Rule ID: SOL/247/1.0
This article describes how the Local Accessible Circulation Rule works and how you can configure the rule.
The article covers the following topics:
The rule verifies that circulation spaces maintain the required minimum clear width and remain free of obstacles within a user-defined height range, ensuring safe, barrier-free movement. It identifies inaccessible and accessible areas within individual or merged spaces, and can classify these areas as reachable, partially reachable, or unreachable based on the defined entrances.
When enabled it also:
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Checks that entrances meet minimum width
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Confirms each selected entrance provides access to the accessible areas
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Evaluates whether dead‑end corridors offer sufficient manoeuvring space
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Validates that connected components form a continuous circulation area that complies with the specified width requirement ("merged spaces" needs to be activated)
The rule analyzes circulation space geometry and verifies compliance with the user defined accessibility parameters.
It checks that:
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If spaces are accessible, circulation paths are continuous and maintain the required minimum width. Spaces are visualized as green (accessible) and red (inaccessible) areas, and a space is considered compliant when more than 90% of its area is accessible.
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Obstacles such as walls, furniture, or door swings do not reduce width below the requirement and make the areas inaccessible.
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Entrances that are sufficiently wide and connected to the accessible areas allow the space to be visualized, relative to the defined entrances, as Reachable, Partially Reachable, or Unreachable.
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Free spaces exist at corridor ends (dead-end-corridor) and at required intervals
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Specified components are connected to or between accessible circulation paths within a given tolerance.
Tip
When the entrance check is disabled, only Accessible Space and Inaccessible Space results are shown; Reachable, Partially Reachable, and Unreachable results are not displayed.
Note
The rule incorporates a built in tolerance that allows the boundary areas to be much narrower than the required width, as long as they are in total less than 10% of the circulation area and the remaining area is continuous and compliant. This prevents false positives from tiny corners or protrusions, but the rule will still fail if a narrow part splits the accessible area into two separate spaces.
Accessibility is checked mainly on 2D footprints. For doors, Solibri uses either the footprint of the opening (when the door is related to an opening) or the door’s own geometric footprint when no opening is defined, which affects how clearances and circulation are checked.
Two types of connectivity checks can be performed:
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Each component in a selected set must be connected to the accessible circulation.
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Each component in one set must be mutually connected to components in another set through the accessible circulation.
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Filter Spaces: Defines the space components included in the circulation check. Typically, the “Space” class is selected.
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Merge adjacent spaces: Combines directly adjacent spaces or other components e.g. Slabs when selected in the filter without.
Tip
The connection tolerance between merged components (spaces, slabs, etc.) is fixed at 250 mm within the rule and cannot be modified.
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Choose Obstacles: Specifies which components are treated as obstacles (for example, walls, furniture, or columns).
Tip
Doors, openings, and wall voids are not treated as obstacles.Spaces, furniture, and sanitary fixtures are excluded by default.
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Minimum width: Defines the minimum required clear width of the circulation space. The Default value is set to: 1.20 m
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Override default elevations: Allows defining custom top and bottom elevations for the clearance space used in the check. If disabled, the rule uses default elevations (bottom 200 mm, top 2.00 m).
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Bottom elevation: Lower boundary for checking clearance.
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Top elevation: Upper boundary for checking clearance.
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Consider door swing as obstacle: Consider door swing as obstacle. If enabled, door swings are treated as obstacles that reduce the available width.
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Require entrances: The accessible areas found must be accessible via defined entrances such as doors. Areas without entrances are reported.
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Entrance width should conform to minimum width: Checks that entrances meet the same minimum width as the circulation path. Entrances narrower than the required width are reported.
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Choose Entrances Filter: Specifies which components are treated as entrances e.g doors, windows or openings.
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Check free space at circulation ends: Ensures that sufficient free space exists at the ends of circulation paths, such as dead end corridors.
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Check maximum distance between free spaces: If activated, ensures that the distance between consecutive free spaces does not exceed the specified maximum distance. This option adds an additional user input with a default value of: 25.00 m
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Required free space width: Minimum width of free space.
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Required free space length: Minimum length of free space.
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Exclude circulations wider than: Skips checking circulation spaces wider than this value (since there is no need for an extra circulation space).
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Exclude circulation branches shorter than: Omits short branches from the free space check (when there is no need for an extra circulation space, since you can, for example, roll back with the wheelchair).
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Exclude circulation endpoints near components: Omits circulation ends that are close to defined exclusion components.
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Choose exclusion components Filter: Defines which components (for example, stairs, ramps, elevators) cause nearby circulation ends to be excluded from the free space check.
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Check component circulation connection: Verifies that components are connected to accessible circulation paths of sufficient width. When enabled, one or two component sets can be configured.
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Connection tolerance: Maximum allowable distance between a component and the accessible circulation path. Default: 250 mm
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Type of connection check:
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Each component in Set 1 should be connected to the accessible circulation: Checks that every component defined in Set 1 has a direct connection to an accessible circulation path of sufficient width.
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Each component in Set 1 and Set 2 must be mutually connected by the accessible circulation: Checks that each component in Set 1 is connected to at least one component in Set 2, and vice versa, through an accessible circulation path, which is selected in the Filter Space with or without the "merge adjacent space" functionality.
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Connected Component Set 1: Components that must be connected to accessible circulation.
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Other connected Component Set 2: Components that must be mutually connected with components in Set 1 through accessible circulation.
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Depending on the violations found, the rule can report the following results:
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Accessible Space – Circulation areas that meet the required minimum width, shown in GREEN.
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Inaccessible Space – Circulation areas where the width is smaller than the required minimum, shown in RED.
When the required entrance check is enabled, the circulation areas are visualized as follows:
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Reachable – Accessible from the defined entrance(s).
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Partially Unreachable – Only part of the circulation area can be reached from the entrance(s).
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Unreachable – The circulation area cannot be reached from the entrances.
Additional reported outcomes include, when „Entrance width should conform to minimum width” is activated:
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Narrow Entrance – Entrances narrower than the required minimum width.
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Missing Required Entrances – Circulation spaces without any entrances.
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No Required Free Space at End of Circulation – Missing required free space at corridor ends.
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Excessive Circulation Distance Without Free Space – Circulation path exceeds the maximum allowed distance between free spaces.
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Components Not Connected to an Accessible Path – Components are not connected to any accessible circulation path within the given tolerance.
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Components Not Connected by an Accessible Path – Components from two defined sets are not mutually connected by an accessible path.
Tip
In visualization, accessible and reachable areas appear in green, while inaccessible and unreachable areas appear in red. If an area is partially unreachable, it appears in orange
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Conform models to accessibility standards and building codes
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Checking corridor accessibility in public and residential buildings
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Verifying minimum passage widths for wheelchair access
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Ensuring free space near doors, elevators, and turning areas
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Confirming that rooms and components are connected by accessible circulation
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Validating door widths and clearances at corridor ends