248 Accessible Area around Objects Rule

This rule verifies that a required clear area exists around selected components. It ensures that the defined space in front, behind, or on the sides of a target component remains unobstructed, supporting accessibility, usability, safety, and regulatory compliance.

This rule can be typically used for fixtures such as toilets, washbasins, showers, doors, equipment, … where standards or operational needs define a minimum clearance zone.

The rule checks:

This ensures that accessible circulation, reachability, and functional operation around the component are maintained.

This rule checks the clearance around a component against user-defined accessibility parameters. It checks for free space in front, behind, and on the sides of the component and checks for any obstacles that block access or movement. It issues a result whenever the required clearance is not met or is obstructed.

Choose Targets: Define which component should have clear space around it.

Choose Obstacles: Specifies which components are treated as obstacles (e.g. walls, furniture, columns…).

Restrict Checks Within Spaces: When selected, the rule checks for free space only inside the spaces defined by your space filter. It checks that the required clearance stays within the selected space boundaries and checks whether any part of the free space extends outside those spaces.

When this option is not selected, the rule checks for clearance purely based on geometry and ignores space boundaries. It still checks space relations for reporting, but it does not restrict the free space to stay inside a specific space.

Filter Spaces: Select the spaces to be checked. Typically, the “Space” class is used.

Merge Adjacent Spaces: When enabled, the rule checks for free space in merged spaces where directly adjacent spaces are treated as one continuous area. It checks spaces as connected if the distance between them is within a tolerance of 250 mm and checks the clearance across the combined area rather than breaking it by space boundaries.

When this option is disabled, the rule checks each space separately and checks that the free space is valid within each individual space only.

Checking Modes

The rule produces results that follow the same naming format as the Solibri Results panel. Depending on the selected checking mode and the issue detected, the following types of outcomes may appear:

Free space in front (From edge): Obstacles found

Issued when obstacles intersect the required front-clearance volume.

Free space in back: Obstacles found

Issued when the back clearance contains obstacles.

Free space on side (One side, Midline): Obstacles found

Issued when checking a single side from the component’s midline and obstacles are present in the required side-clearance area.

Free space on side (Both sides, Edge): Obstacles found

Issued when both sides must be clear, measured from the component’s edge, and one or both sides contain obstacles.

Required protrusion is exceeded

Issued when the target component intrudes into the free-space area beyond the allowed minimum or additional protrusion limits.

Free space exceeds the space boundary

The required free space extends beyond the limits of the checked space.

The component is not associated with any of the spaces defined or filtered by your space filter

The component is physically inside the space, but there is no model relation linking it to any of the spaces selected by the space filter (as noted earlier in the component–space relation description).

Each result includes: