What is an Access Audit?

An Access Audit  is an assessment of a building, an environment or a service against best-practice standards to benchmark its accessibility to people of determination (disabled people)

Our Access Audits then assess what is reasonable for you to do, as is required by the a countries laws and standards

Our Access Audits set out clear recommendations with priority ratings, to enable you to plan and budget for necessary adjustive works.

Why do I need an Access Audit?

A Disability Access Audit helps you to understand your obligations under your countries laws. It identifies barriers to access, sets out options for removing these barriers, assesses which option is the most reasonable and then makes a clear recommendation as to which option to implement, when to do it and how much it will cost.

The Access Audit can form the basis of a plan of action to enable you to improve the accessibility of your building, environment or service over time.

By having an Access Audit and then implementing its recommendations, you will be able to demonstrate that you have adopted a reasonable approach, which will help you to defend a complaint or action brought against you by a disabled person, but more importantly, you will be improving access for disabled people and, in all likelihood many other users.

The completion of an Access Audit by a ‘suitably qualified person’ will ‘help service providers to meet their obligations under your countries laws’. 

What does the Access Audit Cover?

The scope of the audit will depend on how the law in your country applies to you, which we will discuss and agree with you before quoting. However, our audit will generally cover all elements of your building and environment, following the ‘journey’ of a disabled user.

Typically an audit would cover:

Approach and Car Parking

Entrances

Receptions

Horizontal Circulation - corridors

Lifts and Stairs

Internal Doors

Toilets

Signage and Wayfinding

Communication

Means of Escape for Disabled People

There are usually many other site-specific elements, which we also cover, so please be assured we offer a comprehensive service.

Q: Can you provide access audits, design appraisals and access statements?

A: Yes, we can supply all access consultancy services at reasonable rates. 

Q: I am looking for some dimensions / design guidance. Where can I find the national standards for accessibility?

A: General dimensions, layouts and measurements  for the UK can be found in building regulations, such as the Approved Document to Part M (now in two parts), (in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Technical Handbooks contain information on accessibility.)

British Standard BS 8300: Design of buildings and their. approaches to meet the needs of disabled people. Code of Practice provides detailed guidance and ergonomic standards. Available to purchase from the British Standards Institute. 

Laws and standards in The UAE can be found at govenment website and the standards at 'Dubai Universal Design Code' all available on-line.

Please contact us for other countires laws and standards as we have a comprehensive database of information and archives. 

Q: My question isn’t listed here, how do I get help?

A: If you have a question or query and cannot find the answer on our website, please feel free to contact us by email or post.