Disability Access Regulations The purpose of this note is to provide members with an overview of the regulatory requirements relating to disability access to premises. Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) The DDA makes it unlawful to discriminate against another person on the grounds of the person s disability in relation to a number of aspects of access to, or use of, premises that the public is entitled or allowed to enter or use other than where providing the required access would cause unjustifiable hardship. Definitions Discrimination is defined as including circumstances where a person fails to make reasonable adjustments which result in a person with a disability being treated less favourably than a person without a disability. Premises is broadly are defined as a structure; building; aircraft; vehicle or vessel, a place (whether enclosed or built or not) and a part of a premises. Unjustified hardship is not defined but a list of relevant factors includes costs, loss of value, impact on revenue, capacity to pay, and technical building factors. The onus is placed on the discriminator to establish that it would be unfair and unreasonable to comply in relation to particular requirements of the Premises Standards. Accessible means having features to enable use by people with a disability. Accessway means a continuous accessible path of travel to, into or within a building. Occupant means any person using the building including visitors, employees, employers and owners. Space for use in common by residents includes cooking facility, games room, TV room, dining room, lunch room, lounge room and the like. 1 P a g e
Disability [Access to Premises Buildings] Standards 2010 (Premises Standards) The Premises Standards: set performance requirements and provide references to technical specifications to ensure dignified access to, and use of buildings for people with a disability; come into operation on 1 May 2011, via an amendment to the Building Code of Australia (the BCA), and will apply to buildings where building approval is lodged on or after that date. all new buildings and modifications of existing buildings that require building approval, must meet the standards; apply to most Building Code of Australia (BCA) building classes, including office blocks, education facilities, retail outlets, entertainment venues and buildings used for commercial activities; private residences (i.e. detached houses, town houses, terrace houses, the internal parts of sole occupancy units in apartment blocks and flats and private residences attached to nonhabitable buildings) are exempt, however, common areas of apartment blocks are covered if the apartment block has apartments available for short term rent. apply to the new part of a building as well as the principal pedestrian entrance and any part of the building that is necessary to provide a continuous accessible path of travel from the entrance to the new part. (This requirement only applies if the renovation is being done by the building owner, or a lessee that occupies the whole building.) allow a general exemption for unjustifiable hardship in circumstances where it is unreasonable to require full compliance with the Premises Standards, particularly when undertaking new work on existing buildings. Except in public transport buildings, the Premises Standards do not apply to any part of an existing building until work requiring the approval of a building regulator is undertaken. Existing public transport buildings will be required to comply with the access requirements of the Premises Standards in accordance with the timetable in section 3.1 on page 8 of the Premises Standards. The people held responsible for ensuring compliance with the access requirements of the Premises Standards are the building certifier, building developer and building manager. Building owners may be classified as either building developers or building managers. Complying with the Premises Standards satisfies the DDA non-discrimination requirement for the matters covered by the Standards. If a person acts in accordance with the requirements of the Standards, a successful complaint cannot be made in relation to that action under the DDA. Access Code for Buildings (Access Code) The Access Code at Schedule 1 of the Premises Standards sets out: Performance Requirements that must be met. For example, the Performance Requirement for access and egress states, in part, that access must be provided to the degree necessary to enable (1) people to access work and 2 P a g e
public spaces, accommodation and facilities for personal hygiene and (2) identification of access ways at appropriate locations which are easy to find. Deemed to satisfy provisions which, if met, are taken to have ensured compliance with the Access Code. (Refer to Clauses D3.1 to D3.12 and for public transport buildings, Part H2.) The Attachment to this note provides a brief summary of the main access requirements for each BCA building class. Access to Buildings In a building required to be accessible, an accessway must be provided through the main pedestrian entrance and through not less than 50% of all pedestrian entrances including the principal pedestrian entrance. Exemptions include: an area where access would be inappropriate because of the particular purpose for which the area is used; an area that would pose a health or safety risk for people with a disability. Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (Transport Standards) Introduced in October 2002, Transport Standards set out requirements for accessibility of the public transport premises (e.g. airport terminals), conveyances and infrastructure that are used in the provision of these services. The Transport Standards set out requirements for public transport buildings, which are additional to those in the rest of the Access Code. From 1 May 2011, all new public transport buildings are required to comply fully with the Access Code. For existing public transport buildings, full compliance with the technical requirements will be phased in over the period 1 May 2011 to 31 December 2022 (Refer to page 8 of the Premises Standards for details). Deemed to Satisfy Provisions Affecting Carpet For publicly accessible buildings: Clause D3.3 of the Premises Standards sets out the Deemed to satisfy provisions for a building required to be accessible. D3.3 (g) states clause 7.4.1 (a) of AS 1428.1 does not apply and is replaced with the pile height or pile thickness shall not exceed 11 mm and the carpet backing thickness shall not exceed 4 mm. Note: While neither the general provisions of the Premises Standards nor AS 1428.1:2009 mention underlay, the Attorney General s Department has confirmed that it is not the Government s intention to ban or restrict the use of underlay. 3 P a g e
Under Section D3.8, for a building required to be accessible, tactile ground surface indicators must be provided to warn vision impaired people that they are approaching a stairway, escalator, ramp e.tc. Tactile ground surface indicators must comply with sections 1 and 2 of AS/NZS 1428.4.1. For publicly accessible transport buildings Clause H2.2 (8) of the Premises Standards states, in part, that ground and floor surfaces must comply with clause 9 of AS 1428.2. Sub-clause 9(b) states that where carpet is used on a ground or floor surface, the following requirements apply: (1) the carpet shall be securely attached (2) any pad, backing or cushioning shall provide a firm surface (3) the carpet shall have a level loop, a textured loop, a level cut pile or a level cut and uncut pile texture (4) the pile height shall be no more than 6 mm (5) exposed edges of carpet shall be fastened to the floor surface and shall have a trim along the entire length of the exposed edge Operators and providers are required to be fully compliant with relevant standards in relation to surfaces by end December 2012. Referenced Australian Standards The main Standards referenced by the Access Code are: AS 1428.1 2009 Design for access and mobility: General requirements for access New building work AS 1428.2 1992 Design for access and mobility: Enhanced and additional requirements Buildings and facilities AS/NZS 1428 4.1: 2009 Design for access and mobility Means to assist the orientation of people with vision impairment Tactile ground surface indicators AS 1735 Lifts, escalators and moving walks (SAA Lift Code) Links Disability (Access to Premises Buildings) Amendment Standards 2010 No.1 (4 pages) http://www.comlaw.gov.au/comlaw/legislation/legislativeinstrument1.nsf/asmade%5cbyid/0a 02239D02ECC567CA2577A7007FFD25?OpenDocument Disability (Access to Premises Buildings) Standards 2010 (54 pages) and Access Code at Schedule 1 http://www.comlaw.gov.au/comlaw/legislation/legislativeinstrument1.nsf/0/f1e48f0bd27ff CF4CA2576E2008071DD?OpenDocument To purchase the Disability Access Standards from SAI Global http://www.infostore.saiglobal.com/store/details.aspx?productid=1407487 4 P a g e
Disclaimer Whilst the Carpet Institute of Australia makes every effort to provide a high quality service, it disclaims any representation or warranty, express or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness or fitness for a particular purpose of the information. This document should be read in conjunction with the Premises Standards. The Carpet Institute of Australia accepts no responsibility for any interpretation or decision based on this information. 5 P a g e
Attachment Access Requirements for each BCA Building Class (Source: Table D3.1 on page 28-31 of the Premises Standards) Dwellings located on one allotment and used for short-term holiday accommodation (Class 1B) Access requirements apply if 4 or more single dwellings located on one allotment are used for short term holiday accommodation. Access is required to and into common areas and a proportion of bedrooms and cabins. Boarding house, bed and breakfast, guest house, hostel and the like (Class 1B) Access requirements apply to and within 1 bedroom and associated sanitary facilities and not less than 1 of each type of room or space for use in common by residents or guests and rooms or spaces for use in common by all residents on a floor to which access by way of a ramp or a passenger lift are provided. Block of residential flats or apartments (Class 2) A pedestrian entrance must be accessible to at least one floor containing sole occupancy units and to the entrance doorway of each sole occupancy unit located on that level to and within not less than one of each type of room or space for use in common by the residents. Hotel, motel, larger boarding house or hostel (Class 3) Common areas: A pedestrian entrance must be accessible to at least one floor containing sole occupancy units and to the entrance doorway of each sole occupancy unit located on that level. Access must be provided to and within not less than one of each type of room or space for use in common by the residents. Sole occupancy units: Access must be provided to and within a proportion of the sole occupancy units. Not more than 2 required accessible sole occupancy units may be located adjacent to each other. Where more than 2 accessible sole occupancy units are required, they must be representative of the range of rooms available. Offices, shops, cafes, libraries, factories, showrooms and service stations (Class 5, 6, 7b and 9a) Access must be provided to and within all areas normally used by the occupants. Car park (Class 7a) Access must be provided to and within any level containing accessible car parking spaces. 6 P a g e
Theatre, concert hall, school, university or trade workshop (Class 9b) Schools and early childhood centres: Access must be provided to and within all areas normally used by occupants. Assembly building: Access must be provided to and within all areas normally used by occupants, except that access need not be provided to tiers or platforms of seating areas that do not contain wheelchair seating spaces. Aged care building (Class 9c) Common areas: A pedestrian entrance is required to be accessible to at least one floor containing sole occupancy units and to the entrance doorway of each sole occupancy unit located on that level. Access must be provided to and within not less than one of each type of room or space for use in common by the residents. Sole occupancy units: Where more than 2 accessible sole occupancy units are required, they must be representative of the range of rooms available. Access must be provided to and within a proportion of the sole occupancy units. Non-habitable change room facility or shelter (Class 10a) Access must be provided to and within an accessible sanitary facility, a change room facility and a public shelter or the like. Swimming pool (Class 10b) Access must be provided to and into swimming pools with a total perimeter greater than 40m, associated with a Class 1b, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 building that is required to be accessible, but not swimming pools for the exclusive use of occupancy of a 1b building or a sole occupancy unit in a Class 2 or Class 3 building. 7 P a g e