General criteria are presented as guidelines for: control device location, resistance, and actuation of hand and foot controls by the machine's operator. The criteria are based upon physical limitations as defined by human factors engineering principles.

This SAE Recommended Practice applies to upright seated operators of Road Building and Maintenance, not Specialized Mining Machinery categories of off-road, self-propelled work machines as identified in SAE J1116. The criteria presented should apply to most situations. Each situation, however, must be evaluated as to its own function and its relationship to other functions to achieve the desired operation action in normal and emergency situations with high probability. The values for control displacement and resistance apply only to what is required to achieve the desired performance of the function being controlled for the 5th through the 95th percentile person as defined in ISO 3411.