BS 8300:2009 Design of buildings and their approaches to meet the needs of disabled people. Code of Practice
First appeared in: Public Sector Building Magazine, May 2009
'Can disabled people go where you go?' was the slogan of the Silver Jubilee Committee on access for disabled people back in 1977. How much has changed since? Not nearly enough for those of us who are disabled. However, improvements have been and are being made on a continuous basis. British Standard BS 8300:2009 Design of buildings and their approaches to meet the needs of disabled people Code of Practice is much needed as the latest in a series of Codes of Practice which began with CP 96 in 1967.
Significant changes were introduced to deal with light reflectance values and doors by way of amendment in the years since the last edition of BS 8300 was published in 2001. That work has continued in the current edition and public building providers will need to be aware of the updated provisions relating to doors and hardware and to light reflectance values. There is now an associated Code of Practice, BS 8493:2008, on measuring light reflectance values. The guidance all relates to internal design although it might possibly be used to assist in external design also in certain circumstances. Clearly, such factors as bright sunlight or overcast conditions can have a huge impact on the visibility of the surrounding environment which cannot be catered for in BS 8493 or BS 8300.
One very important change is the introduction of Changing Places sanitary facilities for severely disabled people. These should be provided in addition to, and not instead of, the standard sanitary facilities for disabled people. These include a hoist and an adult-sized changing table, are intended for assisted use only and are likely to be needed in all major public buildings. There is already one in London City Hall. At a conference in London to launch the revised Code of Practice recently Loretto Lambe from the Changing Places Consortium described most graphically the appalling conditions encountered out and about where such facilities are not provided. Having to change the pads and/or clothing of a disabled adult on the – probably dirty - floor of a standard unisex toilet is just not acceptable in this day and age.
A related recommendation states that baby changing facilities should not be installed in sanitary facilities provided for disabled people and suggests how accessible baby changing facilities should be designed. Baby changing facilities have very recently been introduced into the foyer of one of the public conveniences for disabled people in the centre of Exeter. The result is that the two cannot be used at the same time, and can cause embarrassment and inconvenience for all concerned if the security guard opens the door for a wheelchair user whilst the foyer is already in use. Changing a baby can also take some time, and many disabled people are incontinent and just cannot wait.
Recommendations on slip resistance relating particularly to ramps and step nosings are now to be found in Annex E of the standard. There is revised guidance on car parking and it is suggested that a higher number of enlarged standard spaces which could be redesignated when needed as spaces for disabled people should be provided, together with at least one space for van conversions. The latter are used by a growing number of disabled people, and are either wider or longer than an average car to include means of access such as a ramp or a wheelchair lift.
As to steps and stairs, the previous edition of the standard referred to BS 5395-1 which dealt with internal steps and stairs only. Since the two standards were being revised at the same time the aim was to achieve greater convergence between them and the BSI committee responsible for revising BS 8300 finally decided to incorporate recommendations from BS 5395-1 into BS 8300 where appropriate. Public authorities should be particularly aware of the changes in recommendations relating to goings (the width of step from nosing to nosing) and risers (height of the step) and the maximum number of steps to be provided in a flight.
Those local authorities which provide housing should be aware that most of the guidance on housing has been removed from BS 8300: 2009 and can now be found in the draft standard on lifetime homes (Draft for Development 266) which we hope to publish as a British Standard on lifetime homes.
Management and maintenance are extremely important, and fuller detailed advice is to be found in Annex A of BS 8300.
As mentioned earlier, progress is continuous and the BSI committee responsible for BS 8300 are also about to start work on projects relating to wheelchair housing, children and the public realm. All of these will be likely to have an impact on public authorities.
For more information on BS 8300 visit www.bsigroup.com/BS8300
Go back to the construction committee website
