PCB design glossary
Courtyard
The keepout area around a component footprint — reserves space for the body and adjacent components.
The courtyard is a non-electrical layer in a footprint that defines how much PCB area a component reserves around itself. It accounts for the part's body, mechanical tolerance, and a small assembly margin.
Courtyards prevent components from colliding mechanically and give assembly machines room to place parts without clashing.
How big a courtyard is
A courtyard encloses a part's body and pads plus a margin. IPC-7351 ties the margin to density level: larger for easy hand assembly, smaller for dense boards. A margin of about 0.25 mm is a common default; many libraries, including KiCad's, use it for most parts.
What courtyards are used for
- DRC flags two courtyards that overlap, catching parts placed too close to assemble.
- Placement tools use courtyards to pack parts tightly without collisions.
- Assembly machines need the space around a part to place it without disturbing neighbours.
Courtyard mistakes
- A courtyard drawn smaller than the part's real body or pads, which hides collisions.
- No courtyard at all, so DRC cannot check spacing for that part.
- Tall parts next to each other with minimum courtyards, which leaves no room for rework or inspection.
Work it out with a free tool
Courtyards come with the footprint
The footprint generator adds the courtyard with the pads and silkscreen, sized to the package, so parts placed edge to edge still leave room to assemble.
Build a footprint