Short answer. The most common internal door in Australia is 820 mm wide and 2040 mm tall (about 32 × 80 in). Internal doors are sold from 520 to 920 mm wide. Entry doors are usually 820 mm too, with 870, 920 and 1020 mm also common, all 2040 mm tall. These sizes are the door itself: with the door open, the gap is 3 to 7 cm less, so an 820 mm door leaves about 75 to 79 cm.
Internal door sizes in Australia
| Width | In cm | Height | Gap with the door open, about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 520 mm, the narrowest sold | 52 cm | 2040 mm | 45 to 49 cm |
| 820 mm, the most common | 82 cm (32.3 in) | 2040 mm (80.3 in) | 75 to 79 cm |
| 920 mm, the widest sold | 92 cm | 2040 mm | 85 to 89 cm |
What the size measures: the leaf, the door itself from edge to edge. The frame (the jamb) goes round it, so the hole in the wall is a few centimetres bigger. Doors in older homes and made-to-measure doors differ, so your own tape measure is the only number that counts.
Entry door sizes
| Entry door | Gap with the door open, about |
|---|---|
| 820 × 2040 mm, the most common | 75 to 79 cm |
| 870 × 2040 mm | 80 to 84 cm |
| 920 × 2040 mm | 85 to 89 cm |
| 1020 × 2040 mm | 95 to 99 cm |
In an apartment block, the way in also runs through the building's entrance, the corridor and the lift. Measure those too.
The clear opening: the gap you really get
The clear opening is the gap with the door open at 90 degrees: from the face of the open door to the stop on the other side of the jamb. It is the number a sofa, a fridge or a wheelchair actually gets. The open door, its hinges and the stops take 3 to 7 cm of the width.
So an 820 mm door gives roughly 75 to 79 cm, and a 920 mm door roughly 85 to 89 cm. A handle that sticks out takes a little more.
Rules for new homes and public buildings
These set minimums for new homes and public buildings. Older homes did not have to meet them, and many do not.
| Rule | Applies to | Minimum clear opening |
|---|---|---|
| Livable Housing Design Standard | New homes, where the state applies it | 820 mm at the entry and the rooms on the entry level |
| AS 1428.1 | Public buildings | 850 mm |
These are clear openings, not door sizes. An 820 mm door gives less than 820 mm clear, so a door that must give 820 mm clear has to be wider, such as 870 or 920 mm.
How to measure a door
- The clear opening. Open the door to 90 degrees. Measure from the face of the open door to the stop on the other side. If the handle sticks out, measure past it too.
- The height. From the finished floor to the underside of the frame's head.
- The door, if you are buying a new one for an old frame: its width, height and thickness.
- One unit. Write everything in millimetres, not a mix of millimetres and centimetres.
Will a sofa get through an Australian door?
Compare the clear opening with the sofa's depth and its height, and take the smaller one. If that is less than the gap, the sofa goes through on its back or on its side. If not, measure the diagonal depth: if that is less than the gap, the sofa can usually be tilted through. Leave 2 to 3 cm for fingers and blankets.
The catch: typical sofas are 85 to 100 cm deep and 75 to 90 cm high, and an 820 mm door gives about 75 to 79 cm. A low sofa may pass on its side; a deep one with a high back often goes through only tilted, with the legs off, or in parts. A wider entry door does not help if the hallway or the bedroom door is 820 mm. More in Will my sofa fit? and, for hallways, stairs and lifts, Will it fit through the door?.
Common mistakes
- Measuring the door, not the gap. An 820 mm door does not give 82 cm. With the door open you lose 3 to 7 cm.
- Checking only the entry door. The bedroom or bathroom door is usually the narrowest point.
- Reading a rule as a door size. 820 mm clear under the Livable Housing Design Standard needs a door wider than 820 mm.
- Assuming the rules cover your home. They set minimums for new homes and public buildings, not for every home.
Measure the doorway in 3D
In Flatwalk the tape measure lives in the 3D plan of your home: tap both sides of a doorway and read its width in millimetres or centimetres. Furniture from real shops stands at its true size, so you can hold a sofa's depth against the doorway it has to pass, and walk from the front door to the room at eye level.
What it does not do: Flatwalk does not test the route for you or tell you what the building rules require, and your plan is only as accurate as the measurements you give it. Measure the real doors with a tape measure.
Also for Australia: bed sizes.
What Flatwalk does that older planners skip
Lights
Add ceiling lights, lamps and LED strips and see each room in the evening, not only by day.
Your home in its city
Enter your address and the street and buildings around you appear in 3D, wherever the map has them.
Sun for your address
See where the sun falls on any date and at any hour, before a new piece spends all summer in it.
One piece, in your own room
Through the live camera or in a photo of the room, stand it on your own floor at its true size before you buy.
Detail
Doors, radiators, kitchens, robes and bathrooms built piece by piece, so new furniture sits against what is really there.
Made for a thumb
Tap a piece and its choices appear: move it, turn it, swap it for another.
Swipe for more. Every picture is the app itself.
One home, free
Most people plan one home. For that, Flatwalk costs nothing: no time-limited trial and no card needed. Drawing your home, furniture at its true size, the tape measure, lights, sun and walking are all part of it, and each AI tool comes with one free try. A membership is for people who want more homes or more AI.
Questions people ask
What is the standard internal door size in Australia? 820 × 2040 mm is the most common. Internal doors are sold from 520 to 920 mm wide, all 2040 mm tall.
What is the standard entry door size in Australia? 820 × 2040 mm is the most common; 870, 920 and 1020 mm wide doors are also sold.
What is the standard door height in Australia? 2040 mm (about 80 in), for internal and entry doors.
How do I measure a door for sofa delivery? Open the door fully and measure the gap from the face of the open door to the frame on the other side, then the height. Compare the gap with the smaller of the sofa's depth and height, and do the same for every door on the way in.
Will a sofa fit through an 820 mm door? With the door open the gap is about 75 to 79 cm. A sofa less than that deep or high goes through on its back or side; a bigger one has to tilt through on the diagonal, lose its legs, or come in parts.
Flatwalk lets you measure every doorway in a 3D plan of your own home and place real furniture at its true size, free for one home. It is coming soon to Google Play; join the waiting list at flatwalk.app.
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