Desk and workstation dimensions

At a glance

Millimetres, from the finished floor to the top surface at the edge nearest the user (the definition used by BS EN 527-1:2011). 720 to 760 mm is 28 to 30 inches. Sizes marked practice are typical trade ranges, not figures from a standard.

Height is set from the seat, not from a catalogue

Desk height looks like a figure to look up, and our table heights sheet gives 720 to 760 mm for a fixed desk. But the guide the Health and Safety Executive publishes for workplace seating (Seating at work, HSG57, paragraph 36) says the height of the workstation and the seat should let hand work normally be done at elbow level or below. Its Figure 3 turns that into numbers, in millimetres:

• Work surface: 660 to 1,000 above the floor, as the range drawn for the work surface.
• Top above the seat: 210 to 300.
• Thigh room: at least 170 between the seat and the underside of the surface.
• Knee space: at least 450 deep, and foot space at least 600 deep at floor level.

Figure 1(a) of the same guide gives the chair a seat height adjustment of 380 to 535 mm. Put the two together and a fixed top can serve only the seat heights that keep it 210 to 300 mm above the seat. The table works that out. It is our arithmetic from the two figures, not a figure the guide prints.

A 745 mm top leaves the lowest part of the chair's range, 380 to 445 mm, outside the window. Anyone who needs a seat that low to rest their feet on the floor needs a footrest (HSG57 paragraph 26) or a lower desk. That is the practical case for a height-adjustable desk. At the other end, a top of 1,000 mm is a standing height for most people: no seat in the range reaches it.

The drawing shows one example, with a 745 mm top, a 450 mm seat and a 60 mm apron. The green figures are the HSE ones.

Thickness, aprons and the space beneath

Thigh room is what a thick top, a deep apron or a drawer takes away. HSG57 paragraph 38 says the work surface should be no thicker than strength needs, gives a typical maximum of 30 mm, and says thicker surfaces restrict the number of people who can sit comfortably because they leave too little clearance for the thighs. BS EN 527-1 treats the same thing through its definition of desk top thickness: the thickness of the work surface and every protruding part within the width and depth of the legroom (clause 3.7). A 50 mm stone edge is therefore not a problem if the underside is rebated so only a thin section lies over the legroom, and it is a problem if the apron or a drawer runs the full width.

With the seat at 450 mm and the top at 745 mm there are 295 mm to share between the top, anything beneath it and the thighs. Against the 170 mm minimum, that leaves 125 mm for the top and everything under it.

The last row is the case the first three miss. Raise the seat to the top of the chair's range and the same desk has only 210 mm between seat and top, so the top and apron together may be no more than 40 mm. Tall users need a higher desk, which again points to height adjustment.

Two measuring rules from BS EN 527-1 are worth writing into a shop drawing. Height is measured from the floor to the top of the work surface at the edge closest to the user (clause 3.1). Legroom depth is measured at the working position with the rear edge of the desk against a vertical wall (clause 4.1), so a desk that is fixed away from the wall must say how its legroom is measured.

Executive, hotel and home desks: width and depth

BS EN 527-1 is limited to work tables and desks for office tasks. It covers the seated, sit-stand and standing positions, and its scope says it includes neither storage units nor other tables in the office area nor reception desks. We have read its scope, definitions and measuring rules from the free BSI preview but not its dimensions table (Table 1), so the widths and depths here are typical trade ranges and marked as practice. Check them against the standard before you quote a size as compliant.

• Executive desks carry visitors on the far side, pedestals or a credenza, and often a thick top for presence. The depth is for the work surface, the screen and a visitor's distance, and the pedestals narrow the knee space, so draw the clear width between them.
• Hotel writing desks are used with a fixed chair, often a dining-type chair with a seat near 450 mm. Set the top from that seat, 280 to 300 mm above it, as on our table heights sheet, and keep the apron shallow. A guest room is tight: draw the chair pulled out into the room as well as tucked in.
• Home study desks are deeper where a monitor and a lamp share the top. Our writing desks page gives a top height of 73 to 75 cm and a depth of 70 to 90 cm.
• Reception counters are outside BS EN 527-1. Approved Document M gives figures for the lowered section: see our Approved Document M sheet, which also records that the volume gives no height for office or hotel desks.

Sit-stand desks: the range and what to ask for

BS EN 527-1 sorts desks by how their height is set: type A is height adjustable by the user during use, type B has a height chosen at installation, type C is fixed and type D has a limited selectable or adjustable height (clauses 3.2 to 3.5). A sit-stand desk is one whose height adjusts to allow work positions from seated to standing (clause 3.6). Our table heights sheet gives about 650 to 1,250 mm for the range. We have not read the range the standard sets, so treat that as typical, and ask each supplier to state the range they offer.

If the top travels from 650 to 1,250 mm, that is 600 mm of travel, so every cable to the desk needs at least that much slack in a carrier, plus the run to the nearest fixed point. Ask for:

• the lowest and highest top height, measured at the front edge, and the load the lift is rated for;
• how the top is kept stable and level at full height, and how many lifting columns there are;
• a test report to the safety, strength and durability standard for office desks, BS EN 527-2 (edition to confirm), and the electrical declaration for any mains-powered lift or power module;
• where the controls are and what happens at the ends of travel and when something is in the way.

The HSE pages we read do not mention sit-stand desks, and this sheet claims no health benefit for them. The Display Screen Equipment Regulations ask for a flexible, adjustable workstation, which a height-adjustable desk can help provide.

Display screen equipment, cables and power

The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 are duties on employers. They apply to a workstation used by a user, an employee who habitually uses display screen equipment as a significant part of their normal work (regulation 1(2)(d)), and to workstations an employer provides for self-employed operators (regulation 2(1)). HSE's pages describe users as people who use DSE daily, for continuous periods of an hour or more. The Schedule sets minimum requirements in general terms and gives no dimensions:

• Work desk or surface (paragraph 2(d)): a sufficiently large, low-reflectance surface that allows a flexible arrangement of the screen, keyboard, documents and related equipment, with adequate space for the user to find a comfortable position.
• Work chair (paragraph 2(e)): stable, with a seat adjustable in height and a seat back adjustable in height and tilt, and a footrest for anyone who wants one.
• Space (paragraph 3(a)): enough room to change position and vary movements.

HSE's guidance on good posture adds figures for the set-up: the top of the screen level with the eyes and about an arm's length away, the keyboard just below elbow height, the mouse in line with the elbow, and a gap of 2 to 3 cm between the front of the seat and the back of the knee. Its workstation checklist asks whether the surface is large enough, whether the arms of the chair stop the user getting close enough, and whether anything under the desk is in the way.

The Regulations speak of employees, so a guest's desk in a hotel bedroom is not obviously within them, and we found no guidance either way. Hotel back-of-house and reception workstations used by staff are a different case. Take advice, and use the same dimensions as good practice for the guest desk.

Cable and power provision is part of the desk, not an add-on: a grommet or cable trough in the top, a concealed run to the floor or wall, wireless charging let into the surface, and slack for any travel. Our office furniture article explains the approach. Write the positions on the shop drawing, name who supplies the power modules, and leave electrical installation to the electrician.

Desk top [740] mm above finished floor level to the top surface at the edge nearest the user; top not more than [30] mm thick within the legroom. Clear space beneath: not less than [450] mm deep at knee level, [600] mm deep at floor level, and [170] mm between the seat of chair [reference], set at [450] mm, and the lowest apron, rail or drawer (HSE HSG57 Figure 3; confirm against BS EN 527-1 for the project's users). Heights and legroom on the shop drawing and checked on a mock-up with the real chair before production.

Height-adjustable desk (BS EN 527-1:2011 type [A]), range [650] to [1,250] mm at the front edge, [2] lifting columns rated for [ ] kg, stable and level at every height. Supply a test report to BS EN 527-2 [edition] and the electrical declaration for the lift and any power module. Cables in a [flexible carrier] with slack for the full travel plus [ ] mm. Range, load and routing on the shop drawing.

Writing desk [1,200] x [600] mm, top [745] mm above finished floor level, [290] mm above the finished seat height [450] mm of chair [reference] (280 to 300 mm). Apron not more than [60] mm deep; top not more than [30] mm thick within the legroom. Chair to tuck in fully and to be shown pulled out on room plan [ref]. [2] sockets and [2] USB outlets within reach of the seated user, by [electrician]. Mock-up with the real chair approved before the room set is ordered.

Desk to provide: [one] [60] mm grommet with [brush] seal at [ ] mm from the rear and left edges; a concealed cable trough [ ] x [ ] mm along the rear of the underside; a route to the [floor box / wall] at [ ]; [a wireless charging cut-out [ ] mm diameter at [ ]]. Power modules and cabling by [others]; access panels so services can be reached without removing the top. Top finished to sample [S-nn], low-reflectance, with a surface resistance report on an identical panel; front edge [3] mm radius, underside rebated so not more than [ ] mm lies over the legroom.

Standards and sources

• HSE, Seating at work (HSG57), 1997, reprinted 2011: paras 23 to 38 and 52; Figures 1(a) and 3.
• Display Screen Equipment Regulations 1992 (SI 1992/2792): regs 1 to 3, Schedule; HSE DSE pages (2025-03-20) and checklist CK1.
• BS EN 527-1:2011 (desks, dimensions): BSI preview only, Table 1 not read; BS EN 527-2, 527-3 and BS 8300-2 named only.

Questions we are asked

What is the standard height of a desk?

A fixed desk top is usually 720 to 760 mm above the floor, and our writing desks page gives 73 to 75 cm. The HSE guide Seating at work draws 660 to 1,000 mm for work surfaces in general, with the top 210 to 300 mm above the seat. Set it from the seat of the chair that will be used.

How much knee space does a desk need?

The HSE guide shows at least 450 mm deep at knee level, at least 600 mm deep at floor level and at least 170 mm of thigh room between the seat and the underside of the desk. It gives no width in the figure we read. BS EN 527-1 sets legroom dimensions in Table 1, which we have not read.

What height range should a sit-stand desk have?

Our table heights sheet gives about 650 to 1,250 mm. BS EN 527-1 defines a sit-stand desk but we have not read the range it sets, so ask each supplier to state the lowest and highest top height, measured at the front edge, and the load the lift is rated for.

How thick can a desk top be?

The HSE guide gives a typical maximum of 30 mm for a work surface used with a chair, because thicker surfaces leave too little room for the thighs. A thicker edge can work if the underside is rebated so only a thin section lies over the legroom.

Do the DSE Regulations apply to a hotel writing desk?

They are duties on employers for workstations used by their employees who habitually use display screen equipment, so a guest's desk is not obviously within them. Staff workstations in a hotel are. The Regulations give no dimensions. Ask a health and safety adviser.

Does Approved Document M give a desk height?

No. We searched the text of volume 2 for desks and found no height. It gives figures for a reception counter, which is outside BS EN 527-1.