COMMENTARY ON THE DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 1995

The DDA legislation (Disability Discrimination Act Part 111), places a duty on all service providers to remove or alter physical features in their buildings that make access to services either impossible or unreasonably difficult for a person with disabilities. Further to this the Building Regulations (Document M) mandates that all new building construction, intended for public use or access, must comply fully with the DDA legislation. The DDA has the force of law. It makes it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities.
 
Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA)
 
Part III deals with access to public buildings and residential accommodation; it sets out general duties and obligations which must be fulfilled.
Under the Disability Discrimination Act Part 111 all service providers have a duty to remove or alter physical features in their buildings that make access to services either impossible or unreasonably difficult for a person with disabilities.
Copies of the DDA can be downloaded at  http://www.drc.gov.uk/thelaw/thedda.asp

Building Regulations – Part M:2004

The Building Regulations Part M sets out the minimum legal standards for access to and within buildings for all users.  It states that all new building construction intended for public use or access, must comply fully with the DDA legislation. 
Copies of Building Regulations can be downloaded at  www.odpm.gov.uk

Approved Document M 2003

The Approved Document M (AD M) gives practical guidance on providing access to and within buildings to meet the requirements of the Building Regulations Part M. 
The requirements of Building Regulations part M can be achieved by means other than those given in Approved Document M, the guidance given is only one way of satisfying requirements. Approved Document M is viewed by local authorities as a standard to achieving compliance and as such any deviation from AD M should be carefully considered and must bear scrutiny (see ‘Access Statements’ below).
Guidance in AD M should taken in preference to dimensional data given in BS 8300
Copies of Approved Documents can be downloaded at  www.odpm.gov.uk

British Standard BS 8300: 2001 – Design of buildings and their approaches to meet the needs of disabled people – Code of practice.

This is a Code of Practice. It gives detailed recommendations on how to design a building to make it accessible to the disabled. Following the standard should ensure that legal obligations under the DDA are met.
BS 8300 provided the design guidance given in Approved Document M and referenced for guidance in areas not covered by Approved Document M. Following publication of Part M BS8300 is being reviewed for revision.
BS 8300 6.3.2 states: “Where the force of the closing device is insufficient to keep an entrance door closed under windy conditions, consideration should be given to installing one of the following door closing systems:
a.        A power operated (automatic) door;
b.        A low energy swing door;
c.         A power operated revolving door arrangement;
d.        An entrance lobby or air lock system of inner and outer doors”

British Standard BS7036: 1996 Code of practice for Safety at powered doors for pedestrian use.

BS 7036 to provides guidance on safety at powered pedestrian door installations.
Copies of British Standards can be purchased at http://www.bsi-global.com

Access Statements

An Access Statement is not mandatory requirement but it is a generally accepted wisdom to do so. Should an action be brought under the DDA an Access statement will most likely be sort.
Guidance on Access Statements can be found at the Disability Rights Commission website www.drc-gb.org

Disability Rights Commission (DRC)

The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) is an independent body established in April 2000 by Act of Parliament to stop discrimination and promote equality of opportunity for disabled people.
The DRC have produced a code of practice dealing with the duties placed by Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 on those providing goods, facilities or services to the public and those selling, letting or managing premises.
For more information and to download copy of their code of practice visit http://www.drc.gov.uk