How tall and wide does an RV garage door need to be?

An RV garage door is sized by height first, and the three common heights are 12, 14, and 16 feet. A 12 foot door clears a camper van or a small Class C. A 14 foot door clears most Class A motorhomes, which top out at the 13.5 foot legal road height including rooftop air conditioners. A 16 foot door gives you headroom for a taller rig or a future coach. Widths run 12 to 16 feet so a coach up to 102 inches (8.5 feet) wide can drive in with room on each side. Pick the height for the tallest RV you might own, because the door is built into the wall and is the hardest thing to change later.

Below is the door height by RV class, how wide the opening needs to be, and the Arizona zoning limits that cap how tall the whole building can be.

RV garage door height by RV class

Choose the door height to clear your RV with margin, since a tight fit means scraping a roof air conditioner. The legal road height for a large motorhome is 13.5 feet, and most Class A coaches are built right up near it with their rooftop gear in place. That sets the practical breakpoints:

• 12 foot door: fits a Class B camper van (around 10 to 11 feet) or a smaller Class C with a low profile. Tight for a tall Class C with a roof air conditioner.
• 14 foot door: the workhorse size. Clears most Class A motorhomes at 13.5 feet with six inches of margin, plus toy haulers and fifth wheels.
• 16 foot door: the safe choice for a big diesel pusher, a future taller coach, or if you want room to fit a car lift or a tall trailer later.

Measure your own RV before you commit. The data plate or owner manual lists the height, but the real number is the coach plus whatever sits on the roof, which can include air conditioners, vents, a satellite dome, or solar panels. Add at least six inches to the tallest point. A door that is one inch too short is the single most expensive RV garage mistake, because you cannot stretch a rough opening after the wall is built.

How wide an RV garage door needs to be

Plan a door width of 12 to 16 feet so the coach and its mirrors clear the opening with room to steer. The RV Industry Association supports a maximum RV width of 102 inches, which is 8.5 feet, plus up to six inches for appurtenances like mirrors and awnings. A coach that wide needs a door wider than itself so a driver can line up and pull in without clipping the jamb.

A 12 foot wide door is the minimum for a single RV bay and works for a narrower coach with a careful driver. A 14 foot wide door is the comfortable standard, giving a foot of clearance on each side of an 8.5 foot coach plus its mirrors. A 16 foot wide door suits a wide body coach, a side-by-side parking plan, or an owner who wants easy entry without precision driving. If you store a tow vehicle beside the RV or pull a wide fifth wheel, size up. Width is cheaper to add than height, but both are far cheaper to plan now than to rebuild later.

Mirrors are the part drivers forget. A coach measured at 8.5 feet across the body can span 9.5 to 10 feet at the mirrors, and those mirrors sit right at door-jamb height. A 14 foot door leaves a clear path for the mirrors and the body together. If your coach has fixed mirrors that do not fold, measure mirror tip to mirror tip and treat that as your real width.

Door type, opener, and code basics

Pick a door type that suits the tall, heavy opening, because an RV door is far bigger than a car door. Most RV garages use a sectional roll-up door that lifts straight overhead on tracks, which is why the ceiling has to sit a foot or two above the door height. A 14 foot door needs a header, a track, and a heavy-duty opener, so the interior clear height runs 16 to 18 feet. The bigger the door, the heavier the opener and the spring system that balances it, and that is part of why an RV door costs several times what a standard 8 by 7 foot car door costs. Insulated panels add weight but help in the Arizona heat, since a metal door on a south wall radiates a lot of warmth into the bay. Some owners add windows in the top section for daylight, which is fine as long as the glass is rated for the wind load.

The building code shapes the opening too. Under IRC Section R309, a private garage floor must be a noncombustible surface and slope toward the vehicle door so liquids drain out. A wide RV door at the low end of a sloped slab needs that drainage planned, or washdown water pools at the threshold. The door also has to seal against the slab and weather, which matters in Arizona where blowing dust and monsoon rain test every gap. A good threshold seal keeps the bay clean and dry.

Arizona height limits that cap the door

Local zoning caps the total building height, and a tall door plus the ceiling and roof above it can push against that cap, so check your limit first. In unincorporated Maricopa County, which includes rural areas like the Rio Verde Foothills, a detached accessory building in rural and single-family residential zoning may reach a maximum height of 30 feet. A 16 foot door with an 18 foot ceiling and a low-slope roof still fits under 30 feet, but a steep roof on top can get close, so the door height and the roof pitch are linked design choices.

Cities set their own caps, and some residential zones limit accessory buildings below 30 feet. Scottsdale and other cities publish their adopted building codes and zoning limits, and the figures vary by district, so pull the rules for your exact parcel rather than assuming the county number applies. Setbacks limit the footprint too. In unincorporated Maricopa County, a detached accessory building "shall not be nearer than three feet to any side or rear lot line" and "shall not occupy more than 30% of any required yard," so a long, wide RV garage can run out of room before it runs out of height. A homeowners association can add a stricter height or material rule on top of the city limit. Once you fix the door height and width and confirm the building fits under your height cap, see our breakdown of the cost to build an RV garage in Arizona and the full RV garage dimensions guide to size the rest of the bay. Confirm the height limit with your city or county permit office before you order a door, since a door is built to fit the wall and the wall is built to fit the code.

Building with Jematell Homes

We build the budget line by line so the number you sign is the number you build to. If you are planning a custom home in Scottsdale, Rio Verde, or the greater Phoenix metro, we are happy to walk through your project.

Sources

• RV Industry Association (RVIA): RV Dimensions policy (length and width standards)
• ICC IRC 2018 Section R309 (Garages and Carports)
• Maricopa County: Accessory Structures, Equipment, and Setbacks (height and setback rules)
• City of Scottsdale: Building Codes (adopted codes and permit basis)