VIET NAM CONSTRUCTION STANDARD
TCXDVN 264 : 2002
HOUSES AND BUILDINGS ÷ BASIC RULES OF ACCESSIBLE
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
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FOREWORD
TCXDVN 264: 2002 is compiled on the basis of the Ordinance on PWD:
Article 26.- “The investment for new construction or reconstruction of
dwelling houses, of public amenities and for design, manufacture of domestic
furnitures, of transport and communication means ... must take into account the
needs for convenient use by PWD, firstly of mobility and sight PWD, and at the
same time have to comply with construction codes, standards issued by competent
state agencies”.
TCXDVN 264: 2002 is compiled by the Research Institute for Architecture
– Ministry of Construction and Panel for elaborating “Building Codes and
Standards of Construction Accessibility for People With Disabilities”, submitted
by the Department of Science and Technology - Ministry of Construction, has been
approved, signed and issued by the said Ministry for enforcement.
The Standards have been compiled with the cooperation and financial
assistance by President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
(PCEPD) and the Vietnam Assistance for Handicapped (VNAH).
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VIETNAM CONSTRUCTION STANDARD TCXDCN 264:2002
Houses and Building - Basic rules of accessible design and construction for
PWD.
1. Scope of Application
1.1. This standard is applied in the new construction of works for ensuring the
accessibility and use by mobility and sight PWD.
In cases of need for reconstruction, upgrade of works with requirements for
ensuring accessibility and use by PWD, the regulations of this standard must
be enforced.

- Walking ways, car parking
grounds;
- Entry, exit gates;
- Reception desks and public
activity areas;
- Working seats and specific
equipment
- Arrangement of structure
and function of building’s
parts for ensuring PWD’s
accessibility and use.
- Meeting, conference venues
needing seat arrangement for
PWD
Culture, sport works such as:
Parks, entertainment areas,
zoos, theaters, cinemas,
museums, exhibition, cultural
buildings, clubs, libraries,
tourism areas, vestiges,
picturesque landscapes,
stadiums, sport/gym grounds,
contest halls....
- Walking ways, car parking
grounds,
- Entry, exit gates,
- Reception desks and public
activity areas,
- Emergency escape when
accident occurs

service storeys.
- At shops, bazaars, there
must be sloping paths in
entry/exit doors, in seats,
reception places.
- Beds, equipment and
facilities must be arranged in
rooms reserved to PWD
Public health buildings:
hospitals, centers for
orthopedic and functional
restoration, disease
consultation and treatment
units, sanatorium centers.
Scope of use by patients - Arrangement of structure
and function of building’s
parts for ensuring PWD’s
accessibility and use
Educational buildings:
different levels’ primary
schools, vocational schools,
colleges/ universities,
specialized secondary schools
- Walking ways, car parking
grounds
- Entry, exit gates
- Class- rooms, labos.
- Students’ seat places and
specially used equipment.
- Arrangement of structure

gates/doors, corridors, walkways, staircases, lifts (elevators), toilets, bathrooms,
special public spaces such as seat places, reception desks, telephone booths.
The concrete arrangement must be based on requirements to define it properly.
2) Regarding reconstructed works, it must be based on actual state of works for
selecting appropriate solutions.
3) Regarding works specially reserved to PWD, it is possible to refer to this
standard for adequate design.
4.2. In housing areas, in public buildings or in densely populous zones, it is
necessary to have at least one entrance way for ensuring PWD’s accessibility
and use. The height of entrance way must be the same with that of the house
floor or of the soil surface. If these heights are different, there must be
adequate slope.
4.3. If the entrance way has footsteps, it is necessary to arrange handrails in both
sides so that people who move with difficulty on crutches, on sticks could
walk through.
4.4. In car parking grounds, places must be arranged for PWD’s wheelchairs, just
adjacent to sloping way or to entry/exit path of the buildings. There must be
guiding posts at parking places of PWD’s wheelchairs.
4.5. Lifts in buildings must ensure following requirements:
a) Serving all floors;
b) Convenient entry path for wheelchairs;
c) Clearance dimensions of lift cabin must ensure accessibility and use by
PWD;
d) System of lift’s switchboards must be adequately accessible to wheelchair
users and blind people;
e) There must be handrails at lift cabin walls;
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f) In lift cabin there must be sound devices, raised symbols and Braille raised
dots for blind people
4.6. On entrance way, entry path to buildings and in public spaces in buildings, for

side of sloping way has an empty space, then in the lower part of balustrade,
handrail, it is advised to arrange safety relief with height not less than 50mm
or barring fence, see fig.3.
5.2. Entry path
5.2.1. For buildings with preservation requirement or buildings where it is
impossible to arrange sloping ways, it is necessary to build entry path with
steps for people having difficulties in moving on crutches, sticks and blind
men. Entry path with steps must ensure following requirements (see fig. 4)
- Height of steps: less than or equal to 150mm;
- Width of step surface no less than 300mm;
- Not to use half-open steps;
- Landing to be arranged at top step;
- Where there are more than 3 steps, handrails must be arranged on both
sides of steps. Details for design of handrails are shown in article 5.6.
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Fig.2: Slope plan with landing in the corner
Fig.3: Safety balustrade of sloping way
Note: For collective houses, it is permitted that the step height being 120mm
to 160mm. Width of step surface: 250mm to 400mm.
1. Smallest dimensions of space before entrance way: 1500mm x 1,500mm; 2.
Door of entrance way laid in the gorge of wall; 3. Handrail prolonged at the
extremity slope; 4. Handrail prolonged at the end of slope; 5. Entrance way
with steps; 6. Sidewalk; 7. Handrail arranged at a height of 900mm; 8.
Sloping way with slope of 1/12, 1200mm wide
5.2.2. Entrance way to hall, corridor with different heights must be arranged with
sloping path. Slope must not exceed 1/12. Width of sloping path being not
less than 900mm (see fig 5,6 and 7)
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Fig.4: Entrance way with steps
Fig 5: Perspective of sloping path (wide base)

hand. Not to use too heavy door or many-winged revolved doors. Width of
door being not less than 800mm for houses, 900mm for public buildings; not
to arrange doors close to wall corners.
Note: Force deployed for opening, closing all types
of doors shall not exceed 30N (3Kg.m/s
2
) and could
open doors up to an angle of 90
0
.
5.4.6. Door knobs must be easily/smoothly operated and
close to key holes. Door knobs must rotate
clockwise and arranged at 800mm to 1,100mm from
the floor surface.
5.4.7. Where door opening opposite to the direction of
walk path, it is necessary to arrange a clearance
space with a width over 500mm on the side of door knob/see fig.9)
5.4.8. Not to put door sill or salience on the inner side for door with clearance
space less than 800mm
Note:1) It is only permitted to put door-sill on the inner side for doors with
clearance space over 800mm, but not with height over 10mm;
2) Modes for opening the door (see fig 10)
5.4.9. Regarding pulled door, slide door, accordion door, the clearance spaces for
each type are calculated according to tables 2, 3.
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Fig 9: Direction for access to door
Note: Regarding building works with doors width exceeding or equal to
1,100mm such as doors of rooms in hospitals, these requirements on
dimensions are not prescribed.
a) Pulled doors: clearance space for wheelchairs as in fig 11.

Table 3: Clearance space for wheelchair regarding slide door and accordion
door
Direction of walk way Clearance space, not less than (mm)
Perpendicular to door Parallel to door
From front side 1200
From hinge side 1000 1300
From lock side 1000 600
Fig 12: Clearance space regarding push-door and accordion door
c) For entrance ways without door: Clearance space for wheelchair moving
with entrance way under 800mm must be 1,200mm.
d) For two opposite doors: Clearance space for wheelchair moving between
the two doors when they are opened toward two different directions must
be not less than 1,200mm plus the width of door. Doors in the same
range/row could be opened to a same direction or two different directions
5.4.10. Regarding automatic doors, a clearance space of 900mm must also be
ensured. On the face of automatic doors there must be guiding posts,
moreover there must be contact surface on both sides of doors for warning
and also sound signal for blind people.
5.4.11. Door accessories such as knobs, pulling devices, lock blocks, keys and
other details ensuring accessibility and use by PWD must be installed at a
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height of 800mm ÷1,100mm from the floor or ground surface. Regarding
slide doors, the accessories of doors must be fit to work from both sides.
Note: Locks must be used only for security purpose, not for ordinary
activities anywhere.
5.4.12. Time interval for closing/opening door from position of door open 90
0
to
12
0

a) Direct, right angle entrance way (see fig 15): clearance dimensions
being 1,200mm x 900mm.
b) Parallel entrance way (see fig 16): clearance dimensions being 1,500
mm x 800 mm.
5.5.6. On passage ways, it is permissible
that salience could be protruded up to
100mm out of the wall and installed at a
height of 600mm above the floor
surface, and if they protrude from the
ceiling, it is 2,000mm over the floor
surface (see fig 17)
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Fig 14: Width of corridor changing direction
Fig 15: Direct, right angle entrance way
Fig 16: Parallel entrance way
Note: Handrail of staircase and sloping way could be allowed to protrude at
most by 115mm.
5.5.7. Objects being fastened/stuck on axles such as ad posters, public pay phones,
letter boxes.... are allowed to be protruded 300mm on each side and
installed at 600mm and over 2,000mm from the floor surface (see fig 18).

5.5.8. Passage way with gradually lowered clearance height and less than 2,000mm
width must be protected by shield bar. Height for installing shield bar in at
least 700mm from floor surface (see fig 19)
5.5.9. Clearance space under the knees and place for feet putting of wheelchair
user are regulated as follows (see fig. 20):
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Fig 17: Allowed limit for salience in passage way.
Fig 18: Allowed limit for salience of objects fastened on axles
Fig 19: Gradually lowered clearance height

reach of arm should be 1,200mm
If the barrier protrudes to more than 250mm
and less than 600mm, then the maximum
height of reach of arm shall be 1150mm (see fig 24)

5.6. Handrail
5.6.1. Handrail must be arranged continuously at both sides of sloping way,
entrance way with graded steps and corridor.
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Fig 22: Height of arm reach by
Wheelchair user when there is
frontal barrier
Fig 23: Reach of arm to the side without barrier
Fig 24: Reach of arm to the side with barrier