Interactive Calculator · India 2026
Lift Shaft Size Calculator
Size the hoistway for a home lift in India. Pick a capacity and drive type to get the clear shaft width and depth, car size, door opening, pit depth and headroom (overhead) you need to leave.
Quick scenarios — drive type
Ropes + counterweight, machine in the hoistway (MRL is the 2026 norm). Energy-efficient, smooth, faster.
Required clear dimensions
Shaft W x D
0 x 0
mm (clear hoistway)
Car W x D
0 x 0
mm (clear inside)
Door opening
0
mm (clear)
Wheelchair
Tight
CPWD ≥ 1100 x 1400
Pit depth (below lowest floor)
0 – 0 mm
Headroom / overhead (above top floor)
0 – 0 mm
Shaft footprint area by capacity
Clear hoistway area in square metres. Your choice is highlighted.
Bigger cars need a bigger hoistway. A 4-person car (1,500 mm x 1,750 mm) is the smallest that comfortably takes a wheelchair and attendant under CPWD/RPwD guidance.
Shaft sizes are clear (finished) internal dimensions. Add wall thickness on top to set out the structure.
Shaft build notes
- RCC shaft walls are typically 150–200 mm thick; leave the inner face unplastered so the clear dimension holds.
- The shaft must be plumb (vertical) within tolerance, top to bottom — out-of-plumb shafts reject the guide rails.
- Pit is measured below the lowest served floor; headroom is the clear overhead above the top floor finished level.
- Pneumatic vacuum (PVE) is self-supporting — it needs no separate RCC shaft and no pit, only the headroom band.
Indicative June 2026 dimensions derived from India market and IS 17900 / NBC 2016 ranges. Always build to the vendor's approved GA drawing.
Lift shafts and hoistways
RCC · hoistway
Pit · base
PVE · no shaft
Car · inside
Design the shaft properly
Read the full lift shaft design guide — setting out, RCC walls, pit and headroom, plumb tolerances and GA drawings.
Related Guides — Deep-dive reading
Home Lift Space Requirements (India): How Much Room a Home Elevator Really Needs
Footprint, clear shaft, pit and headroom by capacity (2/3/4/6 person), plus where to fit a lift in an Indian home plan.
Home Lifts & AccessibilityLift Specification Checklist (India): The Spec Sheet to Hand Every Home-Lift Vendor
One fillable spec sheet that forces every vendor to quote like-for-like on your shaft, your stops, your safety features.
Home Lifts & AccessibilityArchitect's Residential Elevator Planning Handbook (India): Shaft, Loads, Code & Coordination
The plan-stage reference for carrying a home lift through the drawing board — shaft, structure, pit, code, licensing and accessibility.
Home Lifts & AccessibilityRelated Tools — You may also find these useful
Lift Headroom Calculator
Required overhead clearance for a home lift, checked against your top-floor height.
Lift CalculatorLift Pit Depth Calculator
The pit depth a home lift needs by drive type — or the pitless and shaftless options.
Lift CalculatorAccessibility Compliance Calculator
Check a planned lift against the CPWD and RPwD accessible-lift benchmarks for a score.
Lift Checker