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by aaaronic 214 days ago
Building floor numbers in at least a few countries I’m aware of start from zero or “G” ( or the local language equivalent for “ground“) with 1 being the first story above the ground.

I think you’re just biased to think that starting must “naturally” begin with 1.

Zero is just a good a place to start and some people do start counting from zero.

2 comments

The floor number case arises so because traditionally it is the count of "built" floors. So, ground is technically not a floor in that sense. Also, if the floor indicates a separation (cut) between the living spaces, ground floor can be numbered as zero, just like the start point of a measuring tape is numbered as zero.
There are countries that don't? Do they just skip a number and go -2, -1, 1, 2, ...?