Hi All,
Apologies for hogging the list at the moment, but I have several issues I
could do with some help on.
Are there any experts in Tenant Landlord issues out there?
Our building Surveyor has approached me regarding a speculative development
within our area. The development is refurbishing two large buildings and
erecting a new building which will contain multiple units including working
floor space on the ground floor and small office units on the first floor.
Eventually these will be leased to small companies. This is OK as it
stands, but an issue has arisen regarding the accessibility (mainly in the
future) of the office spaces. To expand further on the development:
There are 8 units within each of the three buildings which are independent
entities accessed by their own door into an area which includes an
accessible WC, a resst room and a staircase leading up to the office
accommodation (approximately 25m square). The staircase is fine and accords
with AD M in terms of width and handrails etc. The issue we have is for
future access of, for example, an employee who may become disabled and
require lift access.
The developer says that he does not have any intention or responsibility to
provide this future access and it will be up to the tenant to provide this.
The provision of a future lift may well be up to the tenant in the case of
one of their employees requiring lift access, but as the development stands,
they would not be able to provide it as the staircase would be the
evacuation route and there are no provisions built-in to the design to
accommodate future adaptations i.e. a platform lift or other such device.
My question is therefore, does the landlord have a responsibility to
incorporate in the design the ability to install a lift to the office
accommodation if required in the future? It is something which morally he
should do, but is there anything which I can use to require him to do this?
I am not asking him to install lifts, merely to provide the ability to
install one at a later date without having to resort to major structural
changes. DDA changes 2005?
Hope someone can shed some light on this.
Regards.
John Gregory
Access Officer
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