does anyone here know the specifics of the 8 floor rule? is it 8 living floors (can add 1-2 car parks under?) or is it 8 floors total (no use of the roof?)

greatly appreciated if someone can help, can't find much on google about it.

thanks

I thought it was 7 floors?

It is not the number of floors. It is the height maximum, it must not exceed a certain number (highest point), regardless if it is a room or car park.

I don't have the detail calculation, but it is a height derived from maximum height that water from a fire engine station on the street level can reach the top.

You can go above that max height subject to a few things including but not limit to:

The width of the street, so they can bring in special heavy rescue equipments, like crane, heavy duty hydraulic pumps, etc.

Additional saftey equipments for high rise such as sprinkle, water tank on the roof specifically for fire fighting, delicated fire lift, special chemical, mandatory fire escape procedure and drills, etc. Such investment is usually high, which is not economical to add just a few more floor on your building beyong the height limits.

If I remember correctly it is 23m above street level for the building's structure. Hence you can squeeze 8 levels. But that is only one of the many rules, you have to leave x meters from the street depending on its width, at least 3m on each side of the building...etc.

Consult an architect !

thanks for that, we'll be talking to architects soon, just wanted to find out some basics of it for some early ballpark planning. that info helps a lot

Also, if you are in Bangkok, forget about underground parking. There are good reasons why you don’t see any (i.e city just above sea level, clay like soil, floods….etc).

I do not claim to know a lot about this but I'm sure I read somewhere that building above 7 floors required an Enviromental Impact Study to be undertaken and that this was quite an expensive undertaking.