Accessible Toilet Requirements in Australia: When the NCC Requires One, How Many, Ambulant Toilets and the AS 1428.1 Layout (2025 Guide)
Under NCC 2025 a Class 5 to 9 building that must have toilets needs an accessible unisex toilet on every storey with toilets (a small-building concession aside), at not less than half the banks where a storey has more than one, and an ambulant toilet for each sex at a bank where the accessible one has other toilets beside it (F4D5, F4D6). This guide covers when one is required, the count for each class, small cafés and small buildings, and the AS 1428.1:2021 layout, with a checker that counts them.
An accessible toilet is what the National Construction Code (NCC) calls an accessible unisex sanitary compartment, and what many people still call a disabled toilet. The questions about it come in the same order. Does this building need one? How many? Do we need ambulant toilets too? And what does the room have to look like?
This guide answers them in the order NCC 2025 does. Part D4 decides which buildings and parts must be accessible, F4D5 and F4D6 set the accessible and ambulant compartments, and AS 1428.1:2021 sets the room. The checker in section 9 counts them for your building.
In one minute
In a Class 5 to 9 building where F4D4 requires closet pans, every storey with toilets needs an accessible unisex compartment (Volume One F4D6(1)(d)). A storey with more than one bank of male and female toilets needs one at not less than half of them.
Each bank where the accessible compartment has other toilets beside it also needs an ambulant compartment for males and one for females (F4D5(c)), built to AS 1428.1 Section 13.
Small cafés are not exempt. At 20 persons or fewer in the building, patrons need no toilets, but employees still need a closet pan (Table F4D4d note, Table F4D4a), so the accessible compartment stays (F4D6(1)(d)).
A small Class 5, 6, 7b or 8 building of up to 3 storeys whose storeys other than the entrance storey are each 200 m² or less needs no lift or ramp to them (D4D4(f)), and then no accessible toilet on them (F4D5(i)).
AS 1428.1:2021 sets the room: a clear space 1 900 mm wide and 2 300 mm long at the pan, the pan centre 450 to 460 mm from the side wall and its front 800 ± 10 mm from the back wall (Clauses 12.2.2, 12.2.8.1).
1. Which buildings must be accessible
Part D4 of NCC Volume One comes first. Buildings and parts of buildings must be accessible as D4D2 requires, unless D4D5 exempts them (D4D2(1)). Volume One covers Class 2 to 9 buildings, and access for people with a disability in Class 1b and 10a buildings (A1G1). Our building classes guide explains the classes.
| Class | What must be accessible | Accessible unisex compartments |
|---|---|---|
| 1b | A guest house or the like: one bedroom and its sanitary facilities, and the common rooms. Holiday dwellings on one allotment: the number in Table D4D2a (D4D2(2)) | Not less than 1; none shared where every accessible bedroom has its own (F4D6(1)(a)) |
| 2 | Common areas: from an accessible entrance to at least one floor of units and their entrance doors, and one of each type of common room (D4D2(4)) | Not less than 1 where there are toilets in common areas (F4D6(1)(b)) |
| 3 and 9c | The same common areas, and the number of sole-occupancy units in Table D4D2b (D4D2(5), (9)) | 1 in every accessible unit that has its own toilets, and 1 at each common-area bank of 2 or more (F4D6(1)(c)) |
| 5, 6, 7b, 8 and 9a | All areas normally used by the occupants (D4D2(6)) | Where F4D4 requires closet pans: 1 on every storey with toilets, at not less than 50% of its banks of male and female toilets (F4D6(1)(d)) |
| 7a | Any level with accessible carparking spaces (D4D2(7)) | |
| 9b | Schools and early childhood centres: all areas normally used. Assembly buildings: the wheelchair seating spaces and the other areas normally used (D4D2(8)) | |
| 10a | A non-habitable building in an accessible area for the public that contains a sanitary facility, change room or shelter: to and within an accessible sanitary facility, the change room and the shelter (D4D2(10)(a)) | 1 at each bank of 2 or more toilets, but not in a Class 10a appurtenant to another class or for a single caravan or camping site (F4D6(1)(e), (3)) |
NCC 2025 Volume One D4D2 and F4D6(1), summarised. A Class 1a house is not in the table: see section 7.
D4D3 adds the way in: an accessway from the main pedestrian entry at the allotment boundary, through the principal pedestrian entrance and through not less than 50% of all pedestrian entrances (D4D3(1), (2)).
D4D5 exempts three kinds of area: an area where access would be inappropriate because of its particular purpose, an area that would pose a health or safety risk for people with a disability, and a path that serves only those areas (D4D5(1)). South Australia and Tasmania each add one exemption of their own.
2. What F4D5 asks of every accessible building
Once a building must be accessible, F4D5 sets the rules for its sanitary facilities. In plain words:
Accessible unisex sanitary compartments are provided in accessible parts of the building, in the numbers F4D6 sets (F4D5(a)). Accessible unisex showers follow F4D7 (F4D5(b)).
At each bank where the accessible compartment has one or more other toilets beside it, at least one compartment for males and one for females is suitable for a person with an ambulant disability, to AS 1428.1 (F4D5(c)).
The accessible compartment holds a closet pan, washbasin, shelf or bench top and a means of disposing of sanitary products (F4D5(d)). Its circulation spaces, fixtures and fittings comply with AS 1428.1 (F4D5(e)).
It can be entered without crossing an area reserved for one sex (F4D5(f)).
Where two or more are provided, left and right-handed mirror images are provided as evenly as possible (F4D5(g)).
Where male and female toilets are at separate locations, the accessible ones are needed at only one of them (F4D5(h)).
None is needed on a storey that D4D4(f) does not require to have a passenger lift or ramp (F4D5(i)).
Part F4 adds two construction rules. A unisex facility has doors and partitions from floor level to the ceiling (F4D8(1)(a)). Unless there is a clear space of at least 1.2 m between the pan and the doorway, the door to a fully enclosed compartment opens outwards, slides or can be removed from outside (F4D8(2)).
3. How many: F4D6 by class
Class 5 to 9. Where F4D4 requires closet pans, there is 1 accessible unisex compartment on every storey containing sanitary compartments (F4D6(1)(d)(i)). Where a storey has more than one bank containing male and female compartments, they go at not less than 50% of those banks (F4D6(1)(d)(ii)). Two banks need one; three or four need two.
The condition is nearly always met. The employee rows of Tables F4D4a, F4D4b and F4D4f require a closet pan from the first employee of each sex, and “employees” includes owners and managers using the building (F4D4(2)). Within a ward area of a Class 9a building the rule does not apply (F4D6(2)).
It counts once for each sex. In calculating the F4D4 facilities, a unisex facility required for people with a disability may be counted once for each sex (F4D3(3)): one male and one female pan and washbasin. The sanitary facilities guide and the free sanitary facilities calculator work through the tables.
Other classes. Class 3 and 9c: 1 in every accessible sole-occupancy unit with its own sanitary compartments, and 1 at each common-area bank of 2 or more (F4D6(1)(c)). Table D4D2b sets the accessible units: 1 for up to 10 units, 2 for 11 to 40. Class 2: not less than 1 where there are toilets in common areas (F4D6(1)(b)). Class 1b: not less than 1, or none shared where every accessible bedroom has its own (F4D6(1)(a)). Class 10a: 1 at each bank of 2 or more, except where F4D6(3) excludes it (F4D6(1)(e)).
Showers follow the same pattern. In a Class 5 to 9 building where F4D4 requires showers, not less than 1 for every 10 or part of 10 is accessible (F4D7(1)(d)).
State variations. South Australia replaces F4D6(1) with its own version. Its main addition is for Class 2: one in every unit SA D4D2(4) requires to be accessible, which in a development of 20 or more units is 1 unit or 5%, whichever is greater. Victoria adds grabrails to AS 1428.1 at every pan, shower and bath used by residents of Class 3 and 9a residential aged care buildings and Class 9c buildings (F4D2(6)). Tasmania and the Northern Territory replace F4D4.
4. Small premises: cafés, the 20-person note and small buildings
Table F4D4d sets the patrons' toilets for Class 6 restaurants, cafés and bars. Its note reads: “Sanitary facilities need not be provided for patrons if the total number of persons accommodated in the building is not more than 20.” Table F4D4l, for public halls and function rooms, has the same note.
The count is everyone in the building, staff included. It comes from D2D18 unless it can be determined more accurately (F4D3(1)), and Table D2D18 sets 1 m² per person for a café; the D2D18 guide explains the count. And the note removes only the patrons' toilets.
Employees are still counted under Table F4D4a, so F4D4 still requires a closet pan and F4D6(1)(d) still requires an accessible compartment on the storey. With not more than 10 employed, one unisex facility may replace separate facilities for each sex (F4D4(3)). Counted once for each sex, the accessible compartment alone meets Table F4D4a for up to 10 male and 15 female employees (F4D3(3)).
Above 20 persons the patrons' toilets return. In a Class 6 or 9b building other than a school or early childhood centre, staff and public may share facilities if the number provided covers both requirements added together (F4D4(5)). New South Wales's Table F4D4d also relieves a small live music or arts venue that is not a licensed premises.
Tenancies. Part F4's Deemed-to-Satisfy clauses do not mention tenancies. F4D6(1)(d) counts per storey, and F4P1 asks for facilities “in a convenient location within or associated with a building”. Whether one set can serve several tenancies is for the building surveyor or certifier.
Small buildings. A Class 5, 6, 7b or 8 building of not more than 3 storeys, each storey other than the entrance storey 200 m² or less, needs no ramp or lift to those storeys (D4D4(f)), and then no accessible compartment on them (F4D5(i)). Class 7a and Class 9 buildings, and taller buildings, do not get the concession.
5. Ambulant compartments
AS 1428.1 defines people with ambulant disabilities as “people who have a mobility disability but are able to walk” (Clause 1.4.15).
When. At each bank where there are one or more toilets in addition to the accessible unisex compartment, there is not less than one ambulant compartment for males and one for females (F4D5(c)). A bank without an accessible compartment needs none, and neither does an accessible compartment on its own. The clause sets the kind of compartment at the bank; it does not say they are in addition to the pans Table F4D4 requires.
What. AS 1428.1:2021 Section 13, in brief:
The compartment is 900 to 920 mm wide between walls, with a clear space at least 900 mm long in front of the pan (Clause 13.1, Figure 52(A)).
The pan has its standard projection and a seat 460 to 480 mm above the floor (Clause 13.1).
Grabrails on both sides are continuous, a horizontal section plus a vertical or upward angled one, with the horizontal at 800 to 820 mm (Clause 13.2, Figure 52(A)).
The door has a clear opening of at least 700 mm, an in-use indicator and a catch that opens from outside in an emergency (Clause 13.3).
A clothes hook sits 1 350 to 1 500 mm above the floor (Clause 13.5). The sign that identifies it goes on the door (D4D7(1)(d); Clause 13.4).
6. The AS 1428.1 accessible unisex toilet layout
NCC 2025 calls up AS 1428 Part 1, 2021 edition, in Schedule 2, against F4D5 among other clauses. Its Section 12 sets the room; the figure gives the key dimensions.
Circulation space. Below 900 mm only the toilet paper dispenser, grabrails, backrest, a portable sanitary disposal unit, wall taps and up to 100 mm of basin, in the zone Figure 43 shows, may intrude. Hand dryers, shelves and the like may intrude up to 150 mm with 900 mm clear below (Clause 12.2.8.1).
Pan and grabrails. The 800 ± 10 mm from the back wall is called a critical dimension (Figure 38). The seat is full-round, rated to 150 kg, with 30% luminance contrast against the pan, wall or floor (Clause 12.2.3), and a backrest is required (Clause 12.2.4). The luminance contrast guide explains the 30% test. Grabrails are 30 to 40 mm in diameter, 50 to 60 mm off the wall, and take 1 100 N in any direction (Section 14).
Room size. The Standard's examples of a whole room are 1 900 by 2 630 mm and 2 300 by 2 330 mm clear (Figure 50(B)). The door circulation spaces of Section 10 and the door rule in F4D8(2) decide the rest.
Signs. In an accessible building each sanitary facility, other than one serving a Class 1b bedroom or a Class 3 or 9c sole-occupancy unit, has a braille and tactile sign with the international symbol of access, to Specification 15 (D4D7(1)(a)). The accessible unisex sign says left or right-handed (D4D7(1)(c)), in LH or RH letters of at least 20 mm (AS 1428.1 Clause 5.1(a)(ii)). It sits 1 200 to 1 600 mm above the floor on the latch side, its leading edge 50 to 300 mm from the architrave (Specification 15 S15C2). A bank without an accessible compartment carries a sign to the nearest one (D4D7(1)(f)).
7. Houses: what a Class 1a dwelling needs instead
Parts D4 and F4 are in Volume One, which does not cover a Class 1a house (A1G1). Volume Two and the ABCB Housing Provisions do, and they ask for a closet pan and a washbasin but no accessible toilet (Housing Provisions 10.4.1(1)).
What a new house does need is the ABCB Standard for Livable Housing Design (Volume Two H8D2(1)), except in New South Wales, where Part H8 does not apply; in Tasmania a Director's Determination sets how it applies. At least one sanitary compartment is on the ground or entry level (clause 4.1); South Australia also allows the lowest level containing a habitable room (SA H8D2(6)). It has a clear space 1 200 mm by 900 mm in front of the pan, and a separate toilet room is at least 900 mm wide between walls (clause 4.2). Our livable housing guide covers the rest.
South Australia goes further. Its variation to Part H10 of Volume Two requires access to and within one dwelling, or 5% of the dwellings if greater, in a development of 20 or more (SA H10D3). That dwelling has one closet pan, washbasin and shower for people with a disability, with access, finishes and fittings to AS 1428.1 (SA H10D4).
8. Adult change facilities: a separate requirement
Some large buildings also need one accessible adult change facility: a large shopping centre, a large sports venue, a museum, gallery or theatre, and the passenger area of an airport terminal, the first four only at or above the size thresholds in F4D12(1). It is built to Specification 27 and cannot be combined with another sanitary compartment (F4D12(2)): it is a room of its own, separate from the accessible unisex toilets. Nor does it count once for each sex (F4D3(3)).
9. Count the toilets for your building
Choose the class. For Class 5 to 9, set the storeys with toilets and the banks of male and female toilets on each, and tick the small-building concession if it applies. Class 3 and 9c take the number of units and the common-area banks. The drawing shows each storey and bank, the accessible compartments with their left or right hand, and the ambulant compartments beside them. The cards give each rule with its clause.
10. Worked examples
| Building | Accessible unisex | Ambulant | Clauses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-storey Class 5 office, one bank of male and female toilets a floor | 2 (1 LH, 1 RH) | 4 | F4D6(1)(d), F4D5(c), (g) |
| The same office, upper floor 180 m² | 1, on the entrance storey | 2 | D4D4(f), F4D5(i) |
| Four-storey Class 5 office, two banks a floor | 4 (2 LH, 2 RH) | 8 | F4D6(1)(d)(ii), F4D5(c), (g) |
| Café A: 4 staff and 16 patrons, 20 persons in the building | 1 | 0 | Table F4D4d note, F4D6(1)(d), F4D3(3) |
| Café B: 4 staff and 24 patrons, 28 persons | 1 | 2 | Tables F4D4a, F4D4d, F4D4(5), F4D5(c) |
| Class 3 hotel, 40 rooms with ensuites, one lobby bank | 3 (2 LH, 1 RH) | 2 | Table D4D2b, F4D6(1)(c) |
Counts under NCC 2025 Volume One. Check each in the checker above.
The two-storey office. Each floor has toilets, so each has an accessible compartment, and each bank has male and female toilets beside it, so there are 4 ambulant compartments (F4D6(1)(d), F4D5(c)). The two accessible ones are one left and one right-handed (F4D5(g)). Make the upper floor 180 m² and D4D4(f) removes the need for a lift and, with it, the upstairs accessible compartment (F4D5(i)). The upstairs bank then carries a sign to the one below (D4D7(1)(f)).
The four-storey office. Half of two banks is one, so there is 1 accessible compartment a floor, 4 in all, with 8 ambulant at the banks that have them (F4D6(1)(d)(ii)). The four other banks carry signs.
The cafés. Café A's 20 persons are not more than 20, so its patrons need no toilets. Its 4 staff, 2 and 2, need 1 pan and 1 basin for each sex (Table F4D4a), which the accessible compartment meets on its own when counted for each sex (F4D3(3)). Café B's 28 persons bring the patrons back: 12 male and 12 female need 1 pan, 1 urinal and 1 basin for males and 1 pan and 1 basin for females (Table F4D4d). Shared with the staff (F4D4(5)), less the accessible compartment for each sex, that leaves a male room with 1 pan, 1 urinal and 1 basin and a female room with 1 pan and 1 basin. Those pans sit beside the accessible compartment, so they are built as ambulant compartments (F4D5(c)).
The hotel. Forty units fall in Table D4D2b's 11 to 40 band: 2 accessible units, each with its own accessible compartment, plus 1 at the lobby bank (F4D6(1)(c)).
11. Common mistakes
Reading the 20-person note as no accessible toilet. It removes the patrons' toilets only. Employees, owners and managers still need a closet pan, so F4D6(1)(d) still applies.
Counting the café, not the building. The note counts the total number of persons accommodated in the building. A café inside a larger building is counted with everyone else in it.
Counting seats. Unless the number can be determined more accurately, it comes from D2D18 (F4D3(1)), at 1 m² per person for a café.
Applying the small-building concession too widely. D4D4(f) covers Class 5, 6, 7b and 8 buildings of not more than 3 storeys only, with every storey other than the entrance storey 200 m² or less.
Building every accessible toilet the same hand. Two or more are split between left and right-handed layouts as evenly as possible (F4D5(g)), and each sign says which (D4D7(1)(c)).
12. Where to read the source
NCC 2025 Volume One Parts D4 and F4 are free on the NCC website. The clauses used here are A1G1, D4D2 to D4D5, D4D7, F4D3 to F4D8, F4D12 and F4P1, Tables D2D18, D4D2b, F4D4a and F4D4d, Specification 15 and Schedule 2, with the state variations to D4D2, D4D5, F4D2, F4D4 and F4D6. Volume Two H8D2 and South Australia's Part H10, Housing Provisions 10.4.1 and the ABCB Standard for Livable Housing Design are on the same site.
AS 1428.1:2021 Design for access and mobility, Part 1: General requirements for access — New building work is purchased from Standards Australia. The parts used here are Clauses 1.4.15, 5.1, 10.2, 12.2 to 12.4, Sections 13 and 14, and Figures 38, 43, 50(B) and 52(A).
Inside AEC Assistant the Code text is searchable by clause, and on a paid plan the Standards are too. Ask how many accessible and ambulant toilets a two-storey office with a bank on each floor needs, and the answer comes back with the clause it was read from. This article is general guidance. The building surveyor or certifier for your project determines compliance.
Questions this guide answers
When is an accessible toilet required under the NCC?
When the building must be accessible under Part D4 of NCC Volume One, which covers Class 1b, 2, 3, 5 to 9 and some Class 10a buildings, each to the extent D4D2 sets out. In a Class 5 to 9 building F4D6(1)(d) then requires an accessible unisex sanitary compartment wherever F4D4 requires closet pans, which it does in almost any building where people work, owners and managers included. A Class 1a house is not covered.
How many accessible toilets does a building need?
In a Class 5 to 9 building, 1 on every storey containing sanitary compartments and, where a storey has more than one bank of male and female toilets, at not less than 50% of those banks (F4D6(1)(d)). Two banks on a storey need one, three or four need two. Class 1b, 2, 3, 9c and 10a buildings have their own rules in F4D6(1)(a), (b), (c) and (e).
What is an ambulant toilet and when is it required?
It is a sanitary compartment for people who have a mobility disability but can walk, built to AS 1428.1:2021 Section 13: 900 to 920 mm wide, with grabrails on both sides and a door of at least 700 mm clear. At each bank where the accessible unisex compartment has one or more other toilets beside it, one is required for males and one for females (F4D5(c)).
Does a small café need an accessible toilet?
Yes. The note to Table F4D4d removes the patrons' toilets when the whole building, staff included, holds 20 persons or fewer. Employees, including owners and managers, still need a closet pan under Table F4D4a, so F4D6(1)(d) still requires an accessible unisex compartment. In a café with a few staff, counted once for each sex under F4D3(3), it can be the only toilet.
What size is an accessible toilet under AS 1428.1?
AS 1428.1:2021 sets a clear circulation space 1 900 mm wide and 2 300 mm long at the pan, with the pan centre 450 to 460 mm from the side wall and its front 800 ± 10 mm from the back wall (Clauses 12.2.2 and 12.2.8.1). The washbasin may reach no more than 100 mm into that space. The Standard's examples of a whole room are 1 900 by 2 630 mm and 2 300 by 2 330 mm clear (Figure 50(B)).
Do houses need an accessible toilet?
No. Parts D4 and F4 are in NCC Volume One, which covers access for Class 1b and 10a buildings but not Class 1a houses (A1G1). Outside New South Wales, where Part H8 does not apply, a new house meets the ABCB Standard for Livable Housing Design instead (Volume Two H8D2(1)), whose entry-level toilet needs a clear space 1 200 mm by 900 mm in front of the pan.
