Disability Standard

A new Disability Standard for planners, developers, designers, the construction industry and access consultants will come into force 1st May 2011
Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards 2010 (DAPS)

There are two major parts.
The first part is about the regulation requirements for the Premises Standards:

The objects of these Standards

(a) to ensure that dignified, equitable, cost-effective and reasonably achievable access to buildings, and facilities and services within buildings, is provided for people with a disability; and
(b) to give certainty to building certifiers, building developers and building managers that, if access to buildings is provided in accordance with these Standards, the provision of that access, to the extent covered by these Standards, will not be unlawful under the Act.

Who do they apply to?

A building certifier is a person who has responsibility for, or control over, the building approval process for a building

A building developer is a person with responsibility for, or control over, its design or construction and may be

A building manager is a person who has responsibility for, or control over, any of the matters in the Access Code that apply to the building other than matters about the design or construction of the building

The scope

There are a range of classes of buildings that DAPS 2010 will apply to, some of them new such as new apartment buildings, new and upgraded holiday accommodation such as B&B and some swimming pools as well as new parts of buildings.

Schedule 1 Access Code for Buildings

The second part contains all the requirements for access to buildings and includes all the detail of:

It is written in the style of the access provisions of the BCA

In general this Access Code tells those responsible for buildings when and where access is required and then refers to technical specification documents such as Australian Standard 1428.1 to describe how to design and build in an accessible way.

An important point to note is that the Premises Standards will only apply to new buildings and new work (renovations) on existing buildings. An existing building not undergoing any new work will still be subject to the current complaints mechanisms of the law.

A summary of the changes

Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards Guidelines 2010

This document provides additional information about the content of the Premises Standards in order to assist in understanding and applying the Premises Standards. It also provides an outline of the major access requirements. For people not used to working through the technical documents of building regulation this may be the best document to start with.

Summary of main Australian Standards referenced in the Access Code

As previously mentioned the Access Code (and BCA) refers to a number of Australian Standards (AS) to provide details of technical design and construction. The main AS is AS 1428.1 [2009]. These referenced AS are all also being reviewed and changed to reflect the requirements of the Access Code. For example there are new circulation space dimensions for accessible toilets and lifts and new specifications for features such as turning spaces on corridors. This document provides a brief overview of significant changes. [see link]

The BCA Vs the DDA

The BCA (Building Code of Australia) is a national code, it is not a Law. The DDA is an important piece of human rights-based legislation; it is superior to other relevant and existing state and local government legislation and regulations (i.e. the Development Act 1993 (SA) by which a building has been approved for occupancy).

The BCA calls up relevant standards enabling good, nationally consistent, safe and equitable building design. This provides a guide to specifications for accessibility by people across a range of disability types and levels. The revised BCA will call up AS1428 Design for access and mobility, Part 1 General requirements for access and new building work 2009 (the minimum standard), which mostly accommodates people with disabilities to the 80th percentile.

The DDA has primacy over the BCA, but the response for the ‘elimination of discrimination’ within the built environment comes from the BCA (in 2011 the DAPS) and the standards it calls up. The DDA itself makes no prescriptive specifications about Access to Premises, but has the capacity to create Disability Standards.

Over the last decade there has been the development of Disability Standards as allowed under section 31 of the Act. The Disability (Access to Premises) Standard 2010 (DAPS) and Schedule 1 Access Code, and the Guidelines had passage through the Federal Parliament. These come into use on 1st of May 2011. (The other documents such as this already in use are the Disability Standard for Access to Education 2005 and Disability Standard for Access to Public Transport (2004)).

In the meantime, AHRC has, to some extent, reduced the confusion and provided greater certainty to the design and construction industry practitioners, through the development of the Advisory Notes on Access to Premises [see link] available since 1997/99 and can be found on their website (see footnote).

AS1428 Part 2 1992, “Enhanced and additional requirements”  accommodates people with disabilities to the 90th percentile and is the key standard for fit out for people with disabilities including those who are blind or have low vision; and the new AS1428.5 2010 has been used for people who are Deaf or hearing impaired.

Egress and wayfinding two areas over which there is still controversy because of the lack of attention by Standards Australia (the organisation).

The reviewers have considered wayfinding under the assessment category ‘Signage’ and use of TGSI (hazard tactile ground surface indicators) in relation to the linkages between networks of pedestrian pathways across the precinct and from building to building; and in relation to use of steps, stairways and ramp or other hazards.

Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Resources

The [Disability Discrimination] Commissioner considers there are a number of areas that need to be addressed when providing equitable access to, and use of, premises:

The difference between the requirements of the BCA and responsibilities under the DDA has led to concern about what designers, builders, owners, operators, managers and lessors need to do and what users of premises can expect in terms of access. There are also issues that local planning and building approval authorities need to consider when approving developments that might subsequently attract a complaint under the DDA.

Even though a revised BCA will be more consistent with the DDA, compliance with a new BCA will not automatically provide protection from a successful complaint.

The Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standard 2010 deal comprehensively with access to, and use of, premises is now the reference point for compliance with the DDA. It will be the legal yardstick used in the complaint handling process in relation to access to premises; compliance with a Disability Standard may be regarded legally as compliance with the DDA as long as it is delivered equitably. It is unlikely that any plans approved from this date (end March 2011), will be constructed before 1st May and to do so and not use the new standard would be a likely source of complaint by people with disabilities who have rights-based expectations about accessibility.

Resources

A free webcast of the seminar can be found at http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/buildings/webcast.html or through the ABCB website at http://www.abcb.gov.au/
Copies of the Premises Standards, an Explanatory Statement and FaQs can be viewed and downloaded from http://www.ag.gov.au/premisesstandards
Subscribers to the BCA also have access to the BCA Guide.

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