AS 1428 and the furniture schedule: which clearances are law and which are good practice
Part D4 of the NCC sets the doorway at 850 mm clear and never uses the word furniture. The clearance figures a furniture schedule actually needs, and where each one is published.
AS 1428 sets clearances for the building, not for the furniture that gets wheeled into it. Part D4 of NCC 2022 Volume One governs the accessway, the doorway at 850 mm clear and the ramp, and the word furniture does not appear in it. The AS 1428 furniture clearances a schedule actually needs are published elsewhere: 1000 mm for a continuous accessible path of travel, a counter no higher than 1100 mm with a low section at 830 to 870 mm, knee and foot clearance of 800 to 840 mm beneath it, and loose seating held 500 mm clear of the path. This post sets out where each of those figures comes from, and which of them a certifier can actually enforce.
What the Code fixes, and where the furniture sits outside it
Two instruments do the work. The Disability (Access to Premises - Buildings) Standards 2010 carry the Access Code at Schedule 1, and Part D4 of NCC 2022 Volume One carries the deemed to satisfy provisions a certifier assesses. Both are about building work. Read Part D4 looking for furniture and you will not find it.
What you will find is the frame the furniture has to live inside. D4D2 requires that for Class 5, 6, 7b, 8 and 9a buildings, "access must be provided to and within all areas normally used by the occupants". D4D3(1) requires that "an accessway must be provided to a building required to be accessible". D4D4(c)(i) requires passing spaces at not more than 20 m intervals where there is no direct line of sight. D4D4(g) replaces AS 1428.1's carpet provision so that the pile height or pile thickness must not exceed 11 mm and the carpet backing must not exceed 4 mm, which is the one clause in the whole Part that reaches a loose item, because a thick rug dropped on an accessway is caught by it.
The schedule of referenced documents is where the position gets interesting. AS 1428 Part 1 is called up across D4D2, D4D3, D4D4, D4D7, D4D10, D4D11 and D4D13 among others. AS 1428 Part 2, the 1992 enhanced and additional requirements document, is also in the schedule, but Volume One calls it up only through clauses numbered in the state and territory section, not through Part D4. That matters more than it sounds like it should, because almost every furniture figure a specifier is handed as though it were a requirement is an AS 1428.2 figure.
So the furniture schedule is largely outside the Code. It is not outside the law. Section 24 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 makes it unlawful for a person who provides goods or services, or makes facilities available, to discriminate against another person on the ground of disability, including in the manner in which those goods, services or facilities are provided. A certified building with a layout nobody in a wheelchair can use is not a certification problem. It is a service problem, and it lands on the occupier rather than on the certifier.
The published figures, and the document each one comes from
The useful discipline here is to keep the figure and its source attached to each other, because on a furniture drawing the two get separated within a week. The circulation numbers below are the ones that come up, sorted by what they bind rather than by what they measure.
| Requirement | Figure | Published in | What it binds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unobstructed width of a continuous accessible path of travel | 1000 mm | AS 1428.1 clause 6.3 | The building's accessway |
| Clear space at a change of direction of 60 to 90 degrees | 1500 mm wide by 1500 mm long in the direction of travel | AS 1428.1-2009 clause 6.5.1 | The building's accessway |
| Passing space where there is no direct line of sight | 1800 mm by 2000 mm, at not more than 20 m intervals | NCC 2022 Volume One D4D4(c)(i) | The building's accessway |
| Clear opening of a doorway on the path of travel | 850 mm | AS 1428.1 | The building's doorways |
| Turning space within a room | 2250 mm by 2250 mm | AS 1428.2-1992 clause 6.3 | Guidance for a workplace floor |
| Carpet pile height or thickness on an accessway | 11 mm, with backing not more than 4 mm | NCC 2022 Volume One D4D4(g) | The floor covering, loose rugs included |
The 1500 mm by 1500 mm turn figure is AS 1428.1-2009 clause 6.5.1, as quoted by Disability Access Consultants, who also note the clause permits two 1000 mm corridors meeting with a 500 mm splay at the internal corner instead. The 850 mm doorway figure is set out in the AGWA guide to AS 1428.1, measured from the face of the opened door to the doorstop, which is the measurement people get wrong when they scale off a door schedule. The circulation figure for a 180 degree turn is set out in anatomy of a Sydney CBD floor: what goes where and why along with the circulation allowance that sits on top of all of these, and it is not restated here because the 2021 edition's text could not be checked today.
The counter: 1100 mm at the top, 830 to 870 mm at the low section
The Design for Dignity guidelines, published by the Australian Disability Network, are the clearest published Australian statement on counters, and they open by saying the quiet part out loud: "Premises Standards don't dictate how reception or payment counters should be set up." Having said that, they then give figures, and the figures are the ones worth putting on a drawing.
| Dimension | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Highest section of a counter, including anything placed on it | Not more than 1100 mm | Design for Dignity |
| Low height section, at least one place | 830 to 870 mm | AS 1428.2, as quoted by Design for Dignity |
| Knee and foot clearance at the low section | 800 to 840 mm | AS 1428.2, as quoted by Design for Dignity |
| Clear width at the low section | 900 mm | AS 1428.2, as quoted by Design for Dignity |
| Adjustable bench, preferred range | 700 to 850 mm | AS 1428.2 (1992) page 33, as quoted by Design for Dignity |
| Wheelchair legroom clearance, and the surface above it | 830 mm plus or minus 20 mm, under a surface at 850 mm plus or minus 20 mm | AS 1428.2, as cited in the University of Newcastle access design guideline |
| Accessible height adjustable workbench, provision | One per 40 workbenches, with wheelchair space beneath | AS 1428.2 Section 24, as cited in the same guideline |
Two things in that table catch people. The first is that the 1100 mm ceiling counts what sits on the counter, not just the joinery: the guidance is that "the highest section of a counter, including things placed on the counter, should be no more than 1100mm". A terminal, a monitor on a riser or a planter on the hob all count. The second is the reason the figure exists at all, which the guidance gives plainly: "A counter with a uniform height over 1100mm can create the impression of a barrier between the employee and customer."
Geneva's reception desks are a useful test of this. The Roxi Arena publishes an 1100 mm hob that wraps around the desk, which lands exactly on the Design for Dignity ceiling with nothing to spare, so the terminal and the monitor position become part of the compliance conversation rather than a fit out detail. What 1100 mm means once you are drawing the lowered section, the staff side and the cable holes is worked through in reception desk heights: what 1100 mm actually means on a plan.
Knee clearance is the dimension a pedestal quietly removes
Of the counter figures, knee and foot clearance of 800 to 840 mm is the one most often lost after the drawing is approved, because it is the only one that depends on what ends up underneath. Roxi Arena is honest about this in its own published planning notes: a standard mobile pedestal does not fit beneath the desk. Where a pedestal does fit, it is usually the thing that takes the clearance away.
The arithmetic is unforgiving at standard commercial heights. Klaro's CONUS base is published with a fixed version at 720 mm. A 720 mm top with a 25 mm thickness leaves under 700 mm beneath it, which is below the 800 to 840 mm band before a single rail, tray or pedestal is added. That is not a criticism of a 720 mm table, which is the right height for most people doing most things. It is the reason the accessible position at a shared surface is almost always the height adjustable one rather than a fixed one. The separate question of where the wheelchair position goes at a meeting table, and the clause that sets it, is covered in meeting table sizes: what fits at the table and in the room.
Specifier's note. Knee clearance is taken away by three things, and none of them appear on the furniture plan. A mobile pedestal rolled under the return. A modesty panel or stretcher rail set at the frame height rather than at the clearance height. And a cable tray or power rail slung under the top, which is the worst of the three because it is specified by a different trade at a different time. Fix the clear dimension as a note on the drawing, not the table height, and make the clearance a dimension the installer has to hit rather than a consequence of what else got hung under the desk.
The accessible workpoint is usually a desk you already specified
The provision figure for workpoints comes from AS 1428.2 Section 24, which the University of Newcastle access design guideline cites as one accessible height adjustable workbench per 40 workbenches, with wheelchair space beneath it. On a 200 desk floor that is five positions, which is a number a workplace strategist can actually plan around rather than an aspiration.
The good news is that a sit to stand frame specified for ordinary reasons already covers the accessible band several times over.
| Product | Published range | Reaches 830 to 870 mm | Reaches 700 to 850 mm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ovation Desking System, electric frame | 590 to 1210 mm | Yes | Yes |
| COLUMN h/a Workstation | 665 to 1315 mm with a 25 mm top | Yes | Yes |
| CONUS Height Adjustable Table | 665 to 1315 mm with a 25 mm top | Yes | Yes |
| CONUS base, fixed version | 720 mm | No | Yes, at one height only |
Ovation from Thinking Works publishes an electric frame that moves from 590 to 1210 mm at 35 mm per second, under 50 dB, with three programmable heights and an impact stop that reverses 50 mm if it meets an obstruction. Klaro Design's COLUMN h/a publishes 665 to 1315 mm with a 25 mm top, and the CONUS h/a table publishes the same range on the conical base. Every one of those passes through 830 to 870 mm and through the 700 to 850 mm band Design for Dignity prefers for an adjustable bench, which means the specification question is not whether the desk can reach the height. It is whether the accessible position has 1000 mm of path to it, 900 mm of clear width at the surface, and nothing hung underneath. The published ranges and load ratings across Geneva's workstation systems sit side by side in Thinking Works desking: Ovation, Rosie and Okidoki compared.
Loose seating: 500 mm off the path, and the arm height that decides who stands up
The Design for Dignity seating guidance is explicit that its figures summarise AS 1428.2's street furniture provisions, which is exactly why they read as good practice indoors rather than as a requirement. They are still the best published Australian numbers for loose seating, and the armrest figure in particular does real work.
| Dimension | Figure |
|---|---|
| Set back from the path of travel | At least 500 mm |
| Seat height | 400 to 450 mm, or 520 mm where used by people who are elderly |
| Armrest height above the seat | 220 to 300 mm |
| Clear space at the seat | Between the legs of the seat and out to 150 mm in front |
| Contrast | Contrasting colour and luminance against the background |
The guidance sets out why the arm matters: "Lower seating has arms that allow customers to assist themselves in and out of the chair." An armrest at 220 to 300 mm above the seat is the band where somebody can push up from it. Above that band the arm is a place to rest a forearm and nothing more. Alongside the dimensions, the guidance asks for a variety of styles so the range of people who can be seated is as wide as possible, for alternatives to stool seating because stools need stability and balance, for clear space between the legs of the chair, and for chairs that contrast with the background so they can be seen. How those same figures land in a waiting area, with the published allocations, is set out in healthcare waiting rooms: how many chairs, and how high.
Fixed seating is the one place the Code counts furniture
There is a single point where the Code stops talking about the building and starts counting seats. Where fixed seating is provided in a Class 9b assembly building, D4D10 requires wheelchair seating spaces complying with AS 1428.1, and Table D4D10 sets how many.
| Total fixed seats | Wheelchair seating spaces required |
|---|---|
| Up to 150 | 3 |
| 151 to 800 | 3, plus 1 for each additional 50 seats above 150 |
| 801 to 10,000 | 16, plus 1 for each additional 100 seats above 800 |
| More than 10,000 | 108, plus 1 for each additional 200 seats above 10,000 |
Above 800 seats the locations have to represent the range of seating on offer, and in a cinema with not more than 300 seats the spaces must not be located in the front row. The Code also allows the spaces to be provided by having removable seats, which is the practical route on a floor that has to flex. The line to take away is that the requirement follows the fixing, not the chair: the same seat, loose, counts for nothing in this table. Any auditorium, town hall or tiered presentation space with fixed seating should have this count checked before the layout is drawn, because retrofitting three spaces into a raked floor is a building job.
How a furniture layout puts a compliant building out of compliance
The sequence is ordinary and it happens constantly. A certifier assesses the base build against Part D4 and signs it off. The accessway is 1000 mm wide, the doors are 850 mm clear, the passing spaces are at 20 m centres. Months later the furniture arrives, and a storage run, a lounge setting or a back to back bench takes 300 mm out of the certified route. Nothing is recertified because nothing in the building changed. D4D2 still says access must be provided to and within all areas normally used by the occupants, and the route it was certified against no longer exists.
The practical defence is to treat the accessway on the furniture plan the way you treat an egress path or a sprinkler zone: mark it, dimension it, and keep it clear before the setting out starts. On an existing building there is a second reason to care. Where a fit out adds a new part, the Premises Standards bring in the affected part obligation, which the NSW Building Professionals Board describes as "the principal pedestrian entrance and the part of the existing building that is necessary to provide" a continuous accessible path of travel from that entrance to the new part, which must be upgraded to comply with the Access Code. The furniture does not trigger that obligation, and it can comfortably obstruct the path that was upgraded because of it. The same access dimensions that decide whether a piece reaches the floor at all are set out in will it fit in the lift? The access dimensions that decide a furniture schedule.
What changed on 29 July 2025
The referenced edition moved. The Australian Building Codes Board states that the parliamentary process for the amended Premises Standards was completed on 28 July 2025, that the updated Premises Standards took effect from 29 July 2025, and that the amendments change the Access Code so that it references the 2021 edition of AS 1428.1 in place of the 2009 edition. NCC 2022 Amendment 2 was published on 29 July 2025 to match. The schedule of referenced documents in NCC 2022 as originally adopted still lists AS 1428 Part 1 at the 2009 edition, which is why both numbers are in circulation and why consultants' reports from either side of that date read differently.
For a furniture schedule the practical effect is close to nil, and it is worth saying so rather than implying a change that did not happen. The published summaries of the 2021 edition concentrate on sanitary facilities, handrails and grabrails, doorways and ramps: Disability Access Consultants' summary records the raked or cranked grabrail length moving from a 700 mm minimum to 400 to 450 mm, permitted handrail sizes of 30 to 52 mm, a maximum door reveal depth of 300 mm reinstated, and door controls at least 500 mm from an internal corner. None of those touch a chair, a desk or a counter. What does change is the drawing note: a specification citing AS 1428.1-2009 is citing a superseded edition, and on a tender that is the kind of detail a reviewer finds.
What we could not verify
The full dimensional text of AS 1428.1:2021 is only in the standard, which is not published free, so every figure in this post is attributed to the document that published it and to the edition that document was working from. Three specific gaps are worth naming. The circulation figure for a 180 degree turn under the 2021 edition could not be confirmed today, which is why it is linked rather than restated. The jurisdiction whose clauses in the state and territory section of NCC 2022 Volume One call up AS 1428.2-1992 could not be confirmed, because the schedule of referenced documents gives the clause numbers and not the jurisdiction. And whether any state or territory variation imposes a furniture specific figure was not established either way. Where a figure here is guidance rather than a requirement, the table says so.
Geneva supplies the reception desks, workstation systems and commercial seating that these figures land on, from Thinking Works and Klaro Design through to Geneva's own range, and the showroom has the counter heights and the arm heights in the room where you can measure them rather than read them. If you have a furniture plan over a certified base build and you want to know which settings are standing in the accessible path, send us the plan and the furniture schedule and we will mark up the ones that need to move.
Frequently asked
Does AS 1428 apply to office furniture?
Not directly. AS 1428.1 is called up by Part D4 of NCC 2022 Volume One for the accessway, the doorway, the ramp and the sanitary facilities, and the word furniture does not appear in Part D4. AS 1428.2-1992, which is where most of the furniture figures people quote actually live, sits in the schedule of referenced documents but Volume One calls it up only through clauses in the state and territory section rather than through the national access provisions. What still binds a furniture layout is the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 itself, which makes it unlawful to discriminate in the manner in which a service or facility is provided.
How high can a reception counter be?
Design for Dignity puts the ceiling at 1100 mm for the highest section of a counter, and counts anything placed on the counter in that figure, so a monitor or a card terminal sitting on the hob has to be measured too. At least one place should have a low height section at 830 to 870 mm, with knee and foot clearance of 800 to 840 mm beneath it and a clear width of 900 mm. Those three figures come from AS 1428.2 as Design for Dignity quotes it, not from the Access Code, which does not dictate how a reception counter is set up.
What is the minimum clearance around office furniture?
There is no figure for furniture as such. The figure to design to is the one for the path of travel the furniture sits beside: AS 1428.1 clause 6.3 sets the unobstructed width of a continuous accessible path of travel at 1000 mm, and the 2009 edition's clause 6.5.1 gives 1500 mm by 1500 mm of clear space at a change of direction of 60 to 90 degrees. Design for Dignity then asks that seating sit at least 500 mm back from that path. A 1000 mm aisle measured to the front of a task chair is not a 1000 mm aisle once the chair is pushed back.
Do loose chairs in a workplace need wheelchair seating spaces?
No. Table D4D10 of NCC 2022 Volume One sets the count of wheelchair seating spaces, and it applies where fixed seating is provided in a Class 9b assembly building. Loose chairs in the same room trigger nothing, which is the clearest line in this subject: the requirement follows the fixing, not the chair. Where the count does apply, the Code allows the spaces to be provided by having removable seats.
Which edition of AS 1428.1 applies now?
AS 1428.1:2021. The Australian Building Codes Board states that the parliamentary process for the amended Premises Standards was completed on 28 July 2025 and that the updated Premises Standards took effect from 29 July 2025, referencing the 2021 edition in place of the 2009 edition, and that NCC 2022 Amendment 2 was published on 29 July 2025 to match. A drawing note that still cites AS 1428.1-2009 is citing a superseded edition, even though the published summaries of the 2021 changes concentrate on sanitary facilities, handrails, doorways and ramps rather than on anything a furniture schedule touches.