Which part of AS/NZS 2890 covers a store car park?
Part 1, off street car parking. It groups car parks into user classes by how they are used, and sets bay and aisle sizes for each class. Accessible parking is user class 4, and its dimensions are in a separate part, AS/NZS 2890.6.
The figures on this page come from the 2004 edition with its amendment. A revised edition has been circulated in draft for public comment, and a particular site's planning approval may reference a specific edition. Which one applies is a question for the site's traffic engineer or certifier, not the line marking crew.
How wide should a retail parking bay be?
It depends on the user class. For 90 degree parking, the standard gives these widths and minimum aisles:
| User class | Typical use | Bay width | Aisle width |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Employee and commuter parking | 2.4 m | 6.2 m |
| 1A | Residential, domestic and employee parking | 2.4 m | 5.8 m |
| 2 | Long term city parking, sports and entertainment venues | 2.5 m | 5.8 m |
| 3 | Short term city parking, hospitals and medical centres | 2.6 m | 5.8 m |
| 3A | Short term, high turnover parking at shopping centres | 2.6 m or 2.7 m | 6.6 m or 6.2 m |
The two class 3A options are alternatives of equal standing: a wider aisle with a 2.6 metre bay, or a wider bay with a 6.2 metre aisle. Bays are 5.4 metres long where parking is to a wall or high kerb, and 4.8 metres where a low kerb lets the car overhang by 600 millimetres.
Remarking an existing car park to a narrower class to fit more bays is a design change, not maintenance. It belongs with the traffic engineer and, usually, the council.
What does the standard say about wheel stops?
| Point | What AS/NZS 2890.1 says |
|---|---|
| Are they required? | No. They may be provided where travel into the bay needs limiting |
| Height | Between 90 mm and 100 mm |
| Length across the bay | 1650 mm, plus or minus 50 mm |
| Next to a wall or a kerb over 150 mm | Set a further 200 mm back |
| Pedestrians | Avoid wheel stops anywhere people walk to or from cars |
The standard lists three typical uses: controlling overhang where it would be a hazard to pedestrians, stopping contact with an end barrier or high kerb, and stopping cars reaching into the opposite bay.
The pedestrian note matters most in retail. Shoppers walk between bays pushing trolleys, and a wheel stop in that line is a trip hazard. On an audit, check the height of existing stops as well: anything over 100 millimetres is outside the standard.
How far back does a wheel stop sit?
Measured from the face of the kerb or wall to the wheel stop, and it changes with the kerb height and with which way the car comes in:
| Parking | Low kerb, 150 mm or less | High kerb or a wall |
|---|---|---|
| Front in, nose first | 620 mm | 820 mm |
| Rear in, reversing | 900 mm | 1100 mm |
The high kerb column is the low kerb figure plus the 200 mm in the table above. Rear in bays need the extra room because the overhang at the back of a car is longer than at the front.
This is the measurement most often wrong on an existing site. A stop set by eye rather than to the figure either lets a bumper touch the wall, which is the thing it was installed to prevent, or pushes the car so far out that it crowds the aisle. Worth measuring on an audit rather than assuming.
One more thing to look for: the standard expects a wheel stop to contrast with the surface around it, so a grey stop on grey asphalt is a finding even when its dimensions are right.
What drives the cost of remarking a fleet of car parks?
- The number of bays and how complex the layout is at each site
- Whether old lines have to be ground or blasted off first so they do not show through
- Paint or thermoplastic, and how long each area must stay closed to cure
- Wheel stop removal, supply and fixing, and the surface they fix to
- Pedestrian crossings, accessible bay marking and signage on the same visit
- Night or staged work so the car park keeps trading
One site's quote says little about a fleet, because a car park can be a simple repaint or a full remark depending on what is under the existing lines. A survey per site against one written specification is the honest basis for a budget.
How do you keep marking consistent across an estate?
Write the specification once: user class and bay dimensions from the site's approved layout, wheel stop rule, paint or thermoplastic type, and the pedestrian route treatment. Survey every car park in scope against it and rank the sites, so the work becomes a program rather than a string of unrelated jobs.
That is how Nextage scopes car park and external works: line marking, wheel stops and pedestrian treatments against one written standard, priced per site, and often bundled with a bollard or ramp visit to the same store.
