Good Design Enables, Bad Design Disables
Every person - whether or not they have a disability - should be able to access any building. This is not a small issue. According to the last Census in 2002 almost 324,000 people - 8.3% of the total population in Ireland - had a long-term health problem or disability.
While not all people with a disability require adaptations to buildings, since 2001 all new dwellings must be accessible to people with disabilities under Part M of the Building Regulations which covers areas such as entrances and footpaths.
The underlying philosophy of Part M is to ensure that as far as is reasonable and practical, all buildings should be usable by people with disabilities.
The Building Control Bill 2005 gives new powers to local authorities to seek injunctions to stop the construction of new buildings which are not fully accessible for people with disabilities.
Rebecca Ayres of the People with Disabilities in Ireland group (pwdi) said that the group is pushing for accessibility certificates to be obligatory for all new housing.
The Disability Act 2005 also requires public bodies to make sure their public offices are accessible by 2015, complying with Part M of the Building Regulations.
Those regulations are currently being reviewed, and new regulations are not expected to be in place before late 2007.
While legislation covers the minimum, the National Disability Authority says that there is a need for engineers who wish to embrace the concept of universal access to look beyond the regulations.
The NDA have a booklet entitled ‘Building for Everybody’ which shows how to design, make and manage buildings for the access of everybody. The publication can be easily downloaded from www.nda.ie or you can phone: 01 6080400 or mail nda@nda.ie.
Are the regulations effective?
While many authorities are making progress in implementing the regulations, disability groups recently called for a review of building regulations after a study found disability measures were being ignored by builders and architects.
The National Disability Authority survey in January 2006 found that only a very small percentage of new housing developments under construction in Dublin were accessible to people with disabilities.
Site inspections of 978 dwellings which claimed to be accessible revealed that only 4% were - even though most had level entrances. It was also found that around 750 footpaths were blocked off to wheelchair users.
The study found that one third of rural housing schemes and three quarters of one-off rural houses did not have level entrances and were unlikely to comply with the regulations.
NDA Recommendations
Amongst other recommendations following the survey, the NDA advised that 10% of new homes, all purpose-built social housing and all one-off houses should be built to full Lifetime Adaptable housing standards.
These standards include access from the street and car parking space, adequate width of doorways and hallways, accessible switches, sockets, doorknobs and window catches, wheelchair-adaptable bathrooms/WCs, provision for future downstairs bed space, downstairs shower and future stair lift in 2-storey homes.
The NDA also recommends that a process be put in place for ongoing review and updating of Part M technical requirements in the light of improvements in best practice or emerging international standards.
The NDA is calling for an overall national strategy on securing access to the built environment to be put in place, with clear policies and targets to be reviewed and monitored on a regular basis.
Housing and employers grants available
Not all people with a disability need adaptations or specialised equipment. However, the State provides assistance to employers to help with costs which may be incurred in employing people with disabilities.
These grants cover adaptation of the workplace for example wheelchair ramps and provisions of specialised equipment to facilitate a person with a disability in their work.
Housing grants are available for disabled people in situations where changes need to be made to a home, such as making the home wheelchair-accessible, moving light switches, door handles, installation of a ground floor bathroom and toilet, etc.
Grants under the scheme are paid through your local authority.
There is generally no income limit for eligibility. Both local authority tenants and owner-occupiers may be eligible. However if your house is less than one year old the grant will generally not exceed €12,700.
If you are a local authority tenant, the local authority will meet the entire cost of the works, generally up to a maximum of €20,320.
If you are an owner-occupier, up to 90% of the cost may be granted, generally up to a maximum of €20,320. If you are unable to get a loan from a bank or building society to pay for the other 10%, you may be able to get a local authority home improvement loan.
Contact the Housing Department of your local authority for further information.
Useful websites:
The National Disability Authority
www.nda.ie
Access Ability
www.accessability.ie
The Institute for Design and Disability
http://www.idd.ie/
www.environ.ie
National Council for the Blind
http://www.ncbi.ie/
European Concept for Accessibility
http://www.eca.lu/