Floor definition
Approved document C, Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture, suggests that a ‘floor’ can be defined as the: 'Lower horizontal surface of any space in a building including finishes that are laid as part of the permanent construction.'
A floor typically provides:
- Structural support for the contents of the room, its occupants, and the weight of the floor itself.
- Resistance to the passage of moisture, heat and sound.
- A surface finish which may contribute to the look, feel and acoustics of a space.
- Sometimes it may also form an integral part of the primary structure of the building.
- It may also include elements of building services, such as wiring, pipework, ducting, drainage, lighting, ventilation and so on.
The surface finish of a floor is generally referred to as flooring. For more information see: Flooring.
Types of floor include; floating floor, separating floor, sprung floor, raised floor, and so on. For more information, see Types of floor. For more information see: Types of floor.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Basement v cellar.
- Beam and block.
- Concrete floor.
- Cork flooring.
- Deck.
- Decking.
- Domestic floors: Part 1: Construction, insulation and damp proofing.
- Floating floor.
- Floor void.
- Flooring.
- Flooring defects.
- Glass bottle floor foundation.
- Plenum.
- Raised floor.
- Resilient flooring.
- Rubber flooring.
- Screed.
- Separating floor.
- Sprung floor.
- Storey.
- Types of floor.
Featured articles and news
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.
IHBC 2025 Gus Astley Student Award winners
Work on the role of hewing in UK historic conservation a win for Jack Parker of Oxford Brookes University.
Future Homes Building Standards and plug-in solar
Parts F and L amendments, the availability of solar panels and industry responses.
How later living housing can help solve the housing crisis
Unlocking homes, unlocking lives.
Preparing safety case reports for HRBs under the BSA
A new practical guide to preparing structural inputs for safety cases and safety case reports published by IStructE.
Male construction workers and prostate cancer
CIOB and Prostate Cancer UK encourage awareness of prostate cancer risks, and what to do about it.
The changed R&D tax landscape for Architects
Specialist gives a recap on tax changes for Research and Development, via the ACA newsletter.
Structured product data as a competitive advantage
NBS explain why accessible product data that works across digital systems is key.
Welsh retrofit workforce assessment
Welsh Government report confirms Wales faces major electrical skills shortage, warns ECA.
A now architectural practice looks back at its concept project for a sustainable oceanic settlement 25 years on.
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence
Government report and back track on copyright opt out for AI training but no clear preferred alternative as yet.
Embedding AI tools into architectural education
Beyond the render: LMU share how student led research is shaping the future of visualisation workflows.
Why document control still fails UK construction projects
A Chartered Quantity Surveyor explains what needs to change and how.
Inspiration for a new 2026 wave of Irish construction professionals.
New planning reforms and Warm Homes Bill
Take centre stage at UK Construction Week London.
A brief run down of changes intentions from April in an onwards.
Comments
[edit] To make a comment about this article, click 'Add a comment' above. Separate your comments from any existing comments by inserting a horizontal line.