Built-in Appliance Door Swing Clearance Calculator
Check cabinet margins and the full opening path of a bottom-hinged door.
Enter hinge, door, handle and obstacle dimensions, then save a drawing for installer review.
Default values are fictional. Replace them with the exact model drawing and site measurements.
Supports only doors that rotate forward and down around a fixed bottom hinge (0–90°). The body is flush with the cabinet face and the door extends only above the hinge. Side-opening, sliding and compound hinges require drawing review.
1. Model and drawing
2. Cabinet and body
Measure the narrowest usable dimensions. Exclude the door from body depth and include adjusted feet in height. Right clearance is the remaining width after setting the left gap.
3. Manufacturer clearance requirements
Leave unknown values blank. Zero means no additional gap is required in the drawing. Front depth is the total required empty distance forward from the body face.
4. Door, hinge and aisle
Hinge x=0 is the body face; y=0 is the floor. Handle projection enlarges the entire door conservatively. Do not also include the handle in door thickness. Extra passage is user-selected, not a statutory aisle requirement.
The opposite frontage is treated as an unlimited-height vertical boundary. A door passing above low furniture needs separate height and movement-drawing review.
5. Obstacles overlapping the door width
Up to 3 rectangles. Enter bottom-left x/y, horizontal depth and vertical height in the side view. x is negative behind the body face. Exclude objects outside the door width; adjacent doors are checked only in a chosen fixed pose.
Review results
Drawing unconfirmed — hypothetical dimension review
The values below describe the entered geometry. Enter the actual model and drawing and confirm the comparison to display the conditional assessment.
Left margin
5 mm
Margin
Right margin
5 mm
Margin
Top margin
20 mm
Margin
Rear margin
30 mm
Margin
Maximum reach during opening
701.78 mm
85.91° · Floor margin 50 mm
Required front depth / remaining margin
851.78 / 48.22 mm
Larger of reach + passage and manufacturer front requirement
Potential contact angles (endpoints included)
- Floor: No door contact
- Opposite frontage: No door contact
Installer and cabinet-maker review
The full-length handle envelope is a conservative approximation. Recheck contact intervals and zero margins against the site drawing. Cabinet squareness, floor slope, self-interference with the body, actual handle location, lower panels, plinths, hoses, wires and mounting are not approved by this result.
An appliance needs room to fit and room to open
When replacing a dishwasher or ordering kitchen cabinets, matching the appliance width alone can miss interference with an island, plinth or handle.
This calculator separates the fixed installation envelope from the space occupied by the moving door.
Use measured dimensions and the exact model drawing before purchasing, then save a drawing and review report to discuss with the installer and cabinet maker.
The supported shape is a simple door rotating forward and downward around a fixed bottom hinge.
The check includes every intermediate position between closed and the target angle.
A clear result applies to the entered geometry; it does not verify omitted construction details or site conditions.
Keep the model and drawing revision with the results.
Prepare measurements and confirm the supported geometry
Measure the site
Record the narrowest clear cabinet width, height and depth, actual left gap, distance from the body face to the opposite cabinet, and obstacles overlapping the door width.
Account for finishes and projecting trim.
If the opening varies from top to bottom, establish the limiting usable dimensions.
A significantly sloping or out-of-square cabinet cannot be fully represented by a rectangle.
Read the product drawing
Confirm the exact model, sales market, drawing revision, body dimensions, adjusted feet, door length and thickness, handle projection, hinge center and required gaps.
Do not estimate these from photographs or substitute another model’s dimensions.
Panel-ready products need the drawing for the actual panel and handle combination.
The body rests at cabinet-floor level with its front flush with the cabinet face.
Pulling the body forward, moving-axis linkages, sliding panels, side-opening refrigerator doors and panels extending below the hinge are outside this model.
Select unsupported geometry and consult the manufacturer’s actual movement drawing when any of these applies.
Enter installation dimensions and required gaps
Body and cabinet
All lengths use mm.
Body depth excludes the door; height includes the feet in their installed position.
Cabinet depth must use the same front reference plane.
Account for unusable rear space caused by pipes or sockets through the measured dimensions or the manufacturer’s rear requirement without counting the same space twice.
Left and right
Enter the actual left gap.
The actual right gap is cabinet width minus body width minus that left gap.
The calculator does not assume a centered appliance.
Leaving more clearance beside one wall reduces the remaining space on the opposite side.
Leave unknown requirements blank
Enter zero only when the drawing confirms that no additional gap is required.
Zero must not stand for an unknown dimension.
The front requirement is the total empty depth measured forward from the fixed body face.
If a drawing measures from the closed door or handle tip, convert it to the body-face reference before entering it.
Read the door, handle and obstacle coordinates
In the side view, x=0 is the fixed body face and y=0 is the floor.
Positive x points into the aisle; positive y points upward.
Obstacles behind the body face can have negative x, but the hinge must be on or forward of the body face.
Hinge height must be between floor level and body height.
A conservative handle envelope
The door starts as a rectangle extending length L above its hinge and thickness outward.
Handle projection is added along the full door length, giving T=door thickness+handle projection.
The actual handle position and short length are not modeled separately, so the contact region can be larger than reality.
Treat handle-envelope contact as a candidate for detailed drawing review, not proof of an actual collision.
Add up to three rectangular obstacles using their bottom-left x/y, horizontal depth and vertical height.
Include only objects that actually overlap the door width.
An object beside the door can produce a false clash if placed in the same side section.
An adjacent door is checked only in the fixed pose you enter; simultaneous motion is outside scope.
The opposite frontage is treated as an unlimited-height vertical boundary.
A door passing above low furniture may face fewer restrictions, but needs separate review of actual heights and the movement drawing.
Installation margins and minimum front depth
Margins after required gaps
- Left = actual left gap − required left gap
- Right = cabinet width − body width − actual left gap − required right gap
- Top = cabinet height − body height − required top gap
- Rear = cabinet depth − body depth − required rear gap
Positive values exceed the entered requirement; negative values are shortfalls; zero is the exact limit.
A shortfall is not an instruction to cut that amount from cabinetry.
Finishes and fixing structures need site review.
Rotation and maximum reach
x = hx + s·sinθ + q·cosθ
y = hy + s·cosθ − q·sinθ
0 ≤ s ≤ L, 0 ≤ q ≤ T, 0 ≤ θ ≤ A
Maximum reach = hx + max(L·sinθ + T·cosθ)
Closed is 0°; horizontal opening is 90°.
The peak angle is atan2(L,T) limited to the requested opening range.
Because the door has thickness, peak reach can occur before the final angle.
Checking only the fully open pose would miss this.
Aisle and floor
Required front depth = max(maximum reach + user-selected passage, manufacturer front requirement).
Subtract that value from the measured aisle to obtain its remaining margin.
Minimum floor margin = hy − T·sin A; zero counts as potential contact.
Extra passage is your chosen allowance, not a statutory aisle width or an accessibility assessment.
Intermediate contact and exact boundaries
The calculation finds angles at which the door envelope and obstacle edges meet, then checks the intervals between them.
It does not rely on fixed angular sampling, so it includes narrow overlap intervals and isolated touching points.
Obstacle, floor and opposite-frontage contacts are listed separately; fixed-body contact with an obstacle is also reported.
The door must pass through intermediate positions
A clear final pose does not remove a collision on the way there.
Both interval endpoints count as potential contact, and a single repeated angle can represent tangency.
Values are displayed to two decimal places, so a very narrow interval may look like one angle.
Internal numerical tolerance is not a construction allowance or a correction for measurement uncertainty.
Geometry results remain visible without drawing confirmation, but the overall status stays hypothetical until the model, drawing reference and confirmation checkbox are complete.
Editing any input clears the checkbox.
Unsupported hinges and missing dimensions withhold the swing calculation.
Check the fictional worked example
Installation
Use a 620×850×650 mm cabinet, a 600×820×600 mm body and a 10 mm actual left gap.
Required left/right gaps of 5 mm each, top 10 mm and rear 20 mm give margins of 5/5/20/30 mm respectively.
These are fictional teaching values, not specifications for any product or manufacturer.
Door and aisle
With hinge (0,100), L=700, door thickness 20, handle projection 30 and a target of 90°, T=50 mm.
Maximum reach is √492500 = 701.78 mm at approximately 85.91°, with 50 mm floor margin.
A 900 mm aisle, 150 mm extra passage and 750 mm manufacturer front requirement give 851.78 mm required depth and 48.22 mm remaining margin.
Change the aisle to 701 mm and set passage and manufacturer front requirement to zero: the envelope touches the opposite frontage during opening.
Although the reach at 90° is 700 mm, the door must pass through its 701.78 mm peak.
Removing only the handle projection reduces peak reach to 700.29 mm; the door’s own thickness still matters.
Changing hinge height to 50 mm creates floor tangency at 90°.
Step-by-step use and saving results
- Explore the fictional example, then record the actual model and drawing revision.
Check hinge and panel compatibility first. - Enter cabinet, body, left-gap and manufacturer requirement dimensions.
Leave unknown measurements blank and confirm them with the installer. - Enter hinge, door, handle and opposite-frontage dimensions, then add overlapping obstacles.
Check for missed adjacent doors and low plinths. - Confirm the drawing comparison and read margins and contact intervals.
Use the angle slider to inspect the drawing and save both the SVG drawing and TXT review.
The SVG contains a proportional side view at the selected angle and summary dimensions.
Dashed outlines illustrate selected poses, not a filled continuous swept region.
The TXT includes all entered dimensions, obstacles, confirmation status, contact intervals and sources.
Downloads are created on your device; the save button does not send anything to an installer.
Practical uses and follow-up checks
Replacing an existing dishwasher
A previous appliance fitting does not establish clearance for a replacement door or handle.
Equal body widths can hide differences in door length, hinge height and front requirements.
Save separate inputs for each candidate so the installer can review specific shortfalls before delivery.
Islands and opposite cabinets
Measure from the body face to the fixed opposite frontage, then add protruding handles as obstacles.
Choose extra passage if someone needs to stand or pass outside the door sweep.
For another opening door, compare a selected fixed position and review simultaneous movement on site.
Before cabinet fabrication
Share reference planes, cabinet and body dimensions, hinge height and actual drawings along with shortfalls.
Plinth shapes, below-hinge panels, mounting and hose routes need construction details.
Do not enter zero for unsupported conditions to make the result appear clear.
Frequently asked questions
Can I check a refrigerator door?
Side-opening doors are not supported.
This tool checks a bottom-hinged door in a side section; use the refrigerator’s plan-view opening drawing separately.
Why is contact shown when the fully open door clears?
Thickness and handle projection can make the intermediate reach larger.
The door must pass those positions before reaching the final pose.
Can the handle envelope overstate contact?
Yes.
Handle projection is added along the full door length.
Resolve potential contact using the actual handle position, width and shape in the manufacturer drawing.
Does zero clearance mean installation is allowed?
A zero requirement means no extra gap was confirmed in the drawing.
A zero remaining margin is a boundary, while zero physical separation is potential contact; neither is installation approval.
Do I add the manufacturer front requirement to door length?
Enter the front requirement as total empty depth measured from the body face.
The calculator takes the larger of that value and maximum reach plus passage; it does not add two total-depth requirements together.
How do I handle a plinth or compound hinge?
A fixed rectangular obstacle can be entered by coordinates.
Moving hinges or panels below the hinge do not match this model: select unsupported geometry and inspect the actual motion drawing.
Is sideways clearance between obstacles checked?
No width-direction overlap or movement is calculated.
Include only obstacles actually overlapping the door width and exclude objects beside it.
Can a clear result confirm purchase or installation?
It only checks the entered simple geometry.
Confirm squareness, measurement uncertainty, panels, mounting, plumbing and electrical conditions using the exact model drawing and a site review.
Official sources and review date
Sources checked on 2026-09-22.
Page 7 of the Bosch installation document addresses cabinet dimensions and door-to-wall clearance.
Dimensions for a particular overseas model are not used as universal installation specifications.
Use these links to locate model-specific documentation and recheck assumptions when the product, panel, handle, sales market or drawing changes.
The rotation formulas and contact checks describe this tool’s geometric model.
They are not manufacturer certification, legal compliance checks, plumbing or electrical design, or an installation guarantee.
Save shortfalls and problem angles for review
Recheck the source dimensions before deciding whether to enlarge cabinetry, compare another appliance or reposition an obstacle.
Share the drawing together with the report so the installer can work from the same body-face reference and hinge position.
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