Custom wheelchairs ┬╖ Sydney & NSW
Custom wheelchairs in Sydney, built to your measurements
If a standard wheelchair does not fit you, it will not work for you. Gilani Engineering builds custom made wheelchairs for people across Sydney and NSW тАФ measured, specified, fabricated and fitted at our own Wetherill Park engineering facility. Same team from the first measurement to the adjustment you need eighteen months later.
- Custom manual and powered wheelchairs, built to measure
- In-house engineering and fabrication тАФ not outsourced
- We work alongside your occupational therapist
- Registered NDIS provider тАФ quotes include support item numbers
- Smithfield showroom, Wetherill Park factory, and a mobile showroom that comes to you
What we measure
Measured, not selected
Some suppliers call a chair custom because you chose the upholstery colour. Here is what we actually specify against your body, your posture, your transfers and how you use the chair through a real day.
The difference
Who makes custom wheelchairs in NSW?
Most mobility retailers in NSW order a configured chair from a manufacturer and pass it on to you. That is a perfectly good service, and when a catalogue configuration fits your body and your life, it is the right answer. You do not need custom engineering to solve a problem the catalogue already solves.
It stops working the moment you need something the catalogue does not offer. An unusual seat geometry after surgery or amputation. A bracket that does not exist because nobody has needed it in that position before. A control mount for limited or asymmetric hand function. A chair that also has to lock down safely in a modified vehicle and clear a lowered floor. A frame that has to accommodate a growing child for four years instead of eighteen months.
That is the point where most suppliers tell you it cannot be done, or quote you a replacement chair. We are a supplier with a full engineering workshop attached, so it is where our work starts rather than where it stops.
Ray Gilani is a Master Automotive Engineer тАФ B.Eng, Lule├е University of Technology; M.Eng, Monash University тАФ and holds VSCCS Vehicle Safety Certifier Licence #170005, with more than 18 years in mobility and vehicle engineering. That capability sits behind every custom chair we build, and it is why we can solve the harder half of the problem: where the chair and the vehicle it travels in have to be engineered as one system rather than bought separately and hoped about.
Scope of work
What тАЬcustomтАЭ actually means here
The word gets used loosely in this industry. This is what we mean by it.
Custom fabrication
Where the part you need does not exist, we make it. Brackets, mounts, frame modifications, specialised supports, one-off attachment points, reinforcement for non-standard loading тАФ fabricated in-house at Wetherill Park by the same engineering team that does our vehicle work.
Postural & pressure specification
Cushion, backrest, lateral supports, headrest and harness selected and fitted as an integrated part of the chair, not bolted on afterwards. If your chair fits structurally and only the seating needs work, see our wheelchair seating and postural support service instead.
Transport-ready by design
If you travel seated in your chair, it must be crash tested and compatible with the vehicle's restraint system. This is where custom builds most often go wrong тАФ the chair is specified in isolation, then found to be incompatible six weeks later. We supply crash tested wheelchairs and engineer the vehicles, so both get specified together.
Control adaptation
Joystick repositioning, alternative drive controls, tray and switch mounting, and solutions for limited hand function, tremor, or complex seating positions where a standard control position is unreachable or unsafe.
Bariatric & paediatric builds
Where standard sizing does not cover the requirement. See our bariatric and paediatric ranges тАФ paediatric builds are specified for growth adjustability from the start.
Servicing after handover
Adjustments, maintenance and wheelchair repairs from the same Sydney team that built the chair. Post-delivery adjustment is part of the job, not an extra.
Three routes
New build, powered configuration, or modify what you have
Custom manual wheelchairs
Specified around propulsion efficiency and long-term shoulder health. Frame material, total weight, axle position and centre of gravity are the four variables that decide whether the chair works with your body or against it over the next decade.
Lighter frames reduce the energy cost of every push. Correct axle position reduces the number of pushes. Correct seat dimensions keep you stable enough to push properly in the first place.
Built for active daily users, part-time and transit users, and attendant-propelled configurations.
Custom powered wheelchairs
Specified around the seating system, the controls, and the environment the chair has to operate in. Environment is the one most often underestimated: doorway widths, turning circles in your actual bathroom, threshold heights, ramp gradients at your front door, kerb capability, and whether the chair has to load into a vehicle.
A chair that performs perfectly in a showroom and cannot turn in your hallway is not a solution. We configure and modify electric wheelchairs with custom seating, control mounting and postural support.
Modifying a chair you own
A new chair is not always the right answer, and we will tell you when it is not.
If your wheelchair is structurally sound but does not fit properly, we can often reconfigure the geometry, refit the seating, remount the controls and fabricate what is missing. Usually faster to deliver and easier to fund тАФ and for NDIS participants it avoids restarting an assistive technology approval that may have taken months.
Bring it to Smithfield or Wetherill Park, or we will come and look at it.
Where to find us
Where to buy a custom wheelchair in Sydney
There are three ways to see us. We supply across Greater Sydney, NSW, and Australia-wide.
Smithfield
14 Smithfield RoadSmithfield NSW 2164
Try chairs, take measurements, talk through options with the team. This is where most people start.
Wetherill Park
99 Cowpasture RoadWetherill Park NSW 2164
Where the fabrication and vehicle engineering happens. Worth seeing if your build involves custom fabrication or a vehicle.
Mobile showroom
Homes, hospitals, rehab unitsand aged care facilities
If getting to a showroom is itself the barrier, book a home visit.
We also have a dedicated occupational therapy assessment room at the Smithfield showroom, so your OT can run the assessment, take measurements and trial equipment on site with the range already in the room.
Clinical
Working with your OT
We are an equipment supplier and engineering workshop, not a clinical practice. We do not prescribe wheelchairs. Your occupational therapist does that, and it is the right way round тАФ prescription is a clinical decision that should be made by a clinician with no commercial interest in which chair you end up in.
What we do is make the OT's job easier and the funding application stronger: equipment trials, technical measurements, full written specifications, engineering documentation and NDIS-compliant quoting, so the clinical reasoning in the report and the technical detail in the quote line up instead of contradicting each other. Most funding delays we see come from that mismatch rather than from the clinical case itself.
If you do not have an OT yet, tell us and we will point you toward Sydney practices that handle complex seating and wheelchair prescription. We do not take referral fees for this.
If you are an OT: our assessment room is available for your client sessions, our technicians attend home and facility visits, and we will supply whatever technical specification or engineering detail your report needs. Get in touch.
Funding
NDIS, aged care and DVA
Custom wheelchairs are funded as Assistive Technology and generally sit in the mid-cost or high-cost categories. In practice that means an occupational therapist assessment and written report are required before the NDIA will approve it, and trial evidence is usually expected.
Gilani Engineering is a registered NDIS provider, listed with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and supports self-managed, plan-managed and agency-managed participants. Our quotes include support item numbers, TGA ARTG listing details where applicable, and the engineering documentation your plan manager or the NDIA portal needs for approval.
We also work with Home Care Packages, Support at Home, iCare and the Department of Veterans' Affairs. For private purchases we offer interest-free and finance options.
Start to finish
How the process works
Talk to us
Phone, showroom visit, or we come to you. We work out whether you need a new custom build, a modification to your existing chair, or a standard chair configured properly. Those are three different answers at three different price points.
Assessment and measurement
With your OT where one is involved. Body measurements, posture and trunk control, transfer method, home environment, community access, transport requirements.
Trial
You try configurations before anything is ordered or built. For NDIS applications, trial evidence also strengthens the report.
Specification and quote
A full written specification plus a quote. Where you are funded, that quote carries the support item numbers and documentation your plan manager needs.
Build and fabrication
Frame configuration, modification and custom fabrication at our Wetherill Park facility.
Fitting and handover
Fitted, adjusted and demonstrated before you take it away. Post-delivery adjustments are part of the job, not an extra.
Servicing and repairs
Ongoing wheelchair repairs and servicing from the same Sydney team that built the chair.
Why Gilani Engineering
The chair and the vehicle, under one roof
No other supplier in Sydney combines custom wheelchair supply with in-house vehicle modification and certification. If your chair has to work in your car, that matters more than any spec sheet.
- In-house engineeringOur own workshop, our own fabrication, our own technicians. Nothing subcontracted out and quoted back with a margin on top.
- 18+ yearsIn mobility and vehicle engineering, led by a Master Automotive Engineer.
- Registered NDIS providerListed with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. ISO 9001 certified.
- We service what we sellRepairs, adjustments and maintenance from the team that built it тАФ not a call centre in another state.
VSCCS Certifier Licence #170005 ┬╖ Motor Dealer Licence MD096104 ┬╖ Motor Vehicle Repairer Licence MVRL62173 ┬╖ ISO 9001
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How much does a custom wheelchair cost in Australia?
It depends on frame type, materials, seating system and level of customisation. Custom manual chairs typically start in the low thousands and rise with lightweight frame materials, complex seating systems and powered components. Custom powered builds sit higher again. We provide a full written quote before anything is ordered, and where you are NDIS funded that quote includes the support item numbers your plan manager needs.
How long does a custom wheelchair take?
Modifications to an existing chair can often be turned around in days. A full custom build depends on frame lead time from the manufacturer plus our fabrication and fitting time. We give you a realistic timeframe at quoting stage rather than an optimistic one. If you need mobility in the meantime, we offer short-term wheelchair hire.
Do I need an occupational therapist to get a custom wheelchair?
For NDIS-funded custom wheelchairs, yes. Custom seating and complex wheelchairs fall into the higher assistive technology categories, which require an OT assessment and a written report. For private purchases it is not mandatory, but we strongly recommend it. A properly prescribed chair is the difference between equipment that works for a decade and equipment that creates pressure injuries and shoulder problems.
Can you modify my existing wheelchair instead of building a new one?
Often, yes. If the frame is structurally sound we can reconfigure the geometry, refit the seating, adjust or remount controls and fabricate missing components. It is usually faster and easier to fund than a replacement. Book an assessment and we will tell you honestly which option makes sense for your situation.
Do you build custom wheelchairs for children?
Yes. Growth adjustability is the central issue with paediatric builds тАФ a chair that fits perfectly today and cannot grow is a chair you are replacing in eighteen months, with a funding application to match. We specify for adjustability from the start and work with paediatric OTs. See our paediatric wheelchair range.
Can a custom wheelchair be used in a vehicle?
Only if it is crash tested to the relevant standard and compatible with the vehicle's restraint system. This is the single most common failure point in custom builds, because the chair is usually specified without reference to the vehicle. Because we engineer vehicles as well as supply chairs, we specify both together. See our crash tested wheelchairs and wheelchair accessible vehicle conversions.
Do you deliver custom wheelchairs outside Sydney?
Yes, we deliver Australia-wide. Fitting a custom build is best done in person, so for regional and interstate clients we coordinate measurement with your local occupational therapist and arrange fitting rather than shipping a chair blind.
Are you a wheelchair manufacturer?
We are a supplier and engineering workshop. We configure and build to measure, modify existing chairs, and custom-fabricate components in our own facility. For frames we work with established manufacturers and specify them to your measurements, then carry out the custom engineering work in-house.
What is the difference between this and your seating customisation service?
This page is for people who need a wheelchair built or configured to their measurements. Our seating and postural support service is for people whose chair fits structurally but whose cushioning, backrest, harness or supports need work. If you are not sure which you need, call us and we will work it out.
Next step
Book a custom wheelchair consultation
Come to the Smithfield showroom, or we will bring the showroom to you.
Showroom ┬╖ 14 Smithfield Road, Smithfield NSW 2164
Factory ┬╖ 99 Cowpasture Road, Wetherill Park NSW 2164