Why do door and window sizes matter?
A wardrobe won’t fit through a narrow door, a door hinged on the wrong side hits the wardrobe, and a low window is dangerous for a child. All of this can be seen on the plan, before the walls go up. The sizes below come from Turkey’s Planned Areas Zoning Regulation (Planlı Alanlar İmar Yönetmeliği); at the end of the post there is a short comparison with the rules of other countries.
Door width: how many cm at least?
| Door | Clear width |
|---|---|
| Building entrance door | at least 1.50 m |
| Double-leaf door at the building entrance | one leaf at least 1.00 m |
| Apartment (independent unit) entrance door | at least 1.00 m |
| Room, kitchen, bathroom and other doors | at least 0.90 m |
The Turkish regulation (Article 39) gives these sizes as the clear (net) width: the opening you walk through when the door is open. The frame and the open door leaf narrow this opening. So when buying a door, look at the clear opening, not the size of the leaf. The US rule measures with the same logic: from the face of the door, opened at 90°, to the stop on the opposite side.
Door height and threshold
- Height: in all buildings, door height is at least 2.10 m.
- Threshold: doors have no threshold. If one is unavoidable, measures are taken so that it does not hinder a disabled person passing through or escape in a fire.
Window: sill height, window height and distance to ceiling
Three sizes set the height of a window, and together they add up to the floor height:
- Sill: the height of the window’s bottom edge above the floor.
- Window height: the height of the window itself.
- Distance to ceiling: the wall left between the top of the window and the ceiling.
The Turkish regulation gives no size for windows; it requires compliance with the energy performance regulation and TSE standards. But there is one safety rule: a window whose sill is lower than 0.90 m above the floor must have a guardrail up to at least 1.10 m above the floor (Article 38). That is why a sill height of 90 cm or more is common.
Which side should a door open to?
The direction a door opens in matters as much as its size. The quarter circle swept by the leaf must stay clear; if a wardrobe, a bed or another door gets into this area, the door won’t open fully. Moving the hinge to the other side often solves the problem, but changing it once the door has been ordered and fitted is a hassle. So choose the hinge side on the plan.
Rules in other countries
| Country | Rule |
|---|---|
| Türkiye | Apartment entrance door at least 1.00 m clear, other doors 0.90 m; door height at least 2.10 m. Sill lower than 0.90 m: 1.10 m guardrail. |
| Germany (barrier-free housing, DIN 18040-2) | Clear door opening at least 80 cm, at least 90 cm in a fully wheelchair-accessible flat; clear height at least 205 cm. |
| England (Approved Document K) | If the bottom edge of an opening window is less than 800 mm above the floor, a guard or other protection is required. |
| USA (IRC) | At least one exit door in every dwelling: clear width at least 32 inches (81 cm), clear height at least 78 inches (198 cm). The opening of the emergency escape window in a bedroom starts no higher than 44 inches (112 cm) above the floor. |
Door and window sizes in Nodaform
When you select a door or window, a small wall drawing opens in the right panel: for a window, the distance to ceiling, window height and sill in the order of the dimension chain, with the width at the bottom. As you change a number, the drawing changes too.
- Project heights: with nothing selected, the right panel shows floor height, door height and width, sill and window height. New doors are drawn with this width.
- A custom size for a single door or window: select that item and type the size. Fix them all at once with “Apply to all doors” or “Back to project setting”.
- Layout check: in the Furniture step it shows when a door leaf hits a wardrobe or a bed; you move the hinge to the other side in the panel.
The sizes carry over unchanged to the 3D view, the section and the elevation.
This post is for general information. Rules vary by country and building and may be updated; for your own project, check the official text or ask your municipality or an architect. The figures were checked against the official texts on 23 October 2026.