How Building Regulations Enable the Disabled

Advanced societies are marked by how the disabled are integrated into mainstream life, whether in employment or accessibility to different environments. Both in the United States and the United Kingdom, government regulations from ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and the Government Office for Disabilities Issues, respectively, guide building design to easily and properly enable access to those on wheelchairs or crutches to all key areas of a living space.

Disabled people are ensured access to buildings in the US through ADA (the Americans with Disabilities Act). Design requirements are specified for the construction and remodelling of structures for public accommodation, commercial areas and state and local government facilities. The Access Board develops and updates design guidelines, known as the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG), which specify facility types, set dates and additional scoping or technical needs. These requirements define the types of facilities covered, set effective dates and provide additional scoping or technical requirements for those facilities. What are scoping requirements for building construction?

1- Scoping RequirementsThese requirements specify elements and spaces that are accessible on a site, which are also known as the ‘scope of coverage’. Technical data is assigned to covered elements and spaces on a site, and building codes dictate the elements and spaces a site requires, generally consisting of parking, points of entry and exit and plumbing fixtures.

Once the scoping requirements are determined, how are ADA guidelines applied?

2- ApplicationVarious types of facilities are subject to ADA Standards. These can be single buildings or multi-building sites, such as airports or college campuses. Both interior and exterior spaces and elements are subject to ADA Standards. Requirements for parking apply to both garages and open lots. Both permanent facilities and temporary facilities, excluding construction-related temporary facilities, also fall under the authority of ADA Standards. Examples could be reviewing stands, stages, portable toilets and temporary classrooms. As for new construction, all areas are required to be fully accessible.

To get a clearer idea, consider a retail facility. Scoping requirements for sales counters, fitting rooms and employee work areas apply.Sales Counters - Access required to at least 1 counterFitting Rooms – Access required to at least 1 room in a clusterToilets - Public use, common and employee toilets must comply with rules for the disabledEmployee Work Areas - Partial access is required to sales counters, stock rooms, offices and loading docks

With a medical facility, the scoping requirements involve:Public Use Facilities – Full access to public areas, waiting areas, corridorsExam Rooms, Offices – Full access to all exam rooms and offices. Employee work areas need not be accessibleEmployee Work Areas - Partial access required to reception/file areas, nurses’ stations, janitors’ closetsToilets - Public use, common and employee toilets must comply with rules for people with disabilities in 50% of all clusters

Exemptions to ADA guidelines are as follows:

Construction SitesStructural elements associated with physical construction and workers’ portable toilets Examples: scaffolding, bridging, materials hoists, construction trailers

Areas Raised for Security/ SafetyAreas which have been raised mainly for security or life/fire safetyExamples: lifeguard stands, fire towers and prison guard towers

Areas Raised for Work Spaces include employee work areas that are less than 300 sqft raised to a minimum of seven inches as a condition of the space (not including raised courtroom stations)Example: Work areas with equipment/machinery operated from a platform

Spaces with Limited Access Spaces which can only be accessed by ladders, catwalks, crawl spaces or narrow passagewaysExamples: stage lighting/equipment catwalks, platforms accessed only by ladders

Spaces with Machinery Spaces used exclusively by service staff for maintenance, repair or monitoring of equipmentExamples: elevator pits/penthouses, mechanical/electrical/communications equipment rooms, water or sewage treatment pump rooms, electric substations and transformer vaults

Structures for Single OccupantsSpaces accessed only by passageways or raised over standard curb heightExamples: toll booths accessed by tunnels underneath or above curbs, booths for dedicated truck lanes

Correctional and Residential FacilitiesSpaces of common use in correctional facilities and residences, away from accessible cells and living units Selected Sports/Recreation and Others• raised spaces used only for refereeing, judging or scoring sports• elevated boxing/wrestling rings• raised diving boards/platforms and water slides• private animal enclosures

In work areas, ADA Standards are executed and require:• sufficient access to approach, enter and exit work areas• visible alarm wiring where audible alarms exist• accessible work areas of at least 1,000 sq.ft.

These requirements are for spaces where work occurs. Places that are not used for work, such as employee restrooms, locker rooms, break rooms, cafeterias, medical exam rooms, classrooms and parking, must be accessible also. A minimum of 30 x 48" wheelchair space must be planned for work areas.

Even routes to work areas require enough space to manoeuvre. This translates to accessibility for approach, entry and exit, as well as doors and gates.

Design for electrical systems must provide for the later installation of both visible and audible alarms.

UK Approach to Disability Design

In the United Kingdom, there is much to be done to meet the needs of the disabled with regard to housing regulations. The disabled are generally accepted to be those with an injury, illness or congenital condition causing a loss or difficulty in physiological or psychological functioning. Housing which is inaccessible for the disabled have many barriers and results in the loss or limitation of a disabled person’s ability to participate equally in society. It is necessary for more housing regulations to account for the needs of the disabled.

According to the government’s Office for Disability Issues, there are in excess of 11 million disabled persons in the UK. With the factor of an aging population thrown into the mix, the Office for National Statistics estimates that in 2021, compared to 2011, there will be 24 per cent more people aged 65 and above and 101 per cent more people aged 85 and above in England. This indicates that the number of disabled people will rise respectively.

At this point, data from the English Housing Survey indicates that 21.5 million UK homes cannot be visited by the disabled, so they do not have level access, a flush threshold, the required door width and circulation space compliant with Building Regulations or a toilet at entrance level. These features are the bare minimum required for housing for the disabled, and even then, only 5 percent of homes had them. Also, approximately 300,000 disabled people are on waiting lists for housing across the UK.

Since housing in the UK has had an unimpressive history with regard to standards of accessibility for the disabled, currently there is high demand for housing adaptations and for Disabled Facilities Grants, which greatly exceeds the available funding.

A growing group of disabled people think that housing should be constructed to the Lifetime Homes Standard, which makes use of 16 design criteria for accessibility and adaptability. Local authorities have been increasingly adopting the standards mentioned in it, including a minimum of 10 percent of space being built according to wheelchair design standards.

Since 2004, the Greater London Authority has ordered all new houses to be built to Lifetime Homes Standards with 10 per cent wheelchair design standards, which has been complied with by developers.

In 2015, updated national technical housing standards were announced. For the first time, these include the implementation of three access standards in building regulations, but Wheelchair Design Guide standards are optional. Other standards are to be put into practice with the permission of the National Planning Policy Framework and Planning Guidance.

Though planning and building control fall under the ambit of respective government authorities, housing for the disabled can be enhanced and improved with innovative design and sound design services, such as prefabricated construction BIM, modular construction drawings and the services of virtual design and construction.

Design of houses on a more general level must include relevant building code application, whether that is in the US, Canada or the UK. While most home designers and architects in these regions will be familiar with the impact of the code, when they use external or, increasingly, offshore design partners for housing design, the importance of building code experience to meet the needs of disability aspects of the regional codes becomes critically important and an important element of the design partner selection criteria.

Source:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-facts-and-figures/disability-facts-and-figures

Kuldeep Bwail, Director at XS CAD, providing 3D Architectural Modelling,3D BIM Modeling to Homebuilder, Architect