German Ramp Gradients: DIN 18040-2 Accessible Ramp Rules

The requirement

For a barrier-free ramp, DIN 18040-2 caps the gradient at 6% (1:16.7), with no cross-fall on the ramp run. For an everyday ramp on a private house, most Länder set no fixed maximum at all. Know which one you are building before you read off a number.

DIN 18040-2 is “Barrierefreies Bauen — Wohnungen”, Germany’s barrier-free building standard for homes. The current edition is 2011-09. Every fixed ramp figure on this page comes from it.

The barrier-free ramp run. DIN 18040-2 sets the slope at no steeper than 6% (1:16.7). It allows no cross-fall on the ramp run itself. It also sets:

• Landings at least 150 cm × 150 cm at the top and the bottom.
• A landing at least 150 cm long after every 600 cm (6 m) of run.
• Handrails on both sides, at roughly 850 mm height.
• Usable width of at least 120 cm.

The approach surface is a different figure. Erschließungsflächen are the paths that lead up to a ramp, not the ramp run itself. DIN 18040-2 keeps them to 3% as a rule. Up to 4% is allowed for a run of 10 m or less. Any steeper, and a ramp or a lift must go in instead.

What DIN 18040-2 does not cover: the everyday ramp. Think of a step-free run into a shed, or a small change of level at a private house. Barrier-free access is not itself required for an everyday single-dwelling house under most Länder’s building law. So the standard does not apply there. There is no separate fixed gradient maximum for that case. Don’t read the 6% figure onto a job it doesn’t govern.

Which one applies?

Building the step-free route for a dwelling where barrier-free access is required? Then DIN 18040-2 governs, and the 6% cap applies. So do the landing, width and handrail figures above. Building a general ramp on an everyday house, with no barrier-free duty on the job? Then there is no national figure to hit. Set out a slope that is safe and practical for the work.

Work it out on site

You’re building a barrier-free ramp. The threshold sits 300 mm above the path. How long does the ramp need to be?

1. Apply the 6% cap. 6% means 6 mm of rise for every 100 mm of run, or 1:16.7. 300 mm ÷ 0.06 = 5000 mm (5 m) of run, as a minimum.
2. Add the landings. A landing at least 150 cm goes at the top and the bottom. A 5 m run sits under the 600 cm (6 m) trigger, so no extra landing is needed. Two landings are enough here.
3. Check the width. Keep the usable width at least 120 cm.

So: about 5 m of ramp at 6%. A 150 cm landing at each end. At least 120 cm of clear width. The slope calculator does the rise-over-run maths for you.

Do it in 5 seconds

Related

• Part of the German building rules hub — the national DIN layer, plus the 16 Länder’s own building law.
• Building the stairs that ramp might replace? See German stair & guard rules.

Sources

• DIN 18040-2:2011-09 — Barrierefreies Bauen, Wohnungen, the accessible ramp gradient, landing, width and handrail figures, and the separate approach-surface gradient. A commercial standard — verify at din.de / beuth.de.

Read this first. DIN 18040-2 is a paid standard — DIN e.V. doesn’t publish free full text, so the figures above are drawn from consistent, repeated professional and technical guidance quoting the standard, not from din.de itself. The 6% gradient is an accessible-ramp figure, not a general national ramp limit — an ordinary ramp on a private house, where barrier-free provision isn’t itself required, has no separate fixed maximum under most Länder’s building law. Confirm the current DIN edition, and whether barrier-free provision applies to your specific job, before you rely on a number here.