Every room in a home is entered through a door, and almost every door in an Indian home is sized once — when the brickwork goes up and the frame is grouted in — and then lived with for decades. The sizes look settled: 3 by 7 feet for a bedroom, a smaller door for the bathroom, something grand for the entrance. Yet the questions keep coming back at the interior stage. Will the new sofa go through? Can an elderly parent's walker or a wheelchair pass the bathroom door? Is there room for a 2400 mm tall door now that the ceiling is higher? Does a sliding door need a bigger wall than a hinged one? Which door must open outwards?
This blog's guide to standard door and window sizes sets out the headline numbers for homes. This article goes further, room by room and door type by door type: the width and height each door needs, the clear width that actually remains once the frame and shutter are in place, the wall space hinged, sliding, pocket and folding doors take, the hardware heights that make a door comfortable, and the larger doors needed in offices, hotels, clinics and fire exits. Numbers come from the National Building Code of India 2016 and building bye-laws derived from it, from Indian Standards for door shutters and frames, from widely used references such as Neufert and Time-Saver Standards, and, where marked, from common trade practice.
The aim is a single reference that a homeowner, a site supervisor or a student can use to check a drawing before the frame goes in — because a door that is 50 mm too narrow costs nothing to fix on paper and a great deal to fix in brick.
Where door sizes come from
Door sizes began with the human body and the things people carry. A person walking needs roughly 600 mm of width; a person carrying a bag or a child needs about 750 mm; furniture, beds and stretchers need more. Height followed a tall adult with headroom to spare. Traditional Indian houses often had lower doors, especially to inner rooms and in hot regions, with high thresholds and heavy timber frames; grand entrance doors of havelis and temples were wide and tall for ceremony, not daily use.
Modern standard sizes came with industrial door making. Factories producing flush and panelled shutters needed a small set of sizes to make in quantity, and Indian Standards for timber frames, panelled shutters and flush door shutters (IS 4021, IS 1003 and IS 2202) set out preferred sizes and construction. Building bye-laws, derived from the National Building Code, then fixed minimum door sizes for habitable rooms, kitchens and bathrooms. The familiar imperial figures survive in everyday speech — a "3 by 7" door is about 914 × 2134 mm — but drawings, factories and modular systems now work in millimetres, and the metric 900 × 2100 mm door is the one actually made.
The result is the short list that governs almost every Indian home today. The Delhi Unified Building Bye-Laws 2016, which follow NBC practice, set 0.90 × 2.1 m for habitable rooms and 0.75 × 2.0 m for kitchens, bathrooms and WCs. Those are minimums. Market practice builds above them where daily life demands it: wider main doors, 900 mm kitchens, and taller doors in premium homes.
The room-by-room standard
The table below is the master reference. The shutter size is what the carpenter or factory makes; the structural opening is the hole in the wall, typically about 100 mm wider and 50–75 mm taller than the shutter to take a 100 × 60 mm frame and fixing tolerance. Feet-and-inch figures are rounded equivalents for site conversation.
| Door | Shutter width × height (mm) | Approx. in feet | Structural opening (typical, mm) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main entrance | 1000–1200 × 2100 | 3 ft 3 in – 4 ft × 7 ft | 1100–1300 × 2150–2175 | Double shutter above about 1050 mm; outward-opening safety door optional |
| Master bedroom | 900–1000 × 2100 | 3 ft – 3 ft 3 in × 7 ft | 1000–1100 × 2150–2175 | 1000 mm where an elder or wheelchair user may live |
| Other bedrooms, study | 900 × 2100 | 3 ft × 7 ft | 1000 × 2150–2175 | Bye-law minimum for habitable rooms |
| Kitchen | 750–900 × 2100 | 2 ft 6 in – 3 ft × 7 ft | 850–1000 × 2150–2175 | 900 mm preferred for cylinders, trolleys and appliances |
| Bathroom / WC | 750 × 2000 | 2 ft 6 in × 6 ft 6 in | 850 × 2050–2075 | 900 mm for elders and accessible bathrooms |
| Pooja room | 750–900 × 2100, often double leaf | 2 ft 6 in – 3 ft × 7 ft | 850–1000 × 2150–2175 | Jaali or glazed shutters common; threshold optional |
| Store or utility | 750 × 2000–2100 | 2 ft 6 in × 6 ft 6 in – 7 ft | 850 × 2050–2175 | 900 mm if a washing machine or fridge must pass |
| Balcony or terrace (hinged) | 900–1000 × 2100 | 3 ft – 3 ft 3 in × 7 ft | 1000–1100 × 2150–2175 | Weather seal and raised sill to keep rain out |
| Balcony sliding (2 or 3 track) | 1500–2400 wide × 2100 | 5–8 ft × 7 ft | Opening = overall frame size | Track needs about 100 mm head clearance |
| Walk-in wardrobe | 750–900 × 2100 | 2 ft 6 in – 3 ft × 7 ft | As shutter + frame | Sliding or pocket saves swing space |
| Duct or shaft access | 450–600 × 1200–2100 | 1 ft 6 in – 2 ft wide | As required | Lockable; fire-rated where the shaft requires it |
| Garage (single car) | 2400–3000 wide × 2100–2400 | 8–10 ft × 7–8 ft | Per door system | Rolling shutter or sectional door |
Height: 2100 mm, 2000 mm or full height
The 2100 mm door height suits Indian construction for three reasons. It clears tall adults with comfortable headroom. It sits neatly under a lintel in a typical apartment with about 2850–3000 mm floor-to-ceiling, leaving masonry or a ventilator above. And it matches the factory standard, so shutters, frames and laminates are made to it without waste. A 2440 mm long board — the standard plywood and laminate sheet length — gives a 2100 mm shutter with margin for trimming and edge lipping, which is part of why the size stuck.
Bathroom doors are commonly 2000 mm high. The bye-laws allow it, and practice favours it because bathrooms often have a dropped slab or false ceiling for plumbing above and a lower lintel. A lower bathroom door also visually separates service rooms from living rooms. Where an elderly person or a tall family uses the bathroom daily, building the bathroom door to 2100 mm is perfectly acceptable and keeps every door in the home on one line.
Full-height doors of 2400 mm or more have become popular in premium homes, especially as flush shutters with concealed frames that run to the ceiling or to a shadow line just below it. They make rooms look taller and remove the strip of wall above the door that never quite looks right. They need more care: a taller shutter is heavier and more likely to bow, so it needs a stable core, balanced laminates or veneer on both faces, and usually four hinges or a pivot. The frame and lintel must be planned from the start; increasing a door's height later means cutting the lintel, which is structural work.
| Door height | Where it is used | What it needs | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 mm | Bathrooms, WCs, stores, utilities | Standard frame; water-resistant shutter in wet areas | Tall users; looks low beside 2100 mm doors in a corridor |
| 2100 mm | Every habitable room; the default | Standard frame, three hinges | Nothing — the safe default |
| 2250–2400 mm | Premium bedrooms, living rooms, offices | Stable core, balanced faces, four hinges or pivots, higher lintel | Shutter bow; heavier hardware; planned lintel |
| Floor to ceiling (2700+ mm) | Statement doors, hotel suites, offices | Pivot or concealed frame, engineered shutter, structural head detail | Cost, weight, warping and site handling |
| Below 2000 mm | Loft access, under-stair storage, shaft doors | Clear labelling; not for regular passage | Head strikes; never for habitable rooms |
Width: clear width is what matters
A door's nominal width is the shutter width, but what passes through is the clear width — the gap between the face of the open shutter and the frame stop on the other side. On a hinged door the open leaf sits inside the opening, taking its own thickness and the hinge knuckle, and the frame stop takes some more on each side. In practice, a 900 mm shutter in a standard frame leaves roughly 810–830 mm clear, a 750 mm shutter roughly 660–680 mm, and a 1000 mm shutter roughly 910–930 mm. Doors that open only to 90 degrees because a wall or wardrobe blocks them lose even more.
That is why the 900 mm figure is so important. It is the practical minimum for a door through which a bed, a large appliance, a wheelchair or an elderly person with a walker must pass. Accessibility standards make the same point: the ADA Standards require 815 mm (32 in) clear, and Indian barrier-free guidance — the Harmonised Guidelines published by the government for universal accessibility — sets a similar or more generous expectation, so designers commonly use a 1000 mm shutter where a wheelchair user lives. A 750 mm bathroom door meets the bye-law but cannot be called accessible.
| Shutter width | Approx. clear width when open 90° | What passes comfortably | What struggles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 600 mm | ≈ 510–530 mm | One person, sideways with a bag | Anything carried; not for regular rooms |
| 750 mm | ≈ 660–680 mm | One person, laundry basket, front-load washing machine (≈ 600 wide) | Wheelchair, walker with a helper, mattress flat |
| 800 mm | ≈ 710–730 mm | Most single-door fridges, a carried chair | Standard wheelchair with knuckle room |
| 900 mm | ≈ 810–830 mm | Wheelchair (narrow), walker, queen mattress on edge, double-door fridge tilted | Large sofas without tilting |
| 1000 mm | ≈ 910–930 mm | Wheelchair comfortably, hospital-style bed with care, most furniture | King bed frames assembled |
| 1200 mm (2 leaves) | ≈ 1100 mm with both open | Sofas, wardrobes, groups, ceremonies | Nothing in a home |
Swing and clearance in plan
A door also needs floor space. A hinged door sweeps a quarter circle with a radius equal to its width — 900 mm for a bedroom door — and nothing should sit inside that arc: no switchboard on the wrong side, no wardrobe shutter, no basin, no WC. The standard rule is that a door opens against the nearest side wall, so the open leaf lies flat against it. That needs a hinge-side return of at least about 100–150 mm between the frame and the side wall, so the frame, architrave and hinge have room and the door can open fully.
On the latch side, space to stand and pull the door is what makes it usable. Accessibility guidance commonly asks for about 450–600 mm of clear wall beside the latch on the pull side, so a person in a wheelchair or using a walker can reach the handle without being struck by the leaf. In a home, this mostly matters at the main door, the elder's bedroom and the bathroom. Fig. 2 draws these clearances.
Which way should a door open?
Room doors in homes normally open into the room, against a wall, so they do not obstruct the corridor. Bathroom doors normally open inwards too, but this is the one place where the rule deserves a second look: if a person collapses inside a small bathroom, an inward-opening door can be blocked by their body. For elderly family members, an outward-opening, sliding, or lift-off-hinge bathroom door is the safer choice. Main doors in Indian flats usually open inwards, with a second outward-opening safety grille door in many homes; in that case, check the swing does not obstruct the common lobby or the neighbour's door. Exit doors in public and commercial buildings are different again — they open in the direction of escape, as discussed below.
Sliding, pocket, barn and folding doors
A sliding door saves the floor space of a swing but needs wall space instead, and many homeowners discover this only when the track is being fixed. A surface-mounted barn door needs a clear stretch of wall beside the opening at least as wide as the door, plus overlap; a pocket door needs a hollow wall of the same length, built with a factory cassette and thick enough to take it. A two- or three-track balcony slider needs nothing beside the opening, because the leaves stack over each other, but only half or two-thirds of the opening is ever open. Folding doors open nearly the whole width but stack their leaves at one or both sides.
| Door type | Wall or space needed | Opening actually usable | Best for | Avoid where |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hinged, single | Swing arc = leaf width; 100–150 mm hinge return | ≈ shutter − 70 to 90 mm | Bedrooms, bathrooms, main doors | Tight corridors where the arc blocks passage |
| Barn (surface slider) | Clear wall ≥ door width beside the opening; track ≈ 2 × door + 100 mm | Almost the full shutter width | Studies, walk-in wardrobes, kitchens | Bathrooms needing privacy; walls with switches |
| Hollow wall ≥ door width + 50 mm, 100–125 mm thick with cassette | Almost the full shutter width | Small flats, ensuite dressing areas | Walls carrying pipes, wiring or heavy shelves | |
| Two-track slider | None beside; frame across the full opening | About half the opening | Balconies, large wardrobes | Where full opening is needed |
| Three-track slider | None beside | About two-thirds of the opening | Wide balcony openings 2400 mm+ | Very heavy glass without good rollers |
| Bi-fold / folding | Stack zone at one or both sides | Nearly the full opening | Terraces, living–balcony links, partitions | Low budgets; poor-quality tracks |
| Pivot | Arc on both sides of the pivot | Opening minus the pivot offset | Statement main doors, full-height doors | Small foyers; high wind on exteriors |
Doors in offices, hotels, hospitals and fire exits
Outside the home, door sizes are set less by habit and more by codes and by what must be moved through them. The National Building Code of India 2016, Part 4 (Fire and Life Safety), sets minimum sizes for exit doorways — commonly cited as 1000 mm wide and 2000 mm high for most occupancies, with wider doors in assembly buildings — and requires exit doors to open in the direction of escape without obstructing the corridor or stair landing they open onto. Fire-check doors to stairs and shafts are built and tested to IS 3614, with a stated fire-resistance rating, self-closing devices and no hold-open wedges. Because local fire authorities interpret and add to these rules, every commercial door schedule should be checked against the current code and the local fire NOC conditions.
| Building and door | Typical size (mm) | Why | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office cabin or meeting room | 900–1000 × 2100 (glass doors often 2100–2400) | One person plus visitor; furniture changes | Common practice; NBC 2016 Part 4 for exits |
| Exit door, most occupancies | ≥ 1000 wide × ≥ 2000 high | Evacuation flow; opens in the escape direction | NBC 2016 Part 4 (as commonly cited) |
| Fire-check door to stair or shaft | Per opening; self-closing | Holds back smoke and fire for a rated period | IS 3614; NBC 2016 Part 4 |
| Hotel guest room | 900 × 2100 | Guests with luggage; trolley access | Time-Saver Standards for Building Types |
| Hotel accessible room and its bathroom | 1000 × 2100 shutters or wider | Wheelchair turning and approach | Harmonised Guidelines (India); ADA as reference |
| Hospital patient room | ≈ 1100–1300 total, often unequal leaves | Bed and trolley passage with attendants | Common hospital planning practice |
| Clinic consulting room | 900–1000 × 2100 | Wheelchair, stretcher-chair access | Common practice |
| Shop entrance | 1000–1200 single, or 1800–2400 double/auto | Customer flow and goods | Common practice; local fire rules |
| Restaurant kitchen (double-action) | 900–1050 per leaf, with vision panels | Staff carrying trays both ways | Common practice |
Frames, hinges and hardware heights
A door's comfort depends as much on hardware positions as on its size, and consistency across a home matters more than any single number. The figures below are common Indian trade practice and match this blog's door and window guide.
| Item | Typical figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Frame section (timber) | 100 × 60 mm (older homes 125 × 75 mm) | Set by holdfasts grouted into masonry; IS 4021 for timber frames |
| Hinges on a 2100 mm shutter | 3 hinges | 4 hinges or a pivot for 2400 mm or heavy shutters |
| Handle or lever height | About 1000 mm from finished floor | Keep the same on every door; lever handles are easier for elders |
| Door viewer (main door) | About 1350–1500 mm | Add a second, lower viewer if a wheelchair user lives in the home |
| Tower bolt (bathroom) | About 1000–1200 mm | Choose a type that can be opened from outside in an emergency |
| Door closer | Head of the shutter, push side or pull side | Size by leaf width and weight; standard on fire-check doors |
| Gap under shutter | About 6–12 mm over finished floor | More where a door must pass return air; check the final floor level |
| Kick plate (commercial) | 150–300 mm high | Protects the lower shutter from trolleys and feet |
Finish costs also follow the door size. Painting rates in India are quoted per square foot of paintable area, all-in with putty, primer and two coats, and both faces of a 900 × 2100 shutter plus its frame come to roughly 45–50 sq ft. A 2400 mm full-height door adds roughly 6–7 sq ft. The table applies the October 2026 rates used in this blog's door guide.
| Finish (all-in) | Rate per sq ft | 900 × 2100 door (≈ 48 sq ft) | 900 × 2400 door (≈ 55 sq ft) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economy emulsion | ₹12–18 | ₹575–865 | ₹660–990 |
| Premium emulsion | ₹20–30 | ₹960–1,440 | ₹1,100–1,650 |
| Exterior-grade paint (weather face) | ₹17–26 | ₹815–1,250 | ₹935–1,430 |
| Texture or designer finish (feature door) | ₹40–150+ | ₹1,920–7,200+ | ₹2,200–8,250+ |
Where door standards are heading
Three changes are visible in Indian projects. First, height: taller flush doors with concealed frames are moving from luxury villas into mid-range apartments wherever ceiling heights allow, and builders are starting to set lintels higher to accommodate them. Second, accessibility: families increasingly plan for ageing parents, so 900–1000 mm bedroom and bathroom doors, lever handles, level thresholds and outward-opening bathroom doors are becoming normal requests rather than special ones. Third, material: water-resistant WPC, PVC and FRP shutters have largely replaced timber in bathrooms, and factory pre-hung door sets — frame, shutter and hardware supplied together — are making standard sizes more important, because a factory set will not fit a non-standard hole.
Aaditya Interior checks every door opening against the furniture list and the family's needs before the frame goes in; changing a frame by 100 mm at drawing stage costs nothing, while changing it after plastering means breaking masonry, refixing holdfasts and repainting.
Rules for sizing doors
- Use 900 × 2100 mm as the minimum for every bedroom and study; use 1000 mm where an elder or wheelchair user lives.
- Make the main door 1000–1200 mm wide and switch to two leaves above about 1050 mm.
- Prefer 900 mm for kitchens and stores where cylinders, trolleys or appliances pass; 750 mm only for bathrooms and small stores.
- Read every drawing for the shutter size and add about 100 mm in width for the structural opening.
- Keep a 100–150 mm hinge-side return so every door opens flat against a wall, and keep the swing arc free of furniture and fixtures.
- Give elders' bathrooms a 900 mm door that opens outwards, slides, or has lift-off hinges.
- Plan sliding and pocket doors with the wall space they need — no switches, pipes or shelves on that wall.
- Use four hinges or a pivot and a stable core for doors of 2400 mm and taller, and raise the lintel at the design stage.
- For commercial projects, check exit doors against NBC 2016 Part 4 (commonly ≥ 1000 × 2000 mm, opening in the escape direction) and the local fire NOC.
- Keep handle height, finish and door height consistent across the whole home.
Frequently asked questions
What is the standard door size in India in feet?
Bedrooms use about 3 × 7 ft (900 × 2100 mm), bathrooms about 2 ft 6 in × 6 ft 6 in (750 × 2000 mm), and main doors 3 ft 3 in to 4 ft wide × 7 ft (1000–1200 × 2100 mm). The metric sizes are what factories actually make, so order in millimetres.
What is the standard height of a door?
2100 mm (about 7 ft) for habitable rooms and 2000 mm (about 6 ft 6 in) for bathrooms and WCs. Full-height doors in premium homes are 2400 mm or more and need a higher lintel and stronger hardware.
Is a 750 mm bathroom door enough?
It meets the bye-law minimum and suits most bathrooms, but it leaves only about 660–680 mm clear. For elderly family members, wheelchair users or anyone using a walker, use 900 mm, ideally opening outwards or sliding.
What size opening do I need for a 900 mm door?
About 1000 mm wide and 2150–2175 mm high for a 900 × 2100 mm shutter in a standard 100 × 60 mm timber frame, allowing for the frame legs and fixing tolerance. Confirm with the frame supplier, as steel, WPC and concealed frames vary.
What is the minimum width of a fire exit door?
NBC 2016 Part 4 is commonly cited as requiring exit doorways at least 1000 mm wide and 2000 mm high in most occupancies, with wider doors in assembly buildings, opening in the direction of escape. Check the current clause and local fire authority conditions for your building.
How much wall do I need for a sliding door?
For a surface barn door, a clear wall beside the opening at least as wide as the door, with a track about twice the door width plus 100 mm. For a pocket door, a hollow wall of at least the door width plus about 50 mm, about 100–125 mm thick with a factory cassette.
Sources & standards
- Bureau of Indian Standards — National Building Code of India 2016, Part 3 (Development Control Rules and General Building Requirements) and Part 4 (Fire and Life Safety)
- Delhi Unified Building Bye-Laws 2016 — door sizes 0.90 × 2.1 m for habitable rooms and 0.75 × 2.0 m for kitchens, baths and WCs
- Bureau of Indian Standards — IS 4021 (timber door, window and ventilator frames), IS 1003 (Part 1) (timber panelled and glazed door shutters), IS 2202 (Part 1) (wooden flush door shutters), IS 3614 (fire check doors)
- Government of India — Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India (2021)
- US Department of Justice — 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design (32 in / 815 mm clear door width)
- Neufert, Architects' Data; Time-Saver Standards for Building Types — door and circulation dimensions
- Price ranges: indicative October 2026 estimates — confirm locally before budgeting
