Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

735. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the body responsible for ensuring that disability access and facilities are maintained to suitable standards in retail buildings in which these facilities exist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42942/17]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

New buildings and extensions or material alterations to existing buildings must comply with the legal minimum performance standards set out in the Building Regulations 1997 - 2017.  In this context, the Building Regulations (Part M Amendment) Regulations 2010, and the accompanying Technical Guidance Document M – Access and Use (2010), which came into effect on 1 January 2012, set out the minimum statutory requirements that a building must achieve in respect of access. The TGDs are available on my Department’s website at

.

The requirements of Part M aim to ensure that regardless of age, size or disability:

- new buildings other than dwellings are accessible and usable;

- extensions to existing buildings other than dwellings are, where practicable, accessible and useable;

- material alterations to existing buildings other than dwellings increase the accessibility and usability of existing buildings, where practicable;

- certain changes of use to existing buildings other than dwellings increase the accessibility and usability of existing buildings where practicable; and

- new dwellings are visitable.

Part M of the Building Regulations aims to foster an inclusive approach to the design and construction of the built environment.  While the Part M requirements may be regarded as a statutory minimum level of provision, the accompanying technical guidance encourages building owners and designers to have regard to the design philosophy of universal design and to consider making additional provisions, where practicable and appropriate.

While the latest iteration of Part M of the Building Regulations initially coincided with the general downturn in economic and construction activity, its positive effects on access and use in the built environment will now be seen more widely as economic recovery takes hold and construction activity continues to gather momentum and moves onto a sustainable footing. 

While the provisions of the Building Regulations do not relate to management or maintenance of buildings and compliance with the Regulations is not dependent on these, it is acknowledged that they are important functions and contribute to the ongoing accessibility of the building. Important issues which are generally the responsibility of the management and/or maintenance teams include:

- arranging furniture appropriately;

- keeping circulation routes clear, facilities clean, equipment (lifts, communication aids, etc.) functioning;

- carrying out maintenance audits on a regular basis;

- putting a detailed emergency action plan in place to ensure safe egress for all in the event of an emergency;

- procurement of accessible goods and services (office furniture, security services, etc.);

- providing pre-visit information regarding access to the building on the organisation’s website;

- providing information on the accessibility features of the building to occupants, in order to allow for effective management procedures to be put in place.

Guidance on how to design, build and manage buildings and spaces so that they can be readily accessed and used by everyone, regardless of age, size, ability or disability  is available in 'Building for Everyone, A Universal Design Approach' , a National Disability Authority(NDA) publication , which may be accessed at www.nda.ie.

Separate to requirements under the Building Regulations, the building control regulations require, in the case of commercial buildings and apartment blocks, that a Disability Access Certificate be obtained from the local building control authority. A Disability Access Certificate is a certificate which specifies that the works or building to which the application relates will, if carried out in accordance with the plans and specifications submitted, comply with the requirements of Part M of the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations. It is an offence to occupy or use a building without having a valid Disability Access Certificate in place as required.

Finally, it is open to any person to refer a discrimination complaint to the Equality Tribunal under the Equal Status Acts 2000 – 2015, which prohibits discrimination on nine specified grounds including that of disability. It should also be noted that requirements set out under equality legislation are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality.