Which countries set a genuinely fixed nationwide footing depth?

Only two, out of the fourteen we compared. India fixes a flat 500 mm minimum below natural ground level under NBC 2016 Part 6 §6.2.2. Japan fixes a strip-footing embedment of at least 240 mm, with additional fixed figures for base-slab thickness (≥150 mm) and stem height/thickness (≥300 mm/≥120 mm), under MLIT Notification No. 1347/2000.

Why do so many countries have no fixed footing depth?

Because footing depth genuinely depends on what's underneath the building — soil type, bearing capacity, groundwater, and (in colder climates) frost depth all vary by site and even by region within the same country. Eight of the fourteen countries here — NZ, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Indonesia, Norway and Sweden — explicitly hand that decision to a site investigation or Eurocode design process rather than mandating a single number nationally.

How is frost depth usually set, if not nationally?

Locally, in most of the countries where frost matters. The US model code (IRC) deliberately leaves its frost-depth table blank for each jurisdiction to fill in — Boise's frost line isn't the same as Minneapolis's. Canada's NBC does the same: rock or coarse-grained soil has no depth limit at all, clay/undefined soil needs 1.2 m, but the frost depth behind that figure is set locally, not nationally. Tropical countries like Indonesia skip the concept entirely — there's no frost to design around.

What should I do if my country's code sets no fixed footing depth?

Get a proper site or geotechnical investigation before you dig. Where a code defers to site conditions instead of a number, that's not an oversight — it's usually because a single national figure would be wrong for a meaningful share of sites. A soil test (or your local building authority's frost-depth table) is the actual source of the number you need, not a rule of thumb.

Footing Depth & Frost Rules Compared: 14 Countries, Mostly No Fixed Number

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Of the four comparisons we’ve run across our 14 countries — stairs, ceilings, ramps and now footings — this is the one where “no fixed figure” isn’t the exception, it’s the norm. Eight of the fourteen countries — New Zealand, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Indonesia, Norway and Sweden — explicitly defer minimum footing depth to a site investigation or a full Eurocode design process, with zero mandated centimetre figure in the national code. Only two countries buck that trend with a genuinely fixed nationwide depth: India, at a flat 500 mm, and Japan, at a 240 mm strip-footing embedment. Here’s how all fourteen actually handle it.

Minimum footing depth & frost rule, by country

Country	Minimum depth / frost rule	Governing standard / clause
Australia	No fixed depth figure — table/site-classification driven under AS 2870; 300 mm below finished ground level applies only on loose, erosion-prone sand	NCC 2025 Housing Provisions 4.2.2–4.2.3
USA	12 in / 305 mm minimum below grade (non-frost baseline); frost-line depth is set locally — the model code table is deliberately left blank for each jurisdiction to fill in	IRC 2021 R403.1.4 / R403.1.4.1
New Zealand	200 mm minimum embedment OR to “good ground,” whichever is greater. No frost-depth concept at all — frost heave is instead handled by excluding any ground liable to ≥25 mm movement from the “good ground” definition	NZS 3604:2011 s7.5 (via NZBC B1/AS1)
UK (England)	450 mm minimum (frost, non-clay); 750/900/1000 mm on low/medium/high-shrinkage clay	Approved Document A (2013), para 2E4
Canada	Rock/coarse-grained soil: no limit. Clay/undefined soil: 1.2 m. Frost depth itself is a local figure — not a national NBC number	NBC 2020 Table 9.12.2.2
Ireland	No fixed depth or frost-line figure — set by ground/site investigation; width is table-driven (400–650 mm band)	TGD Part A 2012, par. 1.1.5.1–.3
France	No fixed national depth. A climate-zone “hors-gel” (frost-free) system applies, but neither dual-verification pass could confirm a matching cm figure from primary text — no number ships	NF DTU 13.1 / NF P 94-261 — paywalled, no free primary URL
Germany	No fixed national depth. DIN 1054 gives 0.80 m as a general baseline assumption only; actual depth is site-determined, commonly 0.80–1.50 m in practice	DIN EN 1997-1 (Eurocode 7) + DIN 1054 — paywalled, no free primary URL
Spain	No fixed depth or frost-line figure for an ordinary shallow footing — set by geotechnical study. (0.80 m applies only to retaining/basement walls, a different element.)	CTE DB-SE-C §4.2–4.3
Indonesia	No fixed depth, and no frost concept at all (tropical climate) — depth set entirely by site/bearing-capacity investigation	Permen PU 29/2006, Bab III.3.1.d
India	500 mm minimum below natural ground level — a genuinely fixed national figure; no numeric frost-depth rule (frost only a qualitative factor in fine sands/silts)	NBC 2016 Part 6 §6.2.2 — bis.gov.in
Japan	Strip footing: embedment ≥240 mm, base-slab ≥150 mm thick, stem ≥300 mm high/≥120 mm thick — a fixed national figure. Regional frost depth (Hokkaidō/Tōhoku) is set by prefectural/municipal ordinance, not national law	MLIT Notification No. 1347/2000, §一・4
Norway	No fixed depth, frost, width or concrete-grade figure at all — TEK17 explicitly and entirely defers foundation design to Eurocode 7/2	TEK17 §10-2
Sweden	No fixed depth, frost, width, grade or cover figure at all — the same full Eurocode deferral as Norway	BFS 2024:6, Kap 7

Deferring to site investigation is the majority position, not the exception

Eight countries — New Zealand, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Indonesia, Norway and Sweden — set no fixed centimetre figure for footing depth in their national code at all. Norway and Sweden are the most explicit about it: TEK17 and BFS 2024:6 both defer entirely to Eurocode 7’s site-specific geotechnical design process, with no fallback national number if you skip the investigation. That’s a genuinely different posture from a prescriptive “dig to 450 mm” rule — it puts the engineering judgement on the site conditions themselves rather than a nationwide average that would be wrong for a meaningful share of actual sites.

India and Japan are the only two with a real fixed number

India’s NBC 2016 sets a flat 500 mm minimum below natural ground level, full stop — no soil-type banding, no frost adjustment, just a single national figure. Japan’s approach is more detailed but still genuinely fixed: a strip footing needs at least 240 mm of embedment, a 150 mm base slab, and a stem at least 300 mm high and 120 mm thick, all set by MLIT Notification No. 1347/2000. Notably, even Japan’s regional frost depth (relevant in Hokkaidō and Tōhoku) is set by prefectural or municipal ordinance rather than the national figure — so the embedment number is fixed nationally, but frost protection on top of it still varies by region.

“Frost depth” is usually a local table, not a national number

Even in the countries that do set some kind of footing rule, frost depth specifically tends to drop out to a more local level. The US IRC deliberately leaves its frost-line table blank for each jurisdiction — the code structure assumes your local building department fills in the number that matches your actual climate. Canada’s NBC does something similar: the depth figures are national (no limit on rock, 1.2 m on clay), but the frost depth behind those figures is set locally. If you’re chasing a frost-line number for your project, your council or building department’s own table is very often the real source, not the national code itself.

Check your own country’s full footing rules

The table above is the headline figures. Each country’s footings hub page covers width, concrete grade, cover and the full clause text:

Get your footing concrete volumes right, whatever depth you end up digging to

Whether you’re digging to a fixed 500 mm figure or a depth set by your own site investigation, you still need to know exactly how much concrete to order once the trench is cut. Chippy Tools’ concrete calculator works out volume for footings, post holes and slabs in metric or imperial, so you’re ordering the right amount the first time.