The language through which designers communicate is GD&T. The above two terms are regularly coined up. Allowance and clearance.
But do you exactly know what is Allowance and Clearence?

To know those terms you need to know what is MMC and LMC? CLICK HERE

Now ALLOWANCE is the difference between shaft diameter and the hole diameter at MMC.

  • ALLOWANCE =MMC HOLE – MMC SHAFT

And the CLEARANCE is the difference between hole diameter and shaft diameter at LMC.

  • CLEARANCE= LMC HOLE – LMC SHAFT.

For example:

The dimension of shaft is as follows:

The dimension of the hole are as follows:



The Allowance of the above assembly would be calculated as follows:

  • ALLOWANCE =MMC HOLE – MMC SHAFT

MMC HOLE : 29.95mm
MMC SHAFT : 30.05mm

ALLOWANCE = 29.95 – 30.05 = -0.1mm

The Clearance of the above assembly would be calculated as follows:

  • CLEARANCE= LMC HOLE – LMC SHAFT.

LMC HOLE : 30.05mm
LMC SHAFT : 29.95mm

CLEARANCE = 30.05 – 29.95 = 0.1mm


With the help of Values of Clearance and Allowance you can predict the type of fit between the mating parts.

For the above example the fit would be ranging from transition to loose.