Furniture CAD blocks for restaurants: does your aisle pass?

For US architects, interior designers and drafters laying out restaurant, cafe and bar dining rooms. Type your own numbers; the IBC aisle accessway and ADA dining checks recalculate at once.

Gap between table edges (in)

Chairs facing this aisle

Accessway length from the farthest seat to the aisle (ft)

People using this accessway

Total dining seats in the room

Accessible seats drawn (ADA 902 tables)

Table top height above floor (in)

Knee clearance under the top (in)

What it checks, and where each figure comes from

Clear width: with seating at a table or counter, the aisle width is measured to a line 19 in from the table edge (IBC Chapter 10, assembly seating at tables).
Required width: 12 in, plus 0.5 in for each additional ft (or fraction) beyond 12 ft of accessway length, from the center of the farthest seat. Not required where the portion is 6 ft or less and used by 4 people or fewer.
Travel: 30 ft max along the accessway to a point where there is a choice of two paths of egress travel.
Accessible seats: at least 5% of seating spaces at dining surfaces comply with 902 (2010 ADA Standards 226.1), dispersed through the room (226.2).
Top height: 28 in min, 34 in max above the floor (ADA 902.3). Knee clearance: 27 in high, 30 in wide min (ADA 306.3), with a 30 x 48 in clear floor space for a forward approach (305.3, 902.2).

Why free blocks are not enough: a manufacturer block draws the table and chairs, not the 19 in line or the 30 x 48 in clear floor space the plan reviewer measures. Check the IBC edition and local amendments your jurisdiction adopted (some states amend these sections). This check measures one accessway; it does not design your egress.

How to use the .dxf in AutoCAD (4 steps)

File ▸ Open, file type DXF, to open the library as a drawing.
Or run DXFIN (or INSERT the .dxf) to bring the blocks into your current plan.
Units are inches. If your plan is in mm, use SCALE 25.4.
The 12 blocks are already named; if you redraw one, use BLOCK to give it a name.

Block attributes, dynamic block grips and layer states are simplified in .dxf; dimensions and geometry stay exact. The same file opens in AutoCAD, Revit, SketchUp Pro, BricsCAD and free CAD. Layers: A-FURN, A-FURN-ADA, A-FURN-CLRN.