The caravan door belongs on the side that keeps people away from traffic, and that side changes with the market. In Australia and New Zealand, where vehicles drive on the left, the door sits on the left (near) side or at the rear. In the United States, Canada and mainland Europe it sits on the right, kerb side, facing the picnic table while the hookups run along the other flank. For an importer this is not a styling preference: it is a build requirement to settle before production starts.

In left-hand-traffic markets the door side is a rule, not a convention

Australia's national trailer standard (VSB 1) requires at least one caravan door on the left-hand side or the rear, and ADR 44/01 applies the same rule to caravans with sleeping or cooking accommodation. The door must also work as a real entry: outward-opening or sliding, with no fixed obstruction and no ladder or extra fitting needed to get in. Australian import guidance lists relocating a caravan door to the left side or the rear among the modifications used to bring a non-compliant trailer into the country, which is a fair indication of where the cost lands when the door arrives on the wrong side. Confirm the current requirement with the relevant state or territory registering authority before you commit to the order.

What the door side decides besides the door

The door side is also the camp side. The awning, the annex, the outdoor cooking point and the seating all belong on that flank, while the water filler, gas locker and power inlet normally sit on the opposite side, against the campsite hookup. A caravan with the door on the wrong side still tows correctly, which is why the mistake survives inspection and only surfaces when the end customer parks it. Left-side door and matching annex hand go together in Australia and New Zealand; North American and mainland European lines are the mirror image, and one specification sheet cannot serve both.

What to fix in writing before the deposit

Door side is a factory decision, not something your workshop can reverse cheaply, so it belongs on the order document next to berth count and body type. The same short list applies whether you are building caravans for Australian dealers or North American RV stock.

• Door side per market. Left or rear for Australia and New Zealand, right for the US, Canada and mainland Europe, with the destination stated for every model in the container.
• Door type and hardware. Outward-opening or sliding, screen specification, and where the step and grab handle sit relative to the door.
• Whether a change is possible. Ask the factory early if the door side can be switched for your market and what that does to tooling, cost and lead time. A vague answer is a reason to re-check the drawing.
• Drawing confirmation. Request a plan view showing the door, the awning rail and the service points together, so the whole layout is visible rather than one wall.
• Inspection photo. Add a door-side photo with the chassis number in frame to the pre-shipment inspection set, so the record travels with the unit into your yard.

Two markets, one container

Importers serving both a left-hand-traffic market and a right-hand-traffic market should keep the two builds apart end to end: separate drawings, separate specification sheets and a VIN list split by destination. A mixed yard is where wrong-side units reach the display row, and a caravan with its entry on the traffic side is slow to sell and painful to take back in part-exchange. Against a build that takes weeks, the door side is the cheapest item to get right and one of the most expensive to correct after landing.

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