Accessible doors and ironmongery

At a glance

England. Approved Document M volume 2 (2015 edition incorporating the 2020 and 2024 amendments) and volume 1 (2015 edition incorporating the 2016 amendments), read 7 November 2026. BS 8300-2:2018 not read.

Which document, which edition, and what is left to BS 8300-2

Three documents sit behind most accessible-door questions in England. Approved Document M volume 2 covers buildings other than dwellings (hotels, restaurants, offices, shops); volume 1 covers dwellings; and both point to BS 8300-2 for more detail. Volume 2 is the 2015 edition incorporating the 2020 and 2024 amendments (the gov.uk page was last updated on 1 October 2024); volume 1 is the 2015 edition incorporating the 2016 amendments. Door impact and vision panels are in Approved Document K, 2013 edition, section 10. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own documents, which this sheet does not cover.

What the Approved Document gives, and what it does not. It gives clear widths (Table 2), opening forces, the 300 mm beside the leading edge, the closed-fist rule for latch furniture, contrast, a threshold limit at entrances, vision panel zones, and several heights for things in or beside a door, drawn below. It gives no height for a door handle. We searched every use of the word in volume 2: the nearest is 4.30(h), which concerns light switches “aligned horizontally with door handles” within 900 to 1,100 mm, and that is a rule about the switch. The DHF and GAI Code of Practice says BS 8300-2 recommends, among much else, sizes of door handles and operating forces for doors on accessible routes. BSI lists BS 8300-2:2018 as current (published 31 January 2018). We have not read it, so the handle height has to come from the standard or the access consultant and go on the schedule as a stated figure.

Where the numbers bite on ironmongery. Four things on a door schedule are set by accessibility rules: the closer or other closing device (force), the handle (type, contrast, and a height to be confirmed), the hinge and stop (they change the clear width), and the threshold. The next sections take them in that order, with the fire door clash first because it is the one that goes wrong most often.

Opening force and the closer: where fire doors clash with access

The limit. For a manually operated door, volume 2 asks for an opening force at the leading edge of not more than 30 N from closed to 30° open and not more than 22.5 N from 30° to 60° (2.17(a) for entrance doors, 3.10(a) for internal doors). Paragraph 2.9 says a self-closing device strong enough to shut a door against wind and draught seals “is unlikely to be openable by many people”, 2.14 says self-closers disadvantage people with limited upper body strength, and 3.7 says the use of self-closers should be minimised, particularly in parts used by the public. Where calculation and experience show that a person will not be able to open a self-closing entrance door with 30 N, 2.13(a) asks for a powered door.

Why fire doors are the problem. Approved Document B Appendix C says all fire doorsets should be fitted with a self-closing device, except doors to cupboards, doors to service ducts that are normally locked shut, and doors within flats and dwellinghouses (C5). A fire door on a circulation route therefore has to close reliably and be easy to open. Volume 2 3.10(k) and (l) give the way out: fire doors held open on an electro-magnetic device that releases on smoke detection, power failure or a hand switch, or fitted with swing-free devices that close when the alarm or a detector operates. Appendix C6 allows a held-open fire door to be released by an automatic fire detection and alarm system, a fusible link (with a restriction for openings that are means of escape) or a door closer delay device. The DHF and GAI Code adds that a manually released mechanical hold-open should not be used on fire doors, and that hold-open devices should meet EN 1155.

What a closer can do to the force: our arithmetic. The Code prints a table from BS EN 1154 giving, for each closer power size 1 to 7, a recommended leaf width and a maximum opening moment in newton metres. Dividing the moment by the width gives the force at the leading edge when the closer sits at its permitted upper limit: 47 N m on a 950 mm leaf (size 3) is about 49 N, against 30 N. Every size, at its upper limit, is above 30 N (chart below). That is a ceiling, not a typical value, and it leaves out latch, seal and hinge friction; real closers can be set well below it. The point is that the standard’s own limits do not guarantee a pass, so ask for the closer maker’s torque curve: the Code recommends third-party-verified curves, says only high-efficiency closers on leaves wider than about 900 mm are likely to meet both the fire door requirements and the opening force, that power sizes below 3 are not considered suitable for fire doors (EN 1154 Annex A), and that closers whose power is adjusted by template position are not usually suitable for accessible doors.

The options when the numbers will not meet. From the Code (section 13): a power-operated door; a lobby or air lock; a hold-open device to EN 1155 (stand-alone or built into the closer) on circulation routes where the opening force exceeds the limits; swing-free closers only on doors to rooms and not on circulation routes; and a delayed-action closer, for which the Code recommends a delay of not more than 25 seconds or a specific risk assessment. Smoke seals add resistance: the Code warns against adding closer strength just to overcome a poorly chosen or fitted seal. The fire door side of this is in fire door ironmongery and seals.

Width, space beside the door, handles and thresholds

Clear width is what is left, not what was ordered. Table 2 measures the opening from the outside of the stop on the closing side to any obstruction on the hinge side, and its note names “projecting door opening furniture” as one such obstruction (Diagram 9 draws a handle and the open leaf as the two cases). So a leaf that looks wide enough can fall short once the open leaf, the stop and a lever handle are counted. Ask the door supplier to state the achieved clear width on the schedule, with the hinge type and handle projection used, and see door sizes and tolerances for the conversion from leaf to opening. Whether an offset or swing-clear hinge can recover width on a given leaf is a question for the door supplier; we have no source for a figure.

Space beside the door. At least 300 mm on the pull side between the leading edge and any return wall, so a wheelchair user can reach and grip the handle and open the door without releasing it and without the footrest hitting the wall (2.15, 2.17(b), 3.10(c)). Fitted joinery beside a door (a wardrobe end, a console, a reception return) is where this is lost. The exception for a standard hotel bedroom door is in 3.10(c); the volume does not define “standard hotel bedroom”, and the door to a wheelchair-accessible bedroom does need the 300 mm (4.24(j)).

Handles. Where a door has a latch, the furniture must be operable with one hand using a closed fist, for example a lever handle (2.17(c), 3.10(d)); all door opening furniture contrasts visually with the door (2.17(d), 3.10(e)), and on entrance doors it should not be cold to the touch (2.17(d)). A knob that has to be gripped and turned is unlikely to meet the closed-fist test; confirm any doubtful pattern with the access consultant. Doors to sanitary accommodation follow the same two limbs (5.4(c)), and bedroom handles must be easy to grip and operate and contrast with the door (4.24(c)). The doors that carry the 30 N limit also carry the finish of the handle: contrast is judged against the leaf, so a handle in the leaf’s colour on a painted door fails the sentence even if it is the right shape.

Vision panels and powered doors. In leaves and side panels wider than 450 mm, vision panels towards the leading edge should include the zone 500 to 1,500 mm above the floor, which may be interrupted between 800 and 1,150 mm by a rail (3.10(h); Approved Document K 10.1(a) and Diagram 10.1). Manual controls for powered entrance doors go between 750 and 1,000 mm above the floor, operable with a closed fist, and, on the opening side, set back 1,400 mm from the leading edge of the fully open door (2.21(g)); powered doors must also have a safety stop, revert to manual or fail open on power loss (2.21(d), (e)).

Thresholds. At accessible entrances, a level threshold is preferred (2.6) and, if a raised one is unavoidable, 2.7(e) allows not more than 15 mm in total, a minimum number of upstands and slopes, with any upstand over 5 mm chamfered or rounded. Volume 1 uses the same figures in its key term “accessible threshold”. Paragraph 3.10 gives no threshold height for internal doors, so for an internal door ask the access consultant what the project follows. Where a smoke seal is wanted at the foot of a fire door, the Code suggests an automatic drop seal because it helps with the accessibility provisions of BS 8300 and the Approved Document.

Hotel accessible bedrooms: the door items

Paragraph 4.24 sets the provisions for sleeping accommodation. The ones that reach doors and ironmongery are in the table. Paragraph numbers are those of volume 2.

Paragraph 4.21 adds that bedrooms not designed for independent use by a wheelchair user still need an outer door wide enough for a wheelchair user to visit, which is why 4.24(a) applies to all bedrooms. For how the same door meets fire and sound requirements, see acoustic doors and Rw ratings and hotel guestroom furniture clearances.

Checking on site and what to put on the schedule

Checking on site. The Code says to measure the opening force with a plunger-type force-measuring instrument at the leading edge. Where that is not possible the reading may be taken on the face of the door up to 60 mm from the leading edge, roughly in line with the spindle of a lever handle or the centre line of a pull handle, in which case the limits may be increased by about 2 N. The Code adds that instruments vary and that site readings carry an imprecision of 2 to 3 N. Take readings with the door set as it will run: latch, seals and closer fitted, adjusted and finished, and record them for each accessible door.

On the schedule. Put numbers against each door: leaf size, hinge type and number, achieved clear width, handle reference and the height confirmed by the consultant, closer or hold-open reference with its power size and torque curve, threshold type and height, and the force reading to be taken at handover. A schedule that says only “accessible door” leaves the closer, hinge and handle to whoever prices it. The paste-in wording below is a starting point; example values are in square brackets.

Door [D01]: hinges [type, number] to give an effective clear width of not less than [800] mm as Approved Document M volume 2 Table 2 and Diagram 9, with handle and stop as fitted; 300 mm beside the leading edge on the pull side; threshold [level / not more than 15 mm, upstands over 5 mm chamfered].

Manual doors on accessible routes to open with not more than 30 N at the leading edge from closed to 30 degrees and 22.5 N from 30 to 60 degrees, measured at [practical completion] with a plunger gauge, latch, seals and closer fitted. Closer supplier to submit a [third-party] torque curve. Where a fire door cannot meet this, [hold-open to BS EN 1155 released by the fire alarm / powered operator].

Lever [or pull] operable with one hand and a closed fist, in finish [ ] contrasting with the leaf [colour]. Height [ ] mm to centre, confirmed in writing by [access consultant] against BS 8300-2 before ordering.

Viewers at 1,050 mm and 1,500 mm; wardrobe doors open 180 degrees; balcony door level, no transom between 900 and 1,200 mm, nothing fixed within 1,500 mm of it.

Standards and sources

• gov.uk: Approved Document M volumes 1 and 2: vol 2 2015 ed. incorporating 2020 and 2024 amendments; vol 1 2015 ed. incorporating 2016 amendments. Read 7 Nov 2026.
• gov.uk: Approved Document K (2013 edition): section 10. Read 7 Nov 2026.
• DHF and GAI Code of Practice, Hardware for fire and escape doors (Issue 5, Nov 2024): 3.3.1, 13.1. Advisory. Read.
• BS 8300-2:2018; BS EN 1154:1997; BS EN 1155:1997: BSI Knowledge: 8300-2 current (31 Jan 2018); 1154 current, under review; 1155 current. Not read.

Questions we are asked

What is the minimum door width for wheelchair access in England?

For buildings other than dwellings, Approved Document M volume 2 Table 2 gives an effective clear width of 800 mm for a new door approached straight-on or at right angles to a route 1,500 mm wide, 825 mm if the route is 1,200 mm wide, and 1,000 mm for external doors to buildings used by the public. For dwellings it depends on the category: 775 mm at the principal entrance of a visitable dwelling, 850 mm at the entrance of an accessible or wheelchair dwelling. It is the clear width, not the leaf size.

What height does Part M say a door handle should be?

Approved Document M volume 2 prints no door-handle height. The 900 to 1,100 mm in 4.30(h) concerns light switches aligned with door handles. BS 8300-2:2018 may give figures; we have not read it, so confirm the height with an access consultant and write it on the door schedule.

Does the 30 N limit apply to fire doors?

Paragraph 3.10(a) applies to internal doors that need to be opened manually and states no exemption for fire doors. The document instead suggests holding fire doors open on electro-magnetic devices that release on smoke detection, power failure or a hand switch, or fitting swing-free devices (3.10(k) and (l)). A self-closing fire door on a circulation route that cannot meet 30 N is a design problem to solve with the closer maker and the fire engineer.

How is opening force checked on site?

The DHF and GAI Code says to use a plunger-type force-measuring instrument at the leading edge, or on the door face up to 60 mm from it with the limits raised by about 2 N, and that readings carry an imprecision of 2 to 3 N. Take readings with the latch, seals and closer fitted and adjusted.

Do hotel bedroom doors need the 300 mm space beside the handle?

Paragraph 3.10(c) excludes a door that gives access to a standard hotel bedroom, but 4.24(j) asks for the 300 mm clear space at the door from the corridor to a wheelchair-accessible bedroom. The volume does not define a standard hotel bedroom, so confirm with building control which rooms count.

Is a level threshold compulsory?

At accessible entrances a level threshold is preferred (2.6), and a raised one is allowed up to 15 mm in total with any upstand over 5 mm chamfered or rounded (2.7(e)). Paragraph 3.10 gives no threshold height for internal doors, and the balcony door of a wheelchair-accessible bedroom must have a level threshold (4.24(o)). Check BS 8300-2 and the access consultant for internal doors.