Accessible Lift Car Dimensions: Part M and BS EN 81-70

Worked Example: Sizing the Shaft Around a Standard Car

Approved Document M Vol 2 para 3.34(c) sets the minimum lift car at 1100mm wide and 1400mm deep. That is exactly the BS EN 81-70:2021+A1:2022 Type 2 car, so specifying “a Type 2 car” already satisfies the Part M minimum without any extra checking. The shaft around it needs to be bigger, to leave room for guide rails, the door mechanism and the counterweight. Our lift sizing calculator uses indicative early-design clearances of 250mm each side and 200mm (door) plus 350mm (counterweight) front-to-back:

• Shaft width: 1100mm car + 250mm + 250mm = 1600mm
• Shaft depth: 1400mm car + 200mm + 350mm = 1950mm

These clearances are indicative for early design, not fixed by Part M or BS EN 81-70, so always confirm the real shaft opening against the chosen lift manufacturer’s general-arrangement drawing before construction.

Why the Door Width Splits 800mm and 900mm

Approved Document M’s own provision 3.34(e) only requires power-operated horizontal sliding doors to give “an effective clear width of at least 800mm (nominal)”. That figure is easy to mistake for the standard, but it is Part M’s floor, not its target: the BS EN 81-70:2021+A1:2022 Type 2 car, the standard car built to Part M’s 1100 × 1400mm minimum footprint, specifies a 900mm clear door. In practice 900mm is what gets specified on new-build accessible lifts. An 800mm door mainly shows up where an existing Type 2 shaft is being retrofitted and 900mm will not fit inside the existing structural opening.

Landing and Car Control Heights

Approved Document M sets two separate height bands, one for the buttons inside the car and one for the call buttons at each landing:

• Car controls (para 3.34g): located between 900mm and 1200mm (preferably 1100mm) from the car floor, and at least 400mm from any return wall.
• Landing call buttons (para 3.34h): located between 900mm and 1100mm from the floor of the landing, and at least 500mm from any return wall.

Worked example: the midpoint of the 900–1100mm landing button range is (900mm + 1100mm) ÷ 2 = 1000mm, which is why many installers standardise landing call buttons at 1000mm on every floor of a building: it sits centrally inside the permitted range regardless of small on-site variations in finished floor level.

The Mirror Requirement

Approved Document M para 3.34(d) is explicit: “for lifts of a size that does not allow a wheelchair user to turn around within the lift car, a mirror is provided in the lift car to enable a wheelchair user to see the space behind the wheelchair”. A standard Type 2 car (1100 × 1400mm) does not give enough room for a full turn, a wheelchair turning circle needs around 1500mm diameter, so it needs the mirror. The larger 2000 × 1400mm car described in para 3.29 does allow a 180° turn, so a mirror is not required there. Where a mirror is fitted, BS EN 81-70:2021+A1:2022 industry guidance keeps the bottom edge of the mirror, or a decorative glass panel used instead, at least 300mm above the car floor, in laminated, impact-resistant glass, so a footplate or castor striking the wall cannot break it.

Handrail and Manoeuvring Space

Two further Part M provisions cover the space around the car. The general requirement at para 3.24(f) calls for a handrail on at least one wall of the lift, with its top surface at 900mm (nominal) above the floor, positioned so it does not obstruct the controls or the mirror; BS EN 81-70:2021+A1:2022 refines the same figure to a tolerance of 900mm ± 25mm. Separately, para 3.28(a) requires an unobstructed manoeuvring space of 1500 × 1500mm, or a straight access route at least 900mm wide, in front of every lift, so a wheelchair user can approach and align with the doors before they open.

Figures verified against Approved Document M Volume 2, “Access to and use of buildings other than dwellings” (2015 edition incorporating the 2020 and 2024 amendments, gov.uk online version), paragraphs 3.24, 3.28 to 3.34 and Diagram 11, and BS EN 81-70:2021+A1:2022 industry sizing tables (Ideal Lifts BS EN 81-70 accessibility guide; iKONIC Lifts EN 81-70:2021 technical notes). The 1275kg / 17-person / 1100mm-door figures for the larger 180°-turn car are corroborated by a Stannah Xtralift 2.0 datasheet. Approved Document M’s own text names BS EN 81-70:2003 as the relevant British Standard; the current harmonised edition used for new lift installations is EN 81-70:2021+A1:2022. Sometimes searched as “DDA compliant” lift dimensions: the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was replaced by the Equality Act 2010, and neither sets specific lift dimensions themselves, the figures on this page come from Building Regulations Approved Document M and BS EN 81-70. This page covers England; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own equivalent standards. Not a substitute for a lift manufacturer’s general-arrangement drawing or a competent access consultant’s review. Last updated: July 2026.