# Is there a short designation for "(first \[British\]|second \[American\]) floor of a building"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2016, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548 "2016-04-18T12:03:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/1 "2016-04-18T12:03:56Z")
This is a complication I encountered when writing directions for walking to our company’s office. We are in the upper storey of a two-storey building, i.e. on the first floor if you are British, on the second floor if you are American. In our case I was able to avoid the issue by writing we are ‘upstairs’ (the main entrance being by a staircase, i.e. no referring to the numbers on elevator buttons). But if the building had more stories, what would be a non-awkward way to say “on the nth floor [British terminology]/n+1th floor [American terminology]” - assuming no elevator with numbered buttons, and no floor numbers prominently displayed on landings? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/2 "2016-04-18T12:16:29Z")
I don’t know which convention Germany follows, but I would use that in the main text, with a parenthetical aside. “We are on the first floor. (Second floor in U.S. style.)” Something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/3 "2016-04-18T12:17:11Z")
You could say, “Enter and go one floor up”. But really, a multi-storey building will have its floors labeled, so use that labeling. In Montreal, most buildings, especially newer ones, are labeled according to the American system, but many older ones use British numbering. You get used to it. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/4 "2016-04-18T12:25:47Z")
I’ve been in malls (I think in Sweden), where the floor numbering was just positive integers, even if a building had basement floors. So you could be 4 floors underground and on floor 1, or on the ground floor and it could be called floor 3. Which is hella-confusing (and I think dangerous) because it’s easy to forget the path you’ve followed. I guess one way which works for all is just say “We’re one floor above the ground floor”. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/5 "2016-04-18T13:46:23Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I’ve been in malls (I think in Sweden), where the floor numbering was just positive integers, even if a building had basement floors. So you could be 4 floors underground and on floor 1, or on the ground floor and it could be called floor 3. > Which is hella-confusing (and I think dangerous) because it’s easy to forget the path you’ve followed. > > I guess one way which works for all is just say “We’re one floor above the ground floor”. Oftentimes, buildings will have different floors as the ‘ground’ floor, depending on which entrance you used, even in the US. I worked in a hospital where the main entrance t othe hospital was floor 3, and floor 1 (on the opposite side of the hospital, and at the base of the hill the hospital was built on top of) was the ground floor only for the ambulance bays and morgue entry. I think the easiest way to direct someone would be to just use the convention marked in the building. An American might be initially confused when using a British numbered building at first, but would be able to figure things out pretty quickly when they started looking around on the presumed 8th floor and saw everything marked 9. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/6 "2016-04-18T13:53:49Z")
“Please consult the directory upon entering the building” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/7 "2016-04-18T14:08:55Z")
I’m not sure where the idea originated that this is an American vs. British thing. I’ve both worked and lived in buildings in the US which had a floor #1 above the entrance floor (usually designated as a lobby.) But it’s definitely more common in the US for 1 to be synonymous with the lobby or ground floor or whatever you want to call it. In any case, for a two-story building, saying “go upstairs” is probably good enough. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/8 "2016-04-18T14:11:11Z")
And be careful to check if the metal numeral attached to the floor is right side up, eg a “6” for a “9.” Tom Cruise fell for that one on _Minority Report_ and it wasn’t pretty. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/9 "2016-04-18T14:51:20Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > This is a complication I encountered when writing directions for walking to our company’s office. We are in the upper storey of a two-storey building, i.e. on the first floor if you are British, on the second floor if you are American. > > In our case I was able to avoid the issue by writing we are ‘upstairs’ (the main entrance being by a staircase, i.e. no referring to the numbers on elevator buttons). > > But if the building had more stories, what would be a non-awkward way to say “on the nth floor [British terminology]/n+1th floor [American terminology]” - assuming no elevator with numbered buttons, and no floor numbers prominently displayed on landings? Your proposed solution to label the British and American terminology seems hopelessly complicated to me because if I hadn’t read this thread, I would have absolutely no idea what the “American” and “British” systems are or how they differ. There may be a British convention but there is no U.S. authority on building floor numbering and there is no universally followed American floor numbering convention. I have been in many buildings in the U.S. that have a ground floor followed by a first floor and many others with a ground floor or first floor followed by a second floor. I look at the signs in the building. If I knew there were two numbering systems at play, I would look doubly hard for the floor number and probably be unclear whether I should expect to see a “1” or a “2” on my target. I am surprised by the notion that every building in the U.K. is so uniformly numbered that signs even in tall walk-ups are completely unnecessary. Your “upstairs” solution to the two-floor building is perfect. If they should stay on the entrance level, “ground,” “street” or “entrance” level would be understandable to this American. You know how to deal with the elevator case. I guess you are concerned about multi-level walk-ups in buildings that don’t have signs. How many of these buildings are you likely to have to write directions for? Could you put up signs? They might help people who just lose count as they walk up or down stairs. It’s happened to me. Could you just say, “go up two stories” if needed? How do people in the U.K. interpret floors in sprawling buildings where there may be ground floor entrances on different levels throughout the building? I recently walked into a hospital built on a hill. The street entrance I used was on the 6th floor. If you entered from other places in the building, you could come in from lower floors including the “first” floor. Would every Englishman assume they were on the ground floor and that the next floor up would be the first floor? Would they even notice the signs telling them they were on the 6th floor because floor signs in English buildings are so rare they wouldn’t look for them? I am genuinely curious about this cultural difference. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/10 "2016-04-18T14:51:49Z")
It’s nice when the elevator has a button label G, or Star, so you know which button to push when you want to leave the building. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/11 "2016-04-18T15:01:35Z")
I think that in the unlikely event that the floors aren’t numbered in a lift, you could say “Go up n floor(s)” In Italy for example, the floor one up from ground may be labelled ‘PB’. In practice, most travellers are to that extent at least, bilingual. If we can cope with old fashioned imperial units in the USA we can work out which floor is ‘n’. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/12 "2016-04-18T15:01:35Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I’m not sure where the idea originated that this is an American vs. British thing. I’ve both worked and lived in buildings in the US which had a floor #1 above the entrance floor (usually designated as a lobby.) But it’s definitely more common in the US for 1 to be synonymous with the lobby or ground floor or whatever you want to call it. I think a lot of American condos/apartment buildings with no ground-floor units/apartments go L, 1, 2, 3, etc. (“British” style). My (suburban Chicago) condo is that way, and has been since it was built in the '70s AFAICT so this isn’t new. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/13 "2016-04-18T15:07:52Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > Oftentimes, buildings will have different floors as the ‘ground’ floor, depending on which entrance you used, even in the US. I worked in a hospital where the main entrance t othe hospital was floor 3, and floor 1 (on the opposite side of the hospital, and at the base of the hill the hospital was built on top of) was the ground floor only for the ambulance bays and morgue entry. Yes, I once worked in a building where, going in through a side door, you went UP a short flight of stairs to the basement. There was a sub-basement below and the ground floor above. If you went through a tunnel in the basement, you’d get to the ground floor of an adjoining building. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/14 "2016-04-18T15:08:00Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > How do people in the U.K. interpret floors in sprawling buildings where there may be ground floor entrances on different levels throughout the building? I recently walked into a hospital built on a hill. The street entrance I used was on the 6th floor. If you entered from other places in the building, you could come in from lower floors including the “first” floor. Would every Englishman assume they were on the ground floor and that the next floor up would be the first floor? Would they even notice the signs telling them they were on the 6th floor because floor signs in English buildings are so rare they wouldn’t look for them? I am genuinely curious about this cultural difference. We tend to have ‘Upper and Lower’ Ground floors where two levels have street doors. If there were more, they might be labelled by the street name they are accessed from. In my experience most tall buildings have numbered floors although they might have some strange abbreviations like ‘LG’ or ‘M’ (for mezzanine). It will depend on the whim of the designer and regulars soon learn while strangers get lost and ask. In general - yes we would assume the entrance is on the ground floor and that the next floor up would be the first floor. Harder in a multi story car park, where there can be several numbered areas on the same floor, but I think that car park confusion is universal. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/15 "2016-04-18T15:10:59Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > It’s nice when the elevator has a button label G, or Star, so you know which button to push when you want to leave the building. I think a star next to the ground-floor button is a code requirement, not merely nice. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/16 "2016-04-18T15:18:14Z")
My sister’s office is on the 5th floor. Her builidng goes like G, Mezzanine 1, M2, M3, M4, 2, 3… ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/17 "2016-04-18T16:20:04Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > I think a lot of American condos/apartment buildings with no ground-floor units/apartments go L, 1, 2, 3, etc. (“British” style). My college dormitory was like this (back in the stone ages when I was in college). The dorm had four towers. There were no dorm rooms on the ground floor, so the dorm room floors started at 1, British style. Tower 4 (the one I lived in) sat lower than the others due to the terrain, and so had an extra floor. So I ended up on floor zero. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/18 "2016-04-18T17:00:24Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > . I am surprised by the notion that every building in the U.K. is so uniformly numbered that signs even in tall walk-ups are completely unnecessary. . It is pretty uniform - we’ve been at it a while, so there’s been plenty of time for a standard to settle in. Signs are still necessary because on exiting stairwells or lifts, or rooms, you will know where you are. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/19 "2016-04-18T17:11:19Z")
The problem becomes even more pronounced in tall buildings: I have read that American buildings sometimes (often?) have no 13th floor, so there already is gap of two floors. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548/20 "2016-04-18T17:21:36Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > I have read that American buildings sometimes (often?) have no 13th floor Not often, in my experience, but yeah, sometimes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-short-designation-for-first-british-second-american-floor-of-a-building/752548.md?page=2)