Minimum clearances around a toilet and washbasin in a small bathroom

How much room a toilet needs to be usable

A toilet bowl itself is usually around 35 to 40 cm wide, but the space that matters is what is free in front of and beside it. As a rule of thumb, aim for at least 60 cm of clear floor space in front of the bowl, measured from the front edge, so that standing up and sitting down do not feel cramped.

To the side, if the toilet sits next to a wall, tiled step or bath panel, around 20 cm of clearance from the centre of the bowl to that obstruction is workable, though 25 to 30 cm feels noticeably more comfortable, particularly if anyone in the household is tall or less mobile.

These are comfort figures from ordinary practice, not fixed rules, and a competent fitter will adjust them to the actual room. If you are unsure whether a planned layout leaves enough space, our toilet repair and fitting service, from 60 € per job, includes checking the measurements before anything is mounted.

Where to put the washbasin and how far from other fixtures

A washbasin needs less depth than a toilet but benefits from width. Leave at least 55 to 60 cm of clear space in front of it so that leaning over to wash your face or brush your teeth does not mean stepping back into the toilet or door.

Between the edge of the basin and the toilet bowl, aim for a minimum of 15 to 20 cm, more if the basin has a pedestal or cabinet underneath that sticks out further than the bowl itself. Anything tighter tends to mean elbows knocking against the cistern.

If the basin sits on a vanity unit, remember the unit's outer edge, not just the bowl, when measuring distances to the toilet or door frame — a narrow-looking basin can hide a cabinet 10 cm wider on each side.

Door swing direction and room to move

In a small bathroom, the door is often the tightest constraint of all. A standard bathroom door is around 60 to 70 cm wide, and if it opens inwards it needs a clear arc of that radius free of toilet, basin or bath panel.

Where the room genuinely cannot accommodate an inward-opening door without colliding with the toilet, the usual solutions are hanging the door to open outwards into the hallway, fitting a sliding door on a track, or narrowing the door itself — each has trade-offs worth discussing with whoever fits it.

Also check that the door, once open, still leaves enough space to stand and close it behind you. A door that swings fully open but leaves no standing room next to the basin solves one problem and creates another.

What to check before buying and fitting fixtures

Before ordering a toilet or basin, measure the room properly with a tape measure and mark the planned positions on the floor with tape — this shows up clearance problems that a plan on paper does not. Check both the fixture's footprint and any protruding parts such as cisterns, handles or pedestal bases.

Confirm where the existing waste and water connections are, since moving them adds cost and sometimes needs an apartment association's agreement if pipework in shared walls is affected. In panel flats, the soil stack position often limits how far a toilet can realistically move from its current spot.

For a full bathroom renovation, from 3 500 € per job, we measure the room, check the existing connections and agree a layout with you before ordering anything, which avoids buying fixtures that later turn out not to fit.

• Measure the room and mark fixture footprints with tape on the floor
• Include protruding parts: cistern, pedestal, cabinet edges, not just the bowl
• Check door swing radius against the final fixture positions
• Confirm the position of waste and water connections before ordering
• Ask the apartment association if shared pipework will be affected
• Leave at least 60 cm clear in front of both toilet and basin where possible
• Recheck measurements after tiling, since tile and battens reduce room slightly

What to do if the measurements simply do not fit

In many older panel flats the bathroom is genuinely too small for the comfortable figures above, and something has to give. The usual compromises are a wall-hung toilet with a concealed cistern, which saves 10 to 15 cm of depth over a close-coupled model, or a corner or compact basin instead of a standard one.

Another option is reworking the door, since gaining even 10 cm by switching to a sliding or outward-opening door often solves a clearance problem that no amount of fixture shopping will fix.

If nothing quite works on paper, it is worth having someone look at the room in person before you commit to fixtures — a layout that looks impossible on a rough sketch sometimes has an obvious answer once someone stands in the actual space with a tape measure.