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A storey (also spelled story ), floor, deck or level is the level of a building above (or below) the ground. 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. Multi-storey buildings usually must have additional safety systems, such as fire sprinklers and fire escapes, as mandated by building codes. The height of each storey is based on the ceiling height of the rooms and the thickness of the floors between each. 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. Higher levels may be smaller than the ones beneath (a prominent feature of the Sears Tower). Some houses have an extra storey of living space in the attic, basement, or both. 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. There are also multi-storey car parks, also known as parking garages.
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