Parking, access and amenities: the parts of a warehouse people under-budget

By Brenscot Builders | Last reviewed September 2026

Car parking, accessible access and amenities are rarely the interesting part of an industrial project. They are, reliably, a part where costs and space requirements arrive later than expected, because the requirements come from two different places and people tend to check only one.

This article refers to NCC 2022 Volume One, which applies in Queensland until NCC 2025 commences on 1 May 2027.

The short answer

How many car parking spaces you need comes from the planning scheme, not the NCC. What proportion of them must be accessible comes from the NCC. Access for people with disability applies to a warehouse in the same way it applies to an office, with narrow exemptions for areas where access is inappropriate. Sanitary facility numbers come from an NCC table based on employee numbers, calculated assuming an equal split of males and females unless the premises are used predominantly by one sex. End of trip facilities are not an NCC requirement for an industrial building at all.

Car parking numbers: scheme, not Code

The NCC does not set how many car parking spaces a building needs. That is a planning scheme matter, and planning schemes cannot duplicate matters the NCC covers.

Each council sets its own rates, usually in a transport, access, parking and servicing code, and usually expressed per unit of gross floor area with different rates for warehouse, industry and office components. Because an industrial building typically has a warehouse component and an office component, the calculation is normally a blend, and the office component often drives more spaces per square metre than the warehouse does.

Two practical consequences. First, a larger office increases your parking requirement as well as your building cost. Second, parking takes land, and on a tight site the parking requirement can compete directly with truck manoeuvring. Resolve that conflict at concept stage with the traffic engineer, not on the approval drawings. See clear height, doors and truck access.

Off-street car parking is designed to AS/NZS 2890.1, and off-street commercial vehicle facilities, meaning your truck areas and loading docks, to AS 2890.2.

Accessible access: the warehouse is not exempt

This is the misconception worth correcting.

NCC Part D4 covers access for people with a disability, and it groups Class 5, 6, 7b, 8 and 9a together for general building access. Access must be provided to all areas within the building normally used by the occupants. A warehouse is not carved out.

There are exemptions, and they are narrower than people assume. Access need not be provided to an area where access would be inappropriate because of the particular purpose for which the area is used, to an area that would pose a health or safety risk for people with a disability, or to a path of travel serving only such an area.

So a live forklift aisle, an operating racking aisle or a plant room can be dealt with under those exemptions. The office, the amenities, the reception and the paths of travel to them plainly cannot. They are normally used by the occupants and they must be accessible.

The technical requirements come from AS 1428.1:2021, Design for access and mobility, Part 1: General requirements for access, new building work. Note the edition. NCC 2022 Amendment 2, published on 29 July 2025, moved the NCC's reference from the 2009 edition to the 2021 edition. Anyone working from the 2009 edition is working from a superseded reference.

Also in Part D4 and worth knowing: requirements for signage, tactile indicators, ramps and glazing on an accessway. Ramp design in particular consumes more length than people allow for, and retrofitting a compliant ramp to a finished floor level that was set without one is expensive.

Accessible car parking

The NCC sets the proportion. For Class 5, 7 and 8 buildings, one accessible space is required for every 100 car parking spaces or part thereof. The "or part thereof" matters: a building with 12 spaces still needs one accessible space.

Accessible spaces are designed to AS/NZS 2890.6, the off-street parking standard for people with disabilities. A stand-alone 2022 edition of AS 2890.6 has since been published, so confirm with your certifier which designation and edition the NCC calls up for your approval.

Accessible spaces need an accessible path of travel to the building entrance, which is a site design question rather than a line-marking one. Putting the accessible bays at the far end of the car park from the entrance is the common error.

Sanitary facilities: the 50/50 rule

For a Class 7b or 8 building, the required numbers of closet pans, urinals and washbasins come from an NCC table based on the number of employees. The numbers step up in bands, and the female provision runs on a tighter ratio than the male provision at the lower end.

Where the number of people accommodated cannot be more accurately determined, the NCC directs you to calculate it using the same method used for egress.

Here is the provision that catches warehouse designers: unless the premises are used predominantly by one sex, sanitary facilities must be provided on the basis of equal numbers of males and females.

Industrial buildings are routinely designed on an assumption of a predominantly male workforce. Unless you can actually establish that the premises are used predominantly by one sex, the Code requires the 50/50 assumption. Getting this wrong is a certification problem discovered late, and the fix is usually a wall in the wrong place.

Two things that help. A unisex accessible facility may be counted once for each sex. And a unisex facility for this purpose comprises one closet pan, one washbasin and means for the disposal of sanitary products.

If the office is separately classified as Class 5, its facilities are worked out on the Class 5 table instead. See office fitout inside a warehouse.

End of trip facilities are not an NCC requirement here

We checked this specifically, because it is commonly assumed otherwise.

NCC Part F4 contains no requirement for showers, change rooms or bicycle parking in a Class 7b or Class 8 building. Every shower requirement in Part F4 attaches to residential, health care, early childhood or certain assembly buildings. Change rooms and bicycle parking do not appear at all.

So if end of trip facilities are required on your project, they are coming from the planning scheme, from a tenant's requirement, or from a workplace health and safety consideration specific to the operation. They are worth providing in many buildings, but they are not an NCC obligation for an industrial building, and it is worth knowing which requirement you are actually responding to.

Where the operation involves work that soils clothing or exposure requiring decontamination, showers and change facilities become a workplace health and safety matter, which is a different analysis again.

Getting the site layout right

The conflicts on an industrial site are predictable, and they all happen in the same place: the front of the building.

None of these is difficult on its own. All of them together, on a site with a tight frontage, is a genuine design problem, and it is far cheaper to solve on a concept plan than on a set of operational works drawings.

Frequently asked questions

How many car parks does a warehouse need in Queensland?

The number comes from the local planning scheme, not the NCC, and it is usually calculated per unit of gross floor area with different rates for the warehouse and office components. Check the transport, access, parking and servicing code for the relevant council.

Does a warehouse need accessible access?

Yes. NCC Part D4 requires access to areas normally used by the occupants in Class 7b and 8 buildings, the same as for an office. Narrow exemptions cover areas where access would be inappropriate for the purpose or would pose a health or safety risk, such as an operating forklift aisle or a plant room. The office and amenities are not exempt.

How many accessible car parking spaces does an industrial building need?

For Class 5, 7 and 8 buildings, one for every 100 spaces or part thereof, designed to AS/NZS 2890.6.

How many toilets does a warehouse need?

The numbers come from an NCC table based on employee numbers. Unless the premises are used predominantly by one sex, they must be provided assuming equal numbers of males and females, which is the provision most often missed.

Does the NCC require showers or bicycle parking in a warehouse?

No. NCC Part F4 contains no shower, change room or bicycle parking requirement for a Class 7b or 8 building. If they are required on your project, the requirement is coming from the planning scheme, a tenant brief or a workplace health and safety consideration.

Sources

General information only

This article is general information, current as at September 2026. It is not building certification or traffic engineering advice. Car parking rates, access requirements and facility numbers are specific to the building, the use and the planning scheme. Confirm them with your building certifier, traffic engineer and town planner.

Planning an industrial warehouse?

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