Hi John and all,
I'm Inclusive Design Manager for jhai - a leading national Approved
Inspector. Regarding good practice guidance such as Manchester's Design
for Access 2, these are for architects, designers and developers who need
or choose to go beyond Part M standards. It would be inappropriate,
unprofessional and unlawful for us to attempt to enforce such guidance
where it goes beyond Building Regs.( Unlike Local Authority Building
Control, Approved Inspectors are highly accountable to an independent
government agency, the Construction Industry Council.)
What we can do, however, is to encourage designers to take Access
seriously at an early stage and we advise and educate clients on DDA
obligations and Inclusive Design. Access has been a cornerstone of jhai
since its inception several years ago and we are probably unique amongst
AIs in having a full-time manager (i.e. me,)to deal with complex Part M/
DDA problems throughout the country.
In response to Flick's query, re-building should not be necessary if Part
M plan checking has been properly carried out, although I should add that
contractors on site do occasionally screw up and yes, they are told to put
it right if they want the building signed off!
Cheers,
Terry
----------End of Message----------
Run by SURFACE for more information on research, consultancy and the distance taught MSc. in Accessibility and Inclusive Design programme visit:
http://www.inclusive-design.it
Archives for the Accessibuilt discussion list are located at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/accessibuilt.html
|