Sans 10400 Parking Requirements

Sans 10400 Parking Requirements: A Practical Guide for South African Projects

Designing and approving parking for new buildings in South Africa is governed by SANS 10400, the national standard that outlines how to comply with the National Building Regulations (NBR). While each local authority sets its own parking ratios and layout rules in zoning schemes, these must still align with the performance principles of SANS 10400.

This article explains what “Sans 10400 Parking Requirements” means in practice, how it links to the building regulations, and where to find authoritative references.

1. What is SANS 10400?

SANS 10400 is the South African National Standard titled “The application of the National Building Regulations”. It consists of multiple parts (A to XA), each dealing with a different functional area such as structural design, fire protection, and site operations. The standard is published by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), which confirms that the document sets out “deemed-to-satisfy solutions” for compliance with the National Building Regulations published under the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act 103 of 1977 (SABS – SANS 10400 overview).

Key points:

SANS 10400 is not a zoning by-law, but a national technical standard that shows how to satisfy the NBR.
Municipalities must enforce the NBR, and they typically require compliance with relevant SANS 10400 parts for plan approval, including issues that affect parking (such as access, fire, and site layout) as explained in guidance on the National Building Regulations from the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI – National Building Regulations overview).

2. Does SANS 10400 contain specific parking bay ratios?

A common misunderstanding is that SANS 10400 directly specifies how many parking bays are required for offices, shops, flats, etc. In reality:

Parking ratios (e.g., 1 bay per 25 m² GLA for offices) are generally determined by municipal zoning schemes and land use policies, not directly by SANS 10400.
SANS 10400 provides the performance and safety framework that affects parking areas – such as access routes, gradients, circulation widths, accessibility, and fire-fighting access – but the exact number of bays comes from the relevant municipal planning documents.

For example, the City of Cape Town Municipal Planning By-Law 2015 (as amended) includes a detailed parking schedule in its Development Management Scheme, specifying required bays per land use category (City of Cape Town – Development Management Scheme). Similar schedules exist in other metros such as Johannesburg and eThekwini, and they are applied in addition to compliance with SANS 10400.

3. How SANS 10400 impacts parking and access design

Even though SANS 10400 does not usually dictate the number of bays, several parts of the standard strongly influence how parking areas are planned and built.

3.1. Site operations, access and circulation (Part F)

SANS 10400‑F: Site Operations deals with how a building site is laid out and used. It includes requirements for safe access to and from the site and for maintaining adequate clearances and safe circulation patterns (SABS – SANS 10400 F listing). In practice, this affects:

How vehicles enter and exit the property.
Sight distances and safe manoeuvring areas.
Coordination of pedestrian routes and vehicle routes on the site.

Municipal technical guidelines, such as the City of Johannesburg’s development control policies, typically reference SANS 10400 and require that on-site circulation and access geometry meet safety and functional requirements compatible with Part F (City of Johannesburg – Building Plan and Land Use information).

3.2. Accessibility and disabled parking (Part S)

While general parking ratios are set locally, accessible parking is guided by SANS 10400‑S: Facilities for persons with disabilities, which deals with inclusive design and access to buildings. SABS states that this part specifies technical solutions to make buildings accessible to persons with disabilities, in line with the NBR (SABS – SANS 10400 S listing).

Though the full text is paywalled, both municipal guidelines and accessibility design guides summarise its effect:

Developments must provide dedicated, suitably dimensioned parking bays for people with disabilities.
These bays must be located close to accessible building entrances and linked via accessible routes (ramped or level) compliant with SANS 10400‑S.
Bays must include appropriate signage and markings.

As an illustration, the City of Cape Town’s Municipal Planning By-Law integrates the requirement for designated parking for disabled persons, referencing national accessibility standards in its development parameters (City of Cape Town – Municipal Planning By-Law 2015).

3.3. Fire access and emergency vehicles (Part T)

SANS 10400‑T: Fire protection sets out the requirements for fire safety, including access for fire-fighting and emergency vehicles (SABS – SANS 10400 T listing). Key implications for parking areas include:

Providing unobstructed access routes for fire-fighting vehicles around or to the building.
Ensuring that parking layouts do not block fire appliance access points or hydrants.
Maintaining minimum clearances and turning radii suitable for fire engines.

Municipal fire departments frequently refer to Part T when commenting on building plans, and they may require adjustments to parking arrangements to preserve compliant fire access, as illustrated in municipal fire safety guidelines such as those of the City of eThekwini (Durban) Fire and Emergency Services (eThekwini Fire and Emergency Services – Fire Safety Guidelines).

4. Municipal parking requirements and their relationship to SANS 10400

In practice, a compliant design must satisfy both:

The National Building Regulations and relevant parts of SANS 10400; and
The municipal zoning scheme / land use scheme, which prescribes:
- Minimum number of parking bays.
- Dimensions for bays and aisles.
- Requirements for loading bays, motorcycle/bicycle parking, etc.

Examples:

The City of Cape Town Development Management Scheme provides minimum off‑street parking requirements by land use (e.g. dwelling house, block of flats, office, shops), with tables and notes on relaxations and reductions for public transport areas (City of Cape Town – Development Management Scheme).
The City of Johannesburg Land Use Scheme 2018 sets parking requirements as part of its zoning regulations, which must be read together with any SANS 10400‑based building regulation conditions (City of Johannesburg – Land Use Scheme 2018).

Thus, “Sans 10400 Parking Requirements” in a real project typically means:

Use the municipal land use scheme and planning by-law for the number and basic layout of bays.
Use the relevant SANS 10400 parts (especially F, S, and T) to ensure the parking and access arrangements meet building regulation performance criteria for safety, accessibility and fire protection.

5. Buying and using SANS 10400 for detailed parking design

Because SANS 10400 is a copyrighted standard, the exact clause wording and dimensional tables are available only through purchase or subscription.

You can obtain the standard from:

SABS Online Store – which lists all parts of SANS 10400 for purchase and download in PDF form (SABS store – SANS 10400 search results).

Professionals such as architects, engineers, and building control officers use these documents together with municipal planning instruments to develop fully compliant parking layouts.

6. How a professional service like Requirements.co.za fits in

Specialist consultancies help project teams interpret Sans 10400 parking requirements in conjunction with local planning laws.

The website Requirements.co.za focuses on regulatory and standards-based requirements for South African projects, including those linked to SANS 10400 and the National Building Regulations. The site provides information and services around regulatory and standards compliance for the built environment and related sectors (Requirements.co.za – Home page).

While detailed parking ratios are not published on that site, such a consultancy typically assists with:

Identifying which parts of SANS 10400 apply to a specific building and its parking (e.g. F, S, T).
Cross-referencing relevant municipal planning by-laws and land use schemes for minimum parking requirements.
Preparing documentation for building plan submissions that demonstrate compliance with both SANS 10400 and local regulations.

For precise project-level advice, you would generally combine:

The purchased SANS 10400 parts from SABS (SABS – SANS 10400 catalogue),
The appropriate municipal planning or land use scheme (for example, Cape Town’s Development Management Scheme or Johannesburg’s Land Use Scheme),
And, where needed, specialist regulatory support such as the services described on Requirements.co.za (Requirements.co.za – Services overview).

7. Key takeaways for Sans 10400 parking requirements

SANS 10400 is the national standard explaining how to apply the National Building Regulations, published by SABS (SABS – SANS 10400 overview).
It does not generally provide numeric parking bay ratios; those are set by municipal zoning / land use schemes, such as the City of Cape Town Development Management Scheme and the City of Johannesburg Land Use Scheme (City of Cape Town – Development Management Scheme; City of Johannesburg – Land Use Scheme 2018).
SANS 10400 does influence parking design through:
- Part F – site operations and access,
- Part S – accessibility and disabled parking,
- Part T – fire access and emergency vehicle routes (SABS – SANS 10400 F listing; SABS – SANS 10400 S listing; SABS – SANS 10400 T listing).
To design compliant parking, you must combine SANS 10400 requirements with municipal planning schemes, and many teams use expert services like those promoted on Requirements.co.za to coordinate these requirements in a single, practical brief (Requirements.co.za – Home).

By aligning municipal parking schedules with the technical and safety provisions of Sans 10400, developers and professionals can ensure that parking facilities are not only sufficient in number but also safe, accessible and legally compliant.

Sans 10400 Parking Requirements