Hi Patrick

thanks for sending more info on the RICS working party. I am not sure 
whether this should be on the mail list or not. If you want to 
continue it off-line I do not mind either way. Anyway I will pen my 
replies so that others may contribute if they so wish.

I like your introduction and it made me htink that what is needed is 
a network of people that the RICS can tap into who have personal 
experience of these issues.

In section 2.0 - areas of consideration, I think you need to be 
careful in selecting your terminology. Otherwise you may alienate 
those for whom you wish to help. your stance is almost towards the 
medical model (which your suggestion of involvement of medical 
experts woudl seem to agree with) whereas the inclusive design 
philosophy lends itself more to the social model. My main concern 
here is that the medical model of disability is liked by governments 
and the like because it provides then with clear categories of people 
who fit a label of "disabled" whilst others who may equally have 
problems with access in the built environment are excluded because 
they do not fit the medical conditions which have been selected. The 
social model on th eother hand seeks to show that it is the 
environment which created the barriers and by removal of them we 
become a more inclusive society.

In 2.2 you ask who is responsible - I would say the owner or client 
providing the service which th epublic are using.

i agree with you that much has to do with the managment of the 
building and no matter how good the access features are if they are 
not properly managed then they can be redundant. This is why I feel 
that Facilities Managers are crucial to creating accessible 
environments.

You mention comaprison with ADA and the asnwer given by others has 
been that the legislative backgrounds between USA and Uk are 
different in terms of rights of the individual, etc. This may be a 
smoke screen. Certainly our research at SURFACE hopes to look at how 
the ADA brought in the changes to see if we can learn from it.

So my suggestions for your remit to the RICS would be:

1. involve/create a team of people who can bring their personal 
experience as a person with disabilities or carer to share 
expertise/knowledge.

2. seek to maximise opportunities for 
improvements/accessibility/inclusive design in property issues.

3. Advocate good management of facilities to all those involved in 
the process/ management of building.

4. Collate and disseminate good practice to RICS members.


Sorry it was the best i could come up with, although I will keep 
working at it!

marcus
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