a first floor and an attic therefore has two levels above ground, but three storeys.
Upper floor, storey and étage
- Storey (Dutch: bouwlaag): the term used in planning rules, and here the ground floor does count. A Dutch zoning plan that allows “two storeys” means a ground floor plus one upper floor. Whether a roof storey, semi-basement or cellar counts is decided by the definitions in the plan itself.
- Upper floor (verdieping): a storey above the ground floor. Usage has not always been strict: in the sixteenth century, the Dutch “first floor” could also mean the ground floor, and people still say a house is “three floors high” including the ground floor.
- Étage: a French loanword used in Dutch as a synonym for an upper floor. On the Dutch housing market, “an étage” is also a flat that occupies one floor.
The transatlantic trap
In the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, the first floor is the one above the ground floor. In the United States, the first floor is the ground floor itself. On international projects, this difference alone can lead to drawings being read one level out.
| United Kingdom and the Netherlands | The first floor is the one above the ground floor |
|---|---|
| United States | The first floor is the ground floor itself |
Special levels
Not every level is a full upper floor. Think of an attic or loft under the roof, a mezzanine (entresol) between two floors, a semi-basement partly below ground level, and a piano nobile (bel-étage), the raised principal floor above a semi-basement.
Application
On drawings and permit applications, floors are used to name the plans (ground floor plan, first floor plan) and to state levels relative to the datum. Floor-to-floor height runs from one floor surface to the next; the clear room height is smaller because the floor structure and finishes take up part of it.
Tips
- Use levels, not just names: add the floor level relative to datum (for example +2.700) next to the name of each plan.
- Check the planning rules: legally, an extension upwards is judged by the number of storeys. One extra floor can push a building over the permitted limit.
Related terms
- Storey
- Loft
- Mezzanine (entresol)
- Basement
- Piano nobile (bel-étage)
- Cellar
Want to learn more about construction terms? Visit our knowledge base at fredsdiyplans.com.