Brett Field
The standard shower size in Australia is 900 x 900 mm, and 1200 x 900 mm is the common step up. Nero Tapware calls 900 x 900 mm "the familiar baseline", and the Marbletrend Easy Fit shower base is made in just those two sizes.
Below are the common sizes, whether there is a minimum, how much room a shower needs around it, and the Queensland rules for building one. Everything was checked on 18 October 2026. There are no prices here, and the rules are a short summary, not legal advice.
What are the common shower sizes in Australia?
Most showers are 900 x 900 mm or 1200 x 900 mm, with bigger sizes for walk-in and two-person showers. Nero Tapware's April 2026 guide gives these planning sizes:
| Shower size | In centimetres | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| 800 x 800 mm | 80 x 80 cm | A compact shower |
| 900 x 900 mm | 90 x 90 cm | Small bathrooms and corner showers |
| 1200 x 900 mm | 120 x 90 cm | More room to turn; often better for a family bathroom |
| 1500 x 900 mm | 150 x 90 cm | A shower running along a longer wall |
| 1200 x 800 mm | 120 x 80 cm | A starting point for a walk-in shower with a fixed glass panel |
| 1600 x 1000 mm | 160 x 100 cm | Two people showering together |
| 1800 x 1200 mm or more | 180 x 120 cm | Two people, plus a bench seat or niches |
Source: Nero Tapware, standard shower size in Australia (8 April 2026). The 900 x 900 mm and 1200 x 900 mm sizes also match the Marbletrend Easy Fit base spec sheet. Nero presents these as planning guides, and calls the walk-in size a starting point "rather than a hard rule".
Is a 900 x 900 mm shower big enough?
For one person in a small bathroom, usually yes. Nero says 900 x 900 mm works in a wide range of homes, and a compact ensuite can work at that size if the entry, the screen and nearby storage are planned well.
Where it falls short is room to move. Nero says a family bathroom often works better at 1200 x 900 mm, with more room to turn, shave, wash children and rinse the walls without brushing the glass.
Nero also says a longer 1200 x 900 mm base leaves room for extras such as a niche or a bench seat. If your bathroom has space for it, it is worth pricing both sizes. If it does not, a well-planned 900 x 900 mm shower is still the common size.
Is there a minimum shower size in Australia?
Not in the National Construction Code 2022 (NCC) parts we checked. Queensland builds to the NCC 2022. Its Housing Provisions say a house must have a bath or shower (Part 10.4), and say how a shower area is waterproofed (Part 10.2), but neither part sets a floor size.
The Livable Housing Design Standard, part of the NCC 2022, does not set a size either. It asks for at least one shower with "a hobless and step-free entry", and allows a lip of up to 5 mm to hold water back. The Queensland Government says this standard means new houses get one shower with step-free entry. It says repairs and maintenance generally do not trigger it. Our guide to an accessible bathroom renovation covers when a renovation has to follow it.
No minimum does not mean any size will do. If the bathroom needs to work as people age, Nero warns against relying on a generic "minimum shower size" alone. The layout, the entry and the space to turn matter more than one number.
What size shower base can I buy?
Ready-made shower bases come in set sizes, so the base often decides the size of the shower. The Marbletrend Easy Fit base, for example, comes in two sizes:
- 900 mm wide x 900 mm deep
- 1200 mm wide x 900 mm deep
Both are 40 mm high including the tile lip, with a tile flange on all four sides and four waste positions to choose from. Nero lists rectangular bases at 1200 x 900 mm or 1500 x 900 mm.
Before you buy a base, Nero says to check four things on the spec sheet: the exact size, where the waste sits, how it must be installed, and any limits it puts on the floor or waterproofing.
A ready-made base does not skip the building rules. The NCC says a shower with a preformed base must still meet the shower area rules for the walls, all the joins and the pipe holes. Only the rule for waterproofing the shower floor does not apply. The other option is a tiled shower floor built on site over a waterproof membrane. That can be built to fit the room.
How much room does a shower need around it?
Enough for the door or screen to open, and for you to get in, without hitting the vanity, the toilet or the way through the room. Nero says the space around a shower matters as much as the shower itself.
If the room is tight, Nero suggests a pivot or sliding door, or a fixed panel, so nothing swings into your path. Plan the shower with the vanity and toilet, not after them.
An open shower with no screen needs more room again. The NCC treats it as an "unenclosed" shower, where the water is not kept inside the shower area. It must have a waterstop at least 1500 mm from the shower rose, or a fully waterproofed floor that drains to a floor waste. Our guide to walk-in showers covers that in detail.
How is a shower waterproofed in Queensland?
The whole shower floor, and the shower walls to at least 1800 mm high, must be waterproof, whatever the size of the shower. That comes from NCC 2022 Part 10.2. Business Queensland says the NCC 2022 still applies here until the NCC 2025 starts on 1 May 2027.
The NCC defines the shower area by how it is closed in. For an enclosed shower, it is the space inside the walls and screens. So a bigger shower means a bigger area of floor and wall to waterproof. The rules also cover the joins: wall joins inside the shower must be waterproof for 40 mm either side, and the wall to floor joins and pipe holes must be waterproof too.
Waterproofing is its own QBCC licence class, and plumbing needs a QBCC licence at any value. Our guide to bathroom waterproofing cost in Queensland covers who can do it and what it costs.
We renovate bathrooms across the Gold Coast, from small ensuites to family bathrooms. Brett does the strip-out and the framing, and books licensed trades for the plumbing, waterproofing, tiles and shower screen. You get a timeline with your proposal. See our bathroom renovations page.
Where do these figures come from?
Checked on 18 October 2026: Nero Tapware, standard shower size in Australia (8 April 2026); the Marbletrend Easy Fit shower base spec sheet, from Bathroom Products Australia (undated); the National Construction Code 2022 Housing Provisions from the Australian Building Codes Board, Part 10.2 (clauses 10.2.2 and 10.2.18), Part 10.4 (clause 10.4.1) and the glossary (no page dates shown); the ABCB Livable Housing Design Standard 2022, version 1.3 (November 2023); the Queensland Government's page on the Modern Homes standards (undated); Business Queensland, delayed adoption of the NCC 2025 (updated 14 September 2026); and the QBCC pages on when you need a licence (August 2021) and the waterproofing licence class (August 2021). We will check these figures again every three months.
See our bathroom renovations work, or check what your job will cost.
