What is a veranda? How it differs from a balcony, terrace and canopy
Four words often get mixed up:
- Veranda: a platform outside the ground floor, attached to the building, open or covered. It’s a transition space between the house and the garden.
- Balcony: a platform projecting out from an upper-floor room; there’s nothing underneath.
- Terrace: usually an open platform on top of a floor or a roof. A large veranda at ground level is also called a terrace.
- Canopy: a light roof, fixed to the wall or resting on posts, that protects a veranda or a door from rain.
In short, a veranda stands on the ground and a balcony is in the air; a canopy goes over them.
What level should a veranda be at?
A veranda should continue from the door without a threshold, so its top surface is level with the ground floor slab. If the building sits on a plinth (the height of the ground floor above the ground), the veranda sits at that height too and goes down to the garden by steps or a ramp.
In the example below the plinth is 60 cm: the veranda is at ±0 and the ground at −60. Four steps or a ramp make up the difference.
Veranda dimensions: depth and width
A veranda’s depth depends on what you’ll put on it. Regulations don’t define a “veranda depth”; it’s best to work out the size from the furniture and the circulation.
In the example plan the veranda is 6.20 × 2.50 m, i.e. 15.50 m². With a 1.60 × 1.60 m garden set against the wall, a 90 cm passage remains in front of it; you can walk comfortably from the door to the steps. If you want to move the table a little away from the wall, the passage gets narrower; then the depth needs to increase.
How many entrance steps should a veranda have?
The plinth determines the number of steps. In Türkiye, the Planned Areas Zoning Regulation requires the following for building stairs (article 31/2):
- Riser (step height) at most 16 cm in buildings without an elevator, at most 18 cm in buildings with an elevator.
- Tread depth at least 27 cm.
- 2 × riser + tread = 60–64 cm.
The regulation states this for building stairs; using the same dimensions for entrance steps is both comfortable and safe. The math is simple: divide the plinth by 16 and round up; that’s the number of risers. The number of treads is one less, because the top step is the veranda itself.
| Plinth | Riser | Tread (30 cm) | 2 × riser + tread |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 cm | 2 × 15 cm | 1 · 30 cm | 60 cm |
| 45 cm | 3 × 15 cm | 2 · 60 cm | 60 cm |
| 60 cm | 4 × 15 cm | 3 · 90 cm | 60 cm |
| 90 cm | 6 × 15 cm | 5 · 150 cm | 60 cm |
Steps can go down from the front of the veranda (straight), from three sides, or sideways along the wall. Side steps save space in a narrow garden; steps on three sides open the veranda to the garden in every direction.
When does a veranda need a railing?
Whether a railing is needed depends on the fall height at the veranda’s edge. The rules by country:
| Country | When | Height | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | for falls of more than 1 m (0.50 m in Bavaria) | at least 90 cm | MBO § 38 · BayBO Art. 36 |
| England | for falls of more than 600 mm | stairs, landings, ramps 900 mm | Approved Document K |
| USA | at heights of more than 30 in (≈ 76 cm) | at least 36 in (≈ 91 cm), porches included | IRC R312 |
| Türkiye | open edges of terraces and landings, open stairs with more than one step, gardens higher than 0.50 m | at least 110 cm above the floor | PAİY Art. 38 |
In Türkiye the regulation doesn’t use the word “veranda” on its own; the safest course is to ask the municipality whether the veranda counts as a terrace and whether a low veranda needs a railing. There’s no railing in front of the entrance steps; the railing continues on both sides of the steps.
Step-free access: a ramp to the veranda
Instead of steps, a ramp makes the veranda usable for wheelchairs, strollers and loads too. In Türkiye, the maximum slope of a ramp in new buildings depends on the rise (article 30/12):
- Up to 15 cm 8%, 16–50 cm 7%, 51–100 cm 6%, over 100 cm 5%.
- Clear width at least 100 cm; a level landing of at least 150 × 150 cm at the start, at the end, at turns and every 9 m on ramps longer than 9 m (Accessibility Guide).
- Handrails at 90 and 70 cm on both sides (article 30/13).
For the 60 cm plinth in the example the slope is at most 6%: the ramp’s horizontal length comes to 10 m. Because of the 9 m limit it is split into two flights (5 + 5 m) with a 150 cm landing in between. That’s much longer than the 90 cm the four steps take up; so a ramp is often drawn beside the veranda, along the building, or turning in an L or U shape.
Canopy or upper floor?
There are three ways to handle what goes over the veranda:
- Open: the simplest option; sun and rain come straight in.
- Canopy: a light flat or sloping roof. A sloping canopy is fixed to the wall, slopes down toward the open edge and rests on posts; it sheds rain off the veranda.
- Upper floor: if a room on the upper floor projects over the veranda, the veranda is covered automatically. Posts or columns carry the load of the overhang; this has to be worked out in the structural design.
Drawing a veranda in Nodaform
In Nodaform you draw a veranda with the Veranda tool in the Shell step (Plus): click the exterior wall of a ground floor room, and the veranda extends outward from that wall at plinth height. Flooring (wooden decking, natural stone, ceramic tiles, concrete), railing (wood, metal, glass or none) and cover (open, flat canopy, sloping canopy, posts only) are chosen in the right panel.
You place the entrance with the Entrance tool on the edge of the veranda or at an exterior door: straight steps and ramps on every plan, steps on three sides and side steps in Plus. The number of steps comes from the plinth and risers never exceed 16 cm; the railing opens automatically in front of the steps. The veranda doesn’t count toward the net area and is listed on a separate line in the plan summary; it appears in 3D, in sections and elevations, and in DXF and IFC exports. The editor doesn’t check the local rules in this post; choose the railing and dimensions yourself according to your local rules.
The rules in this post come from source notes we checked earlier against official texts (railings 1 November 2026, accessibility 28 October 2026). Whether a veranda counts toward the floor area ratio or the building footprint, whether a canopy needs a permit and whether a railing is required can vary with the plan notes and the municipality; before building, check the zoning status and consult the municipality.