Access Central can complete universal design reviews for all projects. When we undertake a universal design assessment of any commercial premises, we consider the following requirements:

  1. The minimum accessibility requirements of the Building Code of Australia (BCA) Volume 1 (part of the National Construction Code) and all referenced technical standards.
  2. The minimum accessibility requirements of the Access Code, Schedule 1 in the Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards 2010, also referred to as the Premises Standards. The Premises Standards is a Disability Standard released under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992(DDA) and the requirements outlined in the Access Code are mandatory requirements for new building works requiring a building permit or approval.
  3. Australian best practice concepts including those accessibility standards that have not been adopted into the BCA or Premises Standards prescriptive requirements, which could include other standards from the AS 1428 Australian Standards suite.
  4. International best practice concepts including accessibility standards, universal design guides, and disability legislation.
  5. Fire engineering principles, in that the use of the building, occupant characteristics, their age and abilities all form important factors into the design of the building.

The concept of universal design considers the vast spectrum of human abilities and aims to ensure that all buildings are accessible and usable by everyone, regardless of a person’s size, age, language skills, or abilities.

Our reports will clearly identify what is a mandatory requirement, and what is a best practice recommendation to provide for everyone and reduce the risk of DDA complaints, marginalising some building users or introducing barriers to the use of the building, facilities or services offered within the built environment.

Allowing Access Central the opportunity to review a design of a space, building, or public assembly area could help provide a safer, more usable and more enjoyable environment for everyone. Universal design concepts introduced in the early stages of a project could, in fact, be cost neutral to the project.