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Access for the
Disabled - Some Guidance If
you provide a service which disabled customers and clients may use
then you have a responsibility to ensure that that service is as
available to them as any abled bodied person. This is not just a
moral responsibility it is now the law. From October 1 2004
the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) has required you
to have made any necessary physical alterations to your premises
to overcome barriers to access. You will need to start planning
now for any alterations that need to be made, you may already have
seen that premises such as banks have begun to introduce ramped
entrance and electric doors. These may be the sort of alterations
that you will have to consider.
It is essential that careful
planning is undertaken to achieve the most effective results, Collier
Stevens Chartered Surveyors have developed specialist knowledge
in this field and have carried out many hundreds of Disabled Access
Audits on premises ranging from War Memorial, Libraries and Castles
to Schools and Nurseries.
An Access Audit is an essential
component of your disability planning process, and covers areas
you may not have thought of. It is all very well overcoming
the barriers of day to day access but what about emergency
escape for the disabled in case of fire? Do you have a phone
that the public can use? Is it accessible to a disabled user? Only
when you have a full overview of the obstacles facing your business
or premises can you prepare a strategy for dealing with the issue
For information about Disabled
Access Audits and the services and advice that we can provide please
call us for an informal chat or complete our online
enquiry form. Our telephone
number is 020 8295 1200. As with all of our services you will
find us helpful, approachable and knowledgeable.
Our initial advice is FREE.
This is a genuine service - no strings, no ties so call now,
if we have no one available to help when you call leave a message
and we will call you back
The Disability Rights Commission
have produced a Guide for Service Providers and a Code of Practice
and these can be viewed here:
2004
- What it Means to You - A
Guide for Service Providers
Code
of Practice, Rights of
Access, Goods, Facilities, Services & Premises
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