Handicap Door Size Requirements

Section 404 of the ada states.

Handicap door size requirements.

Access door specifications in addition to floor space obligations handicapped accessible bathrooms must have doors wide enough for standard wheelchairs to pass through unimpeded. Door openings shall provide a clear width of 32 inches 815 mm minimum. Door openings can sometimes be enlarged. However some older doors are less than 36 inches wide and may not provide enough width 32 inch clear width when fully opened.

Clear width is 32 inches 815 mm minimum measured from the one side wall to the face of the opposite side wall. Clear openings of doorways with swinging doors shall be measured between the face of the door and the stop with the door open 90 degrees. At hinged or pivoted doors or gates in series a separation is required that is at least 48 plus the width of doors or gates swinging into the space. The correct size for a wheelchair user to be able to comfortably fit through a doorway is 32 inches wide.

Openings more than 24 inches deep shall provide a clear opening of 36 inches minimum. Diagrams of a hinged door sliding door and folding door. Sharp turns after a doorway. Clear width door openings shall provide a clear width of 32 inches minimum and a maximum of 48 inches.

Most entrances to stores and businesses use 36 inch wide doors that are wide enough to be accessible. The maximum depth of the opening shown is 24 inches 810 mm. Doors not requiring full user passage such as shallow closets may have the clear opening reduced to 20 in 510 mm minimum. In general the requirements are a minimum of 32 in width and a maximum of 48 and the door must open to 90 degrees.

Commonly doorways are measured at about 23 to 27 inches. This allows users to clear one door or gate before opening the next and applies to those doors or gates that are opposite each other where travel through both doors is required. Clear width is measured between the face of the door itself and the opposite stop.