ACCESS AUDITS AND ASSESSMENTS

Access and Design are experienced consultants whose past commissions include hundreds of Access Audit or Assessment Reports for a variety of buildings, both existing and proposed.

An Access Audit monitors the route that a disabled person would take in reaching, approaching and using a particular building.  The Audit considers this journey from the point of view of a notional person having a wide range of disabilities including physical, sensory, and learning impairments.  Physical or other barriers that may prevent, or make it unreasonably difficult for a disabled person to approach, enter and use the facilities available within the building, are identified by the audit and documented in an Access Audit Report.

An Access Assessment is similar to an Access Audit, but is done before the building is constructed, and is based on an assessment of the design drawings prepared by an architect or building designer.  The format of the Access Assessment is generally similar to that for an Access Audit Report and follows the same logical sequence of assessing the entire building for accessibility.

ACCESS REPORTS
Our reports provide a detailed description of the results of the access audit and identify where improvements can be made.

Access Audit Reports can take one of three forms to best suit your budget: the Simple Checklist Report, the Basic Narrative Report, or the Full Narrative Report.  Each provides a different level of detail, with the Simple Checklist Report being the most basic and the Full Narrative Report - which includes priorities and budget costings - being the most comprehensive.

ACCESS RECOMMENDATIONS
Our recommendations can range from simple low-cost improvements such as replacing inadequate signage with large-type notices, to large-scale structural changes such as the provision of a platform lift.  The scope and nature of our recommendations will be determined by the design and layout of the building concerned, and the feasibility of making changes within it.  In all cases we consider practicality and economy as key factors in the recommendations we make.

ACCESS STATEMENTS
In 2006, the Government introduced legislation which required that Planning Applications* include a Design and Access Statement, part of which explains how a development has been designed to ensure that all users will have equal and convenient access to buildings, surrounding spaces and public transport.

Using our knowledge of the Planning process, and an assessment of plans or a site visits, we prepare Access Statements to fully support Planning proposals. Recent Access Statements include a broad range of building types from a new Community College, to a small commercial premises.

* Excluding private householder and mineral workings Planning Applications.