How to set out wheel stopper spacing so cars don't overhang the walkway
Wheel stopper spacing for a UAE car park: setback from the stall front, one stopper per bay or two, aligning to the bay centreline, and the accessible-bay case.
The call we get most on wheel stoppers isn’t about the units at all. It’s a foreman standing over a row that was fixed yesterday, asking why every car now hangs a foot over the walkway. The stoppers are fine. They went down before anyone set out a line, each one drilled by eye, and the whole row ended up too far forward. Now it’s 200 units to lift, plug, and re-drill.
Setting out wheel stoppers is a ten-minute job that saves a two-day one. Get the setback line, the count per bay, and the centreline right before the drill comes out, and a full car park goes down straight. Here’s how we mark it.
How far back should a wheel stopper sit?
Set it 0.91m (3 feet) from the front of the parking stall — the line Trakhees Section 15.2.2 draws for Dubai car parks, and the figure Dubai Municipality parking guidelines work to. That setback does two jobs at once: it catches the front tyre at a firm point, and it leaves the car’s front overhang clear of whatever is ahead of the bay.
The reason the number matters is geometry you can picture. A typical sedan is around 4.5m long with roughly a 1.0m front overhang past the front wheels. Park it with the tyre against a stopper set at 0.91m, and the bumper sits about 150-200mm clear of the walkway or wall in front. Move the stopper forward and that clearance disappears — the bumper crosses the pedestrian path. Move it back and the car’s tail pushes into the aisle behind, eating the turning width the inspector measures.
Where a wall, column, or concrete fence base sits in front of the bay, the setback still starts from the stall front, but sanity-check the clearance: the parked bumper should clear the obstruction by that same 150-200mm. In a tight basement where the structural grid crowds the bay, that check is what tells you whether the stopper goes at 0.91m or a touch further back.
One stopper per bay, or two?
One centred unit per bay is how nearly every UAE car park is built. A single 1.8m wheel stopper centred on a standard 2.5m bay catches both front tyres, gives the driver one clear thing to aim at, and sets out fast because there’s one unit and one centreline to think about.
Two short stoppers — one under each front wheel — show up in specific cases: wide logistics and coach bays where a single unit would leave a gap in the middle, or a bay where a full-length stopper would sit across a drainage channel or an expansion joint. They work, but they cost more in fixings and labour, and two separate units are far easier to set down crooked or at slightly different setbacks. Unless the drawing calls for them, one centred stopper is the cleaner answer. That per-bay rule is also where your order quantity starts — the catch being that not every bay needs a unit, which is the whole job of working out how many wheel stoppers a car park actually takes.
| Layout | Best for | Setting-out risk |
|---|---|---|
| One 1.8m unit, centred | Standard 2.5m sedan bays | Low — one centreline per bay |
| One 2.0m unit, centred | Wider bays, tandem rows | Low, but check side clearance |
| Two short units, per wheel | Wide logistics / coach bays, joint clashes | Higher — two units to align and level |
| Continuous run of units | Kerb-edge stops, no bay division | Watch cumulative drift over the run |
How do you line up a whole row of bays?
Snap one setback line the full length of the row, then centre each stopper on its own bay. That’s the whole method, and doing it in that order is what keeps the row straight.
Mark the 0.91m setback off the stall front at both ends of the row and chalk a line between them — now every unit shares one setback. Then, bay by bay, find the bay centreline (halfway across the 2.5m width) and set the middle of the stopper on it. A 1.8m unit on a 2.5m bay leaves roughly 350mm of clearance each side, enough that the ends don’t creep into the neighbouring bay or become a trip point at the bay line. Dry-lay the row against the chalk line and eyeball it down the length before you drill anything. Fixing comes last, not first.
On a long continuous run with no bay markings — a kerb-edge stop along a boundary — watch for cumulative drift. Small gaps between units add up over twenty of them, so measure back to a fixed datum every few units rather than butting one against the last and hoping.
Where does the stopper go in an accessible bay?
Keep it clear of the transfer aisle. An accessible parking bay is wider than a standard one — around 3.6m once the striped access aisle is included — because a wheelchair user needs that aisle open to move from the car to the kerb. Run a stopper across it and you’ve blocked the one route the bay exists to protect.
So on an accessible bay the stopper goes only across the vehicle side, at the same 0.91m setback as the rest of the row, and never across the access aisle. The tyres still get their stop; the transfer route stays clear. It’s a small thing that a good inspector checks specifically, and it’s easy to get wrong if the row is set out on autopilot straight across every bay.
Fixing follows the surface, but only after the line is set
Setting out and fixing are two separate steps, and the order is fixed: line first, drill last. Once the row is chalked and dry-laid, the fixing method follows what’s underneath, through the 2 × Ø20mm cast-in holes in each wheel stopper:
- Asphalt — two 12mm galvanised rebar spikes driven through the holes into the tarmac. Fast, no coring.
- Concrete slab — M16 expansion bolts or chemical anchors into the same holes. Standard for multi-storey and basement parks.
Adhesive-only doesn’t hold in UAE surface heat, so it isn’t a setting-out shortcut either. The full sizing and fixing detail is in our wheel stopper spec guide; this page is about getting them in the right place before that fixing goes in. Our precast units are cast to DM-TS-TR-01 Rev 2 and Trakhees Regulation 202, in the same C40 mix as our paving slabs, priced from AED 50 to AED 95 a unit depending on length and finish.
Frequently asked questions
How far back should a wheel stopper be set in a car park? 0.91m (3 feet) from the front of the stall, per Trakhees Section 15.2.2 and Dubai Municipality parking guidelines. That catches the tyre while keeping the bumper clear of the walkway ahead and the tail out of the aisle behind. Against a wall or column, check the parked bumper still clears it by 150-200mm.
Do you need one wheel stopper per bay or two? One centred unit per bay is the UAE standard — a 1.8m stopper centred on a 2.5m bay catches both tyres and reads clearly. Two short stoppers per wheel are used mainly in wide logistics bays or where a long unit would clash with a joint or channel.
How do you align wheel stoppers across a row? Snap one setback line the full length of the row, then centre each stopper on its bay’s centreline against that line. Every unit shares the setback and sits mid-bay. Set the line out before drilling any fixings.
Where does the stopper go in an accessible bay? Only across the vehicle side, at the standard setback — never across the striped access aisle, which must stay clear for a wheelchair user to reach the kerb.
What happens if the setback is wrong? Too far forward, a low spoiler bottoms out or the bumper blocks the walkway. Too far back, the tail narrows the aisle. It’s the most common wheel stopper issue picked up on an OC inspection.
Almost every wheel stopper we get called back to move was fixed before anyone set out the line. Snap one chalk line at the right setback, centre each unit on its bay, and a whole row goes down straight in an afternoon — no re-drilling, no failed OC check.
Setting out a car park? Send us the layout
Tell us the bay count, bay width, surface (asphalt or concrete slab), length preference (1.8m or 2.0m), finish, and delivery emirate, and we’ll supply the units and the setback detail so your crew lays a straight row first time. We hold stock for tight OC inspection dates.
