Door Widening and Accessible Entry WA 2026 - Get Free Quotes

Why Accessible Entries Matter in WA

A doorway is something most people pass through without a thought, but for a person who uses a wheelchair, a walking frame or a mobility scooter, a doorway can be a hard barrier. A standard internal doorway is often simply too narrow for a wheelchair to pass through, and a raised threshold, a heavy door or hardware that is hard to grip can each turn an ordinary doorway into a daily obstacle. Door widening and accessible entry modifications exist to remove those barriers, so a person can move freely through their own home.

The reason this work matters is that access within a home shapes a person's independence and dignity. A home where a person can reach every room they need, get to the bathroom, the bedroom, the kitchen, the living areas, and in and out of the front door, is a home that supports them. A home where doorways block the way confines a person to part of their own house, forces them to rely on others, and can make the home unworkable. The difference an accessible doorway makes is not cosmetic; it is the difference between a home that works for the person and one that does not.

Accessible entry work is needed by a wide range of Western Australians. It matters for people who use a wheelchair or a mobility scooter, for whom doorway width is an absolute requirement, and for people who walk with difficulty, using a frame or with limited balance, for whom a heavy door, a raised threshold or awkward hardware is a real hazard. It matters for older Australians wanting to stay in their own homes as they age, and for people returning home after an injury or a change in their health.

The work covered by this guide ranges from the very simple to the genuinely structural. At the simple end is changing a door handle to an easier-to-use lever. At the more involved end is widening a doorway, which in many WA homes means cutting through a solid double-brick masonry wall, and where the wall is load-bearing, the work becomes structural. Because accessible entry work is so often part of a wider effort to make a home usable, it sits naturally alongside related accessibility services such as wheelchair ramp and threshold ramp installation and grab rail and safety rail installation.

Understanding Doorway Access

To understand accessible entry modifications, it helps to understand what makes a doorway accessible or not, because a doorway is more than just an opening with a door in it. Several things together determine whether a person with mobility needs can use a doorway easily.

The first is the clear width: how much genuinely usable space the doorway provides for someone to pass through. As the next section explains, this is not the same as the width of the door itself, and it is the single most important measure for wheelchair access. The second is the threshold: whether the floor passes through the doorway level, or whether there is a raised sill, a step or a lip that a wheel must climb or a foot might catch. The third is the door itself: how heavy it is, how it opens, and whether it gets in the way of a person approaching.

The fourth is the hardware: the handles, locks and latches, and whether they can be operated easily by someone with limited grip or strength. The fifth is the space around the doorway: whether there is enough clear room on each side for a person to approach the door, position themselves, and operate it, particularly in a wheelchair, which needs room to manoeuvre. A doorway can fall short on any one of these and still be a barrier, even if the others are fine.

Accessible entry modifications address whichever of these are the problem. Sometimes the issue is a single thing, a doorway just slightly too narrow, or a raised threshold, or a knob that cannot be gripped, and a targeted modification solves it. Sometimes a doorway needs several things addressed together. Understanding the doorway as a combination of width, threshold, door and hardware, and the space around it, is what allows the right modifications to be identified, and the sections that follow take each of these in turn.

Door Clear Width and AS 1428

The most important single measure of an accessible doorway is its clear width, and understanding it explains why so many standard doorways need widening for wheelchair access.

Clear width is the genuinely usable opening a doorway provides, and it is narrower than people expect. The width of the door leaf is not the clear width, because when the door is open it still projects into the opening, the door stop on the frame reduces the gap, and the result is a clear opening noticeably narrower than the door itself. A standard internal door, which already tends toward the narrow end, can leave a clear opening that is genuinely tight or impossible for a wheelchair, particularly when the person also has to allow for their hands on the wheels and for approaching the doorway at an angle.

This is where the Australian Standard comes in. AS 1428, Design for access and mobility, is the recognised standard for accessible design, and it specifies the clear opening widths that an accessible doorway should provide, along with requirements for thresholds, door hardware and the circulation space around doorways. AS 1428 is the standard that underpins accessible design in public buildings, and it is the same benchmark that good accessible modification work in homes is guided by, even though a private home is not bound by it in the way a public building is.

For a homeowner, the practical understanding is this: a standard doorway often does not provide enough clear width for comfortable wheelchair access, and the goal of door widening is to achieve an adequate clear opening, guided by AS 1428. It is also worth knowing that a doorway can sometimes be made adequate without full widening, since recovering even a small amount of clear width, through measures covered later such as offset hinges, can make a real difference at a doorway that is only marginally too narrow. An occupational therapist, where one is involved, will assess the specific person and their equipment and advise on the clear width genuinely needed. The current edition of AS 1428 is published by Standards Australia.

Door Widening Explained

Door widening is exactly what it sounds like: making a doorway wider so that it provides an adequate clear opening for accessible use. It is the central modification this guide covers, and understanding what it involves helps a homeowner approach it realistically.

Widening a doorway is more than swapping the door. The existing door and its frame are removed, the opening in the wall itself is enlarged, and a new, wider door and frame are fitted into the enlarged opening, with the surrounding wall and finishes made good afterward. The work touches the wall structure, the door, the architraves and the wall finishes on both sides, so even a straightforward door widening is a genuine piece of work rather than a quick job.

The complexity of a door widening depends overwhelmingly on the wall. The two factors that matter most are what the wall is built of and whether it is load-bearing. A non-load-bearing wall, one that does not carry weight from the structure above, is simpler to open up than a load-bearing wall, which carries load that must be supported when the opening is enlarged. And the wall material matters: a lightweight framed wall is far simpler to widen an opening in than a solid masonry wall, which has to be cut through. These factors, covered in the next two sections, are what separate a modest door widening from a substantial structural job.

For a homeowner, the practical point is to understand that door widening varies enormously in scope and cost depending on the wall, and that a proper assessment of the wall is essential before the work can be scoped or priced. A tradesperson experienced in this work will establish what the wall is built of and whether it is load-bearing as the first step, because that determines everything else. Door widening is real building work, and it should be approached as such, with a proper assessment, a clear scope, and the right tradespeople for the job.

Widening Doorways in WA Homes

Western Australia has a particular characteristic that makes door widening here different from much of the rest of the country, and every WA homeowner considering this work should understand it: a great many WA homes are built of double brick.

Double-brick construction, with solid masonry walls, is very common in Western Australian homes, particularly in and around Perth, where it has long been the standard way of building. This has real implications for door widening. Where a doorway in a lightweight framed wall can be enlarged by working with timber or steel framing, widening a doorway in a double-brick wall means cutting through solid masonry, which is heavier, dustier, noisier work that needs the right equipment and experience. The masonry has to be cut cleanly to the new opening size, and the work has to be done in a way that does not disturb the surrounding brickwork.

The double-brick factor interacts with the load-bearing question. Many internal and most external walls in a double-brick home carry load, and where a load-bearing double-brick wall is being opened up wider, a lintel, a beam, must be installed to carry the masonry and the load above the new, wider opening. Installing a lintel into a double-brick wall is structural work, and it is the single biggest reason door widening in a WA home can become a substantial, structural job rather than a modest one.

For a WA homeowner, the practical message is to expect door widening to be assessed and quoted with the double-brick reality in mind. A tradesperson experienced with WA homes will know to establish whether the wall is double brick and load-bearing, and will scope the work, the masonry cutting, the lintel where needed, the making good of the brickwork and finishes, accordingly. It also means door widening in a WA home is generally a job for tradespeople genuinely experienced in masonry and structural work, and the next section explains the structural side in more detail.

Load-Bearing Walls and Structural Work

Whether a wall is load-bearing is the question that most determines how involved a door widening is, and it is worth understanding clearly, because it is also a question of safety.

A load-bearing wall carries weight from the structure above it, the roof, an upper floor, or other parts of the building, and transfers that load down to the foundations. A non-load-bearing wall, by contrast, simply divides space and carries only its own weight. When a doorway in a load-bearing wall is widened, the wall above the new, wider opening still has to carry its load, and that load now has to be supported across a wider span, which is done by installing a lintel or beam strong enough to carry it. Getting this right is a structural matter, and it is not something to approach casually.

Because it is structural, widening a doorway in a load-bearing wall is genuine building work. It may require a building permit from the local government, since building work in Western Australia is regulated under the Building Act 2011 and structural alterations generally need approval, and it may need the involvement of a registered building practitioner and, depending on the work, structural engineering input to specify the lintel correctly. This is not a job for a general handyman; it is a job for tradespeople qualified to do structural building work safely and to the required standard.

For a homeowner, the practical guidance is to take the load-bearing question seriously and to use the right people. A tradesperson experienced in this work will determine whether the wall is load-bearing as a first step, will know when a lintel and structural design are needed, and will know when building approval is required. A homeowner should be wary of anyone proposing to widen a doorway in a wall they have not properly assessed, or who treats a potentially load-bearing wall casually. Done properly, with the right structural work, building approval where needed and qualified tradespeople, widening a load-bearing doorway is entirely achievable, and the building requirements are there to keep it safe. Official information on building requirements in WA is available from DMIRS.

Thresholds and Level Access

Width is not the only doorway barrier. A threshold, the raised sill or step at a doorway, can be just as much of an obstacle, and threshold modifications are an important part of accessible entry work.

Many doorways have a raised threshold. External doors commonly have a sill that the door closes against, sliding door tracks sit raised above the floor, and even internal doorways can have a small step where flooring changes or where the floor levels differ slightly. To a person walking, a threshold of a few centimetres is nothing, but to a wheelchair or a mobility scooter it is an obstacle to climb, and to a person with limited mobility or balance it can be a trip hazard. A raised threshold can stop an otherwise wide enough doorway from being usable.

Threshold modifications address this. The aim is level or near-level access through the doorway, so a wheel can roll through and a foot will not catch. Depending on the doorway, this can be achieved by modifying or removing the raised threshold, by fitting a small threshold ramp that smooths the rise, or by addressing the floor levels so the doorway is genuinely flush. At an external door, the work has to keep the doorway weatherproof while making it level, since a threshold also has a job in keeping water out, so the modification has to be done thoughtfully.

For a homeowner, the practical point is that thresholds should not be overlooked when making a doorway accessible. A doorway widened to a good clear width is still a barrier if a raised threshold blocks the way, so the threshold has to be part of the assessment and the work. Where a threshold ramp is the right answer, particularly at an external door, that connects to dedicated threshold ramp installation, and where the surface needs to be safe underfoot, non-slip floor coating can be part of the solution. A good accessible-modification tradesperson assesses thresholds alongside width.

Accessible Doors and Door Types

The door itself, not just the opening, affects how accessible a doorway is, and choosing the right type of door is an important part of accessible entry work. Some door types are far easier to use than others for a person with mobility needs.

A standard hinged door has drawbacks for accessibility. It is heavy to push or pull, particularly for someone with limited strength, and crucially it needs swing space: the arc the door sweeps through has to be kept clear, and a person, especially in a wheelchair, has to position themselves out of the way of that arc to open the door and then move around it. In a tight space, the swing of a hinged door can make a doorway awkward even when it is wide enough.

This is why sliding doors are often preferred for accessibility, and the cavity slider in particular. A cavity slider, which slides into a cavity within the wall, takes no swing space at all, so a person does not have to manoeuvre around an opening door, and a well-set-up sliding door can be lighter and easier to operate than a heavy hinged door. The next section looks at cavity sliders and sliding doors for access in more detail. Lighter doors, and doors fitted with hardware and closers adjusted for easy operation, also make a real difference, and where a hinged door is kept, choosing a lighter door and easy hardware helps.

For a homeowner, the practical point is that making a doorway accessible can mean changing the door, not just the opening. The right choice depends on the person, the doorway and the space: sometimes a wider hinged door is fine, sometimes a cavity slider is the answer, sometimes an automatic door is worth considering. An occupational therapist, where one is involved, will advise on the door type that suits the person, and a good accessible-modification tradesperson will discuss the door type as part of the work rather than simply rehanging whatever was there. Door type and selection more broadly is also covered by general door installation and repairs.

Cavity Sliders and Sliding Doors for Access

Cavity sliders and sliding doors deserve a closer look, because they are often the best door choice for accessibility, and understanding why helps a homeowner weigh them against widening a doorway with a hinged door.

The great advantage of a cavity slider for accessibility is that it needs no swing space. A hinged door sweeps an arc that has to be kept clear and moved around, which is particularly awkward for a wheelchair user, while a cavity slider simply slides sideways into the wall, leaving the doorway clear and not requiring the person to manoeuvre around a moving door. This makes a doorway genuinely easier to use, and in a tight space, such as the doorway to a bathroom or an ensuite, it can be the difference between a workable doorway and an awkward one. A well-installed cavity slider can also be smooth and light to operate.

Converting a hinged doorway to a cavity slider is a real piece of work, since the cavity for the door to slide into has to be created within the wall, and as with door widening, the wall construction matters: creating a cavity in a double-brick wall is more involved than in a framed wall, and a load-bearing wall brings the structural considerations discussed earlier. The result, though, can be a doorway that is significantly more accessible, and dedicated cavity slider door installation and repairs cover this work, while broader sliding door installation and repairs cover other sliding doors.

For a homeowner, the practical point is to consider a cavity slider or sliding door as a genuine option when making a doorway accessible, weighing it against a wider hinged door. The cavity slider is often the better accessibility choice, particularly in tight spaces, though it is its own piece of work to install. An occupational therapist or an experienced tradesperson can advise on whether a cavity slider, a sliding door, a wider hinged door or an automatic door best suits a particular doorway and the person who will use it.

Automatic and Powered Doors

For some people, even a light, well-set-up door is difficult to operate, and an automatic or powered door is the answer. While less common in homes than in public buildings, automatic doors have a genuine place in accessible home modifications.

An automatic door opens and closes under power, operated by a switch, a remote, a sensor or another control, so the person does not have to physically push or pull the door at all. For a person with very limited strength or mobility, for whom operating any door by hand is a real difficulty, an automatic door can be what makes a doorway, and therefore a part of the home, genuinely usable independently. Powered operation can be applied to various door types, and it is most often considered for a main entry door or a particularly important internal doorway.

Automatic and powered doors involve more than the door itself. There is an operating mechanism and controls, and because powered operation involves electrical work, a licensed electrician is required for the electrical installing work, since electrical work is regulated in Western Australia. The system has to be set up to operate safely and reliably, and to suit the particular person, their abilities and the controls they can use. This makes a powered door a more involved and more expensive modification than a manual door, but for the right person it can be transformative.

For a homeowner or family, the practical guidance is that an automatic door is worth considering where manual operation of a door is a genuine barrier for the person, rather than as a default. An occupational therapist assessment is particularly valuable here, since it identifies whether a powered door is genuinely needed and what controls suit the person. Where a powered door is the right answer, it should be installed by tradespeople experienced in the equipment, with the electrical work done by a licensed electrician, so the door is safe and reliable. Related access control, such as intercoms and entry systems, is covered by services such as intercom and access control installation.

Door Hardware for Accessibility

Door hardware, the handles, locks and latches, is a small thing that makes a surprisingly large difference to accessibility, and changing hardware is one of the simplest and most cost-effective accessible modifications.

The most significant hardware change is from a round knob to a lever handle. A round door knob has to be gripped and twisted, which requires a firm grip and a rotating wrist action that is difficult or impossible for a person with arthritis, limited hand strength, or a condition affecting their grip. A lever handle, by contrast, can be operated with a simple downward push, which can be done with a hand that cannot grip, with a closed fist, or even with a forearm or an elbow. Swapping knobs for lever handles is inexpensive and quick, and it can make doors genuinely usable for a person who could not operate a knob. Australian hardware brands such as Lockwood and Gainsborough offer lever handle ranges suited to this.

Other hardware considerations matter too. The height of handles and locks affects whether a person, particularly someone seated in a wheelchair, can reach and operate them comfortably. Locks that are easy to operate, and keying arrangements that suit the person, help. Door closers, where fitted, can be adjusted so a door is not too heavy to open and does not close too forcefully. Each of these is a relatively small change, but together they remove a set of small barriers that can otherwise make a doorway difficult.

For a homeowner, accessible hardware is often the easiest place to start, and sometimes hardware changes alone solve the problem. Where a doorway is wide enough and the threshold is fine, and the only barrier is a knob that the person cannot turn, fitting lever handles is a quick, inexpensive fix. Where a doorway needs more substantial modification, accessible hardware is still part of getting it right. A good accessible-modification tradesperson considers the hardware alongside the width, the threshold and the door, so the whole doorway works for the person.

Offset Hinges and Clear Width Gains

Before committing to full door widening, it is worth knowing about a simpler measure that can recover useful clear width at a doorway: offset hinges, sometimes called expandable or swing-clear hinges.

The principle is straightforward. As the clear-width section explained, an ordinary open door still projects into the doorway opening, reducing the genuinely usable clear width. An offset hinge is designed so that, when the door is opened fully, the door swings clear of the opening rather than projecting into it, so the clear width gained is close to the full width between the door jambs. The improvement is modest in absolute terms, often a few centimetres, but at a doorway that is only marginally too narrow, those few centimetres can be exactly what makes the difference.

Offset hinges are appealing because they are a small, inexpensive, non-structural modification. Fitting them is a matter of changing the hinges on an existing door rather than touching the wall, so there is no masonry cutting, no lintel, no building approval and no making good of finishes. For a doorway that is close to adequate, offset hinges can avoid the cost and disruption of full widening entirely.

The honest limitation is that offset hinges only help where the shortfall is small. They recover the width the open door was taking up, but they cannot make a doorway substantially wider, so a doorway that is well short of an adequate clear width still needs genuine widening. For a homeowner, the practical value is to have the doorway properly measured and assessed: where it is only marginally too narrow, offset hinges may solve it simply and cheaply, and where it is well short, widening is the answer. A good tradesperson, and an occupational therapist where one is involved, will identify which doorways can be helped by the simple measure and which genuinely need widening.

Circulation Space Around Doors

A doorway does not exist in isolation, and the space around it matters as much as the doorway itself. Circulation space, the clear room a person needs on each side of a door to approach it, position themselves and operate it, is an important and often overlooked part of accessible entry work.

The issue is most pronounced for a wheelchair user. To use a doorway, a person in a wheelchair has to approach the door, get into a position to reach the handle, open the door, and then move through, and a hinged door adds the need to move around its swing. All of that needs room. A doorway that has adequate clear width can still be difficult, or unusable, if there is not enough clear space on the approach side or the far side for the person to manoeuvre. A doorway opening into a tight hallway, or with furniture or fittings close by, can defeat an otherwise accessible doorway.

AS 1428 addresses circulation space alongside door width, recognising that the two go together, and an assessment of an accessible doorway considers the space around it, not just the opening. This is one of the reasons an occupational therapist assessment is valuable, since the OT looks at the whole situation, the doorway, the spaces it connects, and how the person moves between them, rather than the doorway alone.

For a homeowner, the practical point is that making a doorway accessible sometimes means thinking beyond the doorway. It can mean considering the layout of the spaces on each side, where furniture sits, or whether a tight approach can be improved, and choosing a door type, such as a cavity slider, that removes the swing space problem. A good accessible-modification tradesperson, and an occupational therapist, will consider the circulation space as part of the work, so the finished doorway genuinely works for the person rather than being technically wide enough but practically awkward.

Front Entry and External Access

The front entry, and external doorways generally, are a particular focus of accessible entry work, since getting in and out of the home is fundamental, and external doorways bring their own considerations.

The front entry has to work as the main accessible way in and out of the home. That means the doorway itself, its clear width, its threshold, the door and the hardware, has to be accessible, and it also means the approach to it has to be accessible, which often involves a ramp where there are entry steps. The doorway and the approach are two halves of the same problem, and an accessible front entry needs both addressed. Where the approach needs a ramp, that connects to dedicated wheelchair ramp and threshold ramp installation, and the front entry door itself can be addressed through front entry door installation and replacement.

External doorways bring extra factors beyond an internal doorway. The threshold has to be made level or near-level for access while still keeping the doorway weatherproof, since an external threshold also keeps water out. The door has to remain secure and weather-sealed, so the accessible modification has to preserve the door's security and weather performance. And the doorway is exposed to the WA climate, so the door, the hardware and the threshold treatment have to suit the conditions. An accessible external doorway, in short, has to be accessible without giving up the security and weather performance an external door needs.

For a homeowner, the practical guidance is to treat the front entry as a priority in accessible entry work, since it is the doorway that connects the home to the outside world, and to think of the doorway and the approach together. It is also worth thinking about a secondary accessible external doorway where that makes sense for the home. A good accessible-modification tradesperson will look at external access as a whole, the approach, the threshold, the door and its security and weather sealing, so the home can be entered and left safely and independently.

Internal Doorways and Room Access

Beyond the front entry, accessible entry work addresses the internal doorways that determine whether a person can reach every part of their home they need to use. Internal room access is where door widening is most often required.

A person needs to be able to reach the rooms essential to daily life: the bathroom and toilet above all, the bedroom, the kitchen, and the main living areas. If the doorways to those rooms are too narrow, or otherwise inaccessible, the person is cut off from parts of their own home, and the home does not function for them. Internal doorway widening, and the other modifications covered in this guide, are what open those rooms up. The bathroom doorway is very often the most critical, since bathroom access is fundamental, and bathroom accessibility is frequently part of a wider bathroom renovation that makes the whole room work for the person.

Internal doorways have the advantage that they do not carry the security and weather considerations of external doors, so an internal doorway can be opened up, fitted with a cavity slider, or otherwise modified without those constraints. The structural considerations, though, still apply: an internal wall can be load-bearing, and in a double-brick WA home an internal wall can be solid masonry, so widening an internal doorway is still subject to the load-bearing and wall-construction factors discussed earlier.

For a homeowner or family, the practical approach is to think about the whole path a person needs to take through their home, room by room, and identify every doorway that is a barrier. Making one doorway accessible while leaving another in the path too narrow does not solve the problem, so the assessment should cover all the doorways the person needs. An occupational therapist assessment is particularly valuable for exactly this, mapping the person's needs against every doorway and space, so the modifications, taken together, genuinely open the home up.

Who Does Accessible Entry Work

Accessible entry modifications span a range of work, from simple hardware changes to structural building work, and understanding who does each helps a homeowner engage the right tradespeople.

The simpler modifications, changing hardware to lever handles, fitting offset hinges, are carpentry and handyman work, well within the scope of a competent general tradesperson. Hanging a wider door and frame, and converting a doorway to a cavity slider, are carpentry work, though the cavity slider conversion and any doorway widening also involve the wall. Threshold modifications are generally carpentry work, with weatherproofing considerations at external doors.

Door widening itself, and especially widening a doorway in a load-bearing wall or a double-brick masonry wall, moves into structural building work. This needs tradespeople genuinely experienced in masonry and structural work, the work may require a building permit, and it may need the involvement of a registered building practitioner and structural engineering input for the lintel. Powered and automatic doors bring in a licensed electrician for the electrical work. A larger accessible-modification project, taking in several doorways and other work, may be coordinated through a builder.

For a homeowner, the practical guidance is to match the tradesperson to the work, and to be particularly careful with door widening. Carpentry, including hanging doors, is not a licensed trade in WA, so the homeowner's own checks of experience and insurance matter, but structural door widening should go to tradespeople qualified for structural building work, not a general handyman, and a homeowner should be wary of anyone treating a potentially load-bearing wall casually. A good tradesperson is honest about which parts of a job fall to which trade, and brings in the right people, including for structural work and electrical work, rather than taking on work outside their competence.

The NDIS and Aged Care Pathway

For many Western Australians, accessible entry modifications are funded through the National Disability Insurance Scheme or through an aged care program, and it is worth understanding these pathways at a high level.

The NDIS can fund home modifications, including door widening and accessible entry work, for eligible participants where the modification is reasonable and necessary to support their independence and access. The process generally centres on an occupational therapist, who assesses the participant's needs and their home, identifies the barriers, and recommends the modifications. Home modifications are treated as either minor or more substantial and complex, with the pathway differing accordingly, and door widening, particularly structural widening, often falls toward the more substantial end. Builders and tradespeople carrying out complex home modifications may need to meet the scheme's requirements for that work.

Older Australians may be able to access funding for home modifications through Australian Government aged care programs, where modifications that help a person stay safely and independently at home are a recognised form of support. My Aged Care is the entry point for older people seeking to understand what support they may be eligible for. As with the NDIS, an assessment of the person's needs guides what is recommended and funded, and the aged care system's specific arrangements change over time, so checking the current position directly is sensible.

For a participant, an older person or their family, the practical guidance is to work through the proper channels, engaging an occupational therapist, following the assessment and recommendation process, and using tradespeople experienced in funded home modification work who can provide the detailed quotes these processes expect. The NDIS and aged care pathways, and the occupational therapist's central role, are also covered in the related guide to wheelchair ramp and threshold ramp installation, since ramps and accessible doorways are so often part of the same effort to make a home work for the person.

The Occupational Therapist Role

The occupational therapist is central to most funded accessible entry projects and valuable even for a privately funded one, and it is worth understanding what they bring.

An occupational therapist, often called an OT, is a health professional whose expertise includes how a person manages the practical activities of daily life and how the home environment helps or hinders that. For accessible entry work, the OT assesses the specific person, their abilities, their equipment, whether they use a wheelchair, a scooter or a walker, their reach and strength, and how their needs may change, and assesses the home, every doorway, threshold and space the person needs to use. From that, the OT identifies which doorways are barriers and what each one genuinely needs.

The value of the OT assessment is that it puts the actual person at the centre. The right clear width, the best door type, the hardware that suits the person's grip, the thresholds that need addressing, the circulation space required, all depend on the particular individual, and an OT brings that understanding. An OT-guided set of modifications is far more likely to genuinely work for the person than modifications done to a generic idea of accessibility. The OT also understands AS 1428 and accessible design in detail, and can specify what is needed.

For a homeowner or family, the OT is the bridge between the person's needs and the tradesperson's work. Where modifications are funded through the NDIS or an aged care program, an OT assessment is typically part of the process. Even for privately funded work, involving an OT, or at least a tradesperson with genuine experience in accessible modifications, helps ensure the work is designed around the person. A good tradesperson works readily from an OT's assessment and sees it as a help, building the modifications to the assessed requirements so the home genuinely works for the person who lives in it.

The Modification Process

An accessible entry modification project follows a clear process, and understanding it helps a homeowner know what to expect, particularly for the more substantial work such as door widening.

The process begins with assessment. The person's needs and the home's barriers are identified, ideally through an occupational therapist assessment, and the modifications are determined: which doorways need widening, which need a different door, which need threshold work or hardware changes, and what clear widths and other requirements apply. For door widening, the assessment also establishes the critical practical questions, what each wall is built of and whether it is load-bearing, since those determine the scope. Where structural work or a permit is involved, that is addressed before work starts.

The work itself depends on the modifications. Hardware changes and offset hinges are quick. Threshold work, fitting a wider door or converting to a cavity slider are more involved carpentry, with the cavity slider and any widening also touching the wall. Door widening is the most substantial: the existing door and frame are removed, the opening is enlarged, which in a double-brick wall means cutting masonry, a lintel is installed where the wall is load-bearing, the new wider door and frame are fitted, and the wall and finishes are made good. Powered doors involve the mechanism and licensed electrical work.

Every accessible modification should finish with the same things: a check, a clean-up and a handover. The tradesperson confirms the doorway works, the clear width is achieved, the door operates correctly, the threshold is level, the hardware suits the person, and any structural work is sound, makes good the finishes, and leaves the area clean. Importantly, the finished modification should be checked against the actual person and their needs, since the point of the work is a doorway the person can genuinely use. A careful completion, with the person's needs confirmed as met, is the mark of a job done properly.

Rental and Strata Properties

Accessible entry modifications in rental properties and strata schemes carry extra considerations, and it is worth understanding them, since access needs arise for people in all kinds of housing.

In a rental property, accessible modifications change someone else's property, often structurally, so a tenant generally needs the owner's or property manager's agreement before carrying them out. There are provisions in residential tenancy arrangements relating to modifications a tenant may need, including for disability access, and a tenant who needs accessible entry work should raise it with the owner or property manager and reach a clear agreement, including what happens at the end of the tenancy. Some accessible modifications, such as hardware changes, are easily reversed, while structural door widening is permanent, so the nature of the modification affects the conversation. Information on tenancy matters is available from Consumer Protection WA.

Strata properties bring the distinction between the individual lot and the common property. Doorways within a lot are generally the lot owner's concern, but a doorway at the boundary of a lot, or work that affects common property or the structure of the building, may involve the owners corporation, and structural work in a strata building can be a significant matter requiring the scheme's agreement. There are provisions intended to support reasonable accessibility modifications in strata schemes. The Strata Titles Act 1985 provides the framework in WA, and a lot owner should engage with the strata company early and work through the scheme's process.

For a tenant or strata resident, the practical guidance is to start the conversation early and approach it constructively. An accessibility need is a genuine and reasonable one, the relevant frameworks recognise that, and many owners and strata schemes will work cooperatively to make reasonable modifications possible. Being clear about the modifications proposed, whether they are reversible, and the end-of-tenancy or common-property considerations gives the best chance of a good outcome.

Ageing in Place and Future-Proofing

Accessible entry modifications are not only for people who need them today. Many Western Australians make these modifications, or build them in, to allow themselves or family members to stay in a home comfortably as their needs change, an idea often called ageing in place or future-proofing.

The reasoning is sound. A great many people want to stay in their own homes as they grow older, and mobility often becomes more limited with age, so a home with accessible doorways and entries is a home a person can keep living in rather than being forced to leave. A homeowner who is renovating, or who is thinking ahead, can choose to make doorways wider, thresholds level, doors easy to operate and hardware accessible, so the home will suit them, or an older family member, well into the future. Doing this work as part of a planned renovation is generally more economical and less disruptive than doing it later as an urgent response to a sudden need.

There is also a wider context. For new homes, the National Construction Code has introduced provisions for accessible or livable housing design, drawn from the work on livable housing standards, reflecting a recognition that homes built to be accessible from the start serve people better over a lifetime. For existing homes, retrofitting accessibility, through the modifications this guide covers, is how an older home is brought toward that standard, guided by AS 1428.

For a homeowner, the practical suggestion is to consider accessibility when renovating or planning work on a home, even if there is no current need, particularly the doorways. Wider doorways, level thresholds and accessible hardware add modest cost when done as part of other work, and they make a home more usable, more comfortable and more adaptable for the future. A home that is easy to move through is better for everyone, and building in that accessibility is a sensible, forward-looking investment that connects naturally to broader renovation services.

What to Look Out For

A quote that sits well below the others for the same accessible entry work warrants investigation rather than instant acceptance. A genuinely low quote can reflect a tradesperson who has not properly assessed the wall, who is underestimating structural work, or who is skimping on the making good of finishes. Direct comparison requires a consistent scope, with each quote based on the same assessment of the wall, the same modifications and the same standard of finish.

The most important thing to watch for, by far, is how door widening in a structural wall is being handled. Widening a doorway in a load-bearing wall, which in a double-brick WA home means a masonry wall, is structural building work, and it must be done properly: the wall must be correctly assessed, a lintel installed where the wall is load-bearing, building approval obtained where it is required, and the work done by tradespeople qualified for structural building work. A tradesperson who proposes to widen a doorway in a wall they have not properly assessed, who treats a potentially load-bearing wall casually, or who glosses over the structural work, is a serious warning sign, since this is a safety matter.

Be cautious, too, of a tradesperson who shows no real interest in the person the modifications are for. Accessible entry work has to suit the specific individual, their equipment, their reach and strength, the clear width they genuinely need, and a tradesperson who does not ask about the person, or who is unwilling to work from an occupational therapist's assessment where one exists, is not approaching the job properly. The point of the work is a home the person can use, not a doorway that is generically wider.

Watch for the usual signs of a tradesperson to avoid: vagueness about the scope or the price, reluctance to put the work in writing, no evidence of insurance, no relevant experience with structural or accessibility work, pressure toward a quick decision, or a demand for a large payment upfront. A modest deposit and staged payments for larger structural work are normal. The signs of a good accessible-modification tradesperson are consistent: a proper assessment of the walls and the person's needs, honest treatment of structural work and approvals, genuine experience, a willingness to work with an occupational therapist, a clear written scope, evidence of insurance, and a straightforward, unpressured approach.

How to Get Useful Quotes

Getting useful quotes for accessible entry modifications starts with describing the job and the person clearly. The brief should set out who the modifications are for and their mobility situation, which doorways or entries are the problem, what the barrier is at each, narrow width, a threshold, a heavy door, awkward hardware, and whether the project is funded through the NDIS or an aged care program. The clearer the picture, the more accurate and appropriate the quotes.

For anything beyond simple hardware changes, a site visit is essential, and for door widening it is non-negotiable. Door widening cannot be quoted properly without the tradesperson seeing the doorway and assessing the wall, since whether the wall is load-bearing and what it is built of, framed or double-brick masonry, determines the entire scope and cost. A tradesperson who visits, assesses the walls, and discusses the person's needs can give an accurate quote and sound advice, whereas a quote for door widening given without a site visit is close to meaningless. Where an occupational therapist has assessed the need, their report gives the tradesperson the requirements to quote against.

A few quotes against a consistent brief give a sense of the market, but they only compare fairly if each is based on the same assessment and covers the same scope. Door widening quotes in particular only compare if each tradesperson has assessed the wall the same way, since one quote assuming a simple framed wall and another correctly identifying a load-bearing double-brick wall are not comparable at all. It is worth confirming with each tradesperson what their quote includes, in particular the structural work, any lintel, building approval and the making good of finishes.

Confirm that each tradesperson carries appropriate insurance, ask about their experience specifically with accessible modifications and, for door widening, with structural and masonry work, and where the project is funded ask whether they have experience with NDIS or aged care home modification work. Posting a clear job description through The Quote Yard is an efficient way to reach several experienced WA tradespeople at once and gather comparable quotes, and where accessible entry work is part of a wider effort to make a home usable, the description can take in related work such as grab rail installation and ramp installation.

Insurance, Approvals and Your Rights

Accessible entry modifications, particularly door widening, are an important investment in a home and a person's independence, so it is worth understanding the protections and requirements that apply.

Insurance is the first. A professional tradesperson should carry public liability insurance, which covers damage they might accidentally cause to a property or injury arising from their work, and a homeowner is entitled to ask whether the tradesperson is insured. Accessible entry work, especially door widening, involves structural work, masonry cutting and disturbance to the home, so an insured tradesperson is essential, and keeping a clear written record of the scope and the agreement makes any question easier to resolve.

Approvals matter for the structural work. Widening a doorway in a load-bearing wall is a structural alteration, and it may require a building permit from the local government, since building work in WA is regulated under the Building Act 2011. The work may also need a registered building practitioner and structural engineering input for the lintel. A homeowner should expect a tradesperson doing structural door widening to address the approval question properly, obtaining a permit where one is required rather than skipping it, and the building requirements are there to ensure the structural work is safe. Information on building requirements is available from DMIRS and the WA Government.

Where modifications are funded through the NDIS or an aged care program, there are additional safeguards in the assessment and approval process and, for complex home modifications, the requirements placed on the tradespeople who do that work. Using tradespeople experienced in funded home modification work, and following the proper process, is part of the protection and helps ensure the modifications are both compliant and genuinely suited to the person.

Consumer rights apply throughout. Under the Australian Consumer Law, goods such as doors and hardware come with guarantees that they are of acceptable quality and fit for purpose, and the modification work as a service must be carried out with due care and skill. If a product is faulty, or work is clearly not done competently or safely, the consumer has rights, and information is available from Consumer Protection WA and the ACCC. Work health and safety requirements, overseen by WorkSafe WA, apply to how the work is carried out. A homeowner who chooses experienced, insured tradespeople, has structural work done properly with approvals where needed, and keeps the paperwork has solid protection for what is an important and worthwhile improvement to a home.

Trades qualified to perform this work in WA can browse current paid project leads posted by homeowners on the WA tradie job leads board. The platform connects experienced trades to homeowner projects across Greater Perth and regional WA.

Trade categories most relevant to accessible entry work include carpenter jobs for door hanging and fitting, builder jobs for structural door widening, handyman jobs for hardware and simpler modifications, plasterer jobs for making good walls and finishes, and residential renovation jobs for the wider accessibility and renovation projects this work often forms part of.