When is the light height measured?

Hello,

I have a question regarding the definition of the "clear height."
We are planning a 1.5-story single-family house (or rather, we are not allowed to build more full stories).
Now, according to the Lower Saxony building regulations, in an upper story, no more than 2/3 of the floor area of the ground floor may have a clear height of more than 2.20m, otherwise it would count as a full story!
Can someone tell me exactly when the clear height is measured, for example before the screed is installed, or after the screed but before the floor covering, or at the very end? Wikipedia says: the room height between the top edge of the finished floor and the bottom edge of the ceiling. Is that correct?

Thank you very much for your answers.

Regards
Tatze

Hello Tatze, _Excerpt from the building regulations.

(4) 1A full storey is a storey that has a clear height of 2.20 m or more over at least half of its floor area and whose ceiling underside lies on average at least 1.40 m above the ground surface. 2A top storey is only considered a full storey if it has the clear height mentioned in sentence 1 over more than two-thirds of the floor area of the storey below. 3Intermediate ceilings or intermediate floors that separate unwalkable cavities from a storey are disregarded when applying sentences 1 and 2. 4Cavities between the top ceiling and the roof covering, in which habitable rooms are not possible due to the required clear height, are not considered top storeys.

I would assume that the clear height of 2.20 m is meant from the upper edge of the finished floor to the underside of the ceiling (with cladding).

Regards

Hello,

Can someone tell me exactly when the clear height is measured, for example before the screed is installed, or after the screed but before the floor covering, or at the very end?

Before the screed is installed, it is called "structural clear height" – when it says "in the clear," it means the finished dimension, that is the moment when the ceiling is ready to receive paint or wallpaper and the floor is constructed enough so that you can choose a type of flooring.

In a single-story building – only the common language refers to 1.5-stories – the living space above the full story must not exceed 75% of the floor area of the full story below. Suppose you have a ground floor of 100 sqm; the attic may only have 75 sqm minus slopes. If, due to, for example, a higher knee wall or a dormer, more square meters result, building authorities speak of a theoretical two-story building.

Some building authorities are willing to make compromises within certain limits as long as the external appearance of the house corresponds to that of a one-story building. Just tell your architect to show his best side.

If your construction project is a detached single-family house, a clever architect can circumvent the specifications of the development plan – provided the specifications regarding ridge height, roof shape, and pitch allow this – by planning a second full story on 63% of the ground floor area instead of an attic with slopes.

Kind regards