Step-free entry

A step-free entry is a path and threshold into the dwelling with no step. It is required under the NCC’s Livable Housing provisions, and achieving it drives the slab set-down, the paving falls, and the threshold detailing at the entry door.

The aim is that someone using a wheelchair, walker, or pram can get in without a step. That sounds simple but it pushes back into the build, because the floor inside is normally higher than the ground outside for good waterproofing reasons, and a step-free entry has to bridge that without letting water in:

• the finished floor at the entry has to come down close to external level (a slab set-down at the door), or the external paving has to come up,
• the external surface needs falls away from the door so water sheds rather than ponds at a level threshold,
• a level (or compliant low) threshold detail with the right flashing and drainage keeps water out while staying step-free, and
• the accessible path from the boundary or parking to that door must itself be step-free (or compliantly ramped).

The tension is waterproofing versus access: a level threshold is the classic leak point, so the falls, flashing, and a threshold drain (where needed) matter.

For a builder the practical points are to set out the entry level, the set-down, and the external falls at slab stage, because a step-free entry cannot be added later without recutting levels. Get the threshold detail right (falls away, flashing, drainage) so the step-free entry does not become a leaking entry, and confirm the accessible path to the door is continuous and step-free.

Also known as: Level entry, no-step entry, accessible entry.

Category: Accessibility / Entry.

Related

• Livable Housing Design
• Step-free path

See also

• AS 1428 access standard

References

• AS 1428 (Chalkline) (verified 2026-06-04)

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Last updated: 2026-06-04. Verified: 2026-06-04. Quarterly review for currency.