Parking garages in particular. What is the metric for determining the number of stories? In residential buildings the number of stories is usually determined by a living space enclosed with walls and a roof over head. In commercial real estate I believe, and probably mistakenly, one story is roughly ten feet.
When it comes to parking garages typically there is a certain number of parking levels covered by an upper floor but, parking is available on the upper floor, without cover.
Would the uncovered parking on the top floor constitute one story?
Most parking garages I've been in are labeled at the elevators or stairwells as level 1, level 2, and so on. Go with what's there and avoid trying to convert to "stories" if possible.
No! 6 Stories, 7 Decks or Levels Maybe
Architectural definition:
"Story" A complete horizontal division of a building, constituting the area between two adjacent levels.
Some garages may actually have 2 labeled levels per story; "A" being the lowest, "B" being 1/2 story higher, so one at 6 1/2 stories could be 13 levels.
In actuality there is no roof on most parking facilities. Roof top storage may occur on a 1 or 2 story office building. Then you have to consider subgrade parking levels.
Report what you see, 5 stories North side, 6 stories South side, 11 "enumerated" parking levels.
An elevator on the top level is not counted as a story, as it would not be counted on the roof of an office building. It is not part of the building per se, it is equipment.
Paul in PA