British Standard Bs 8300 Free Download
Siiri Pica
The BS 8300 code of practice detailing the approaches to meet the required inclusive design of buildings for meeting the needs of disabled people. The key element of the revision that happened in 2018 by the British Standards institution to BS8300 is to offer "equal access to services and buildings".
BS 8300 is a British Code of Practice that sets out the requirements of how buildings should be designed, constructed and maintained to meet the needs of disabled people as well as create an accessible and inclusive environment for them.
BS 8300 is in place to ensure everybody has access to enter, to use and to exit a built environment open to the public equally. This is aimed particularly at the diasbled, elderly or those less able to stand.
One of the largest disabled groups in the UK with 1 in 6 of the population (11 million) live with a hearing impairment, a of those wear hearing aids. With these figures in mind the B/559 committee (the official body which creates and revises the British Standards), realised the original BS 8300 code of practice had become outdated and needed revising.
The original British standard offered limited detail and did not give examples of what makes best practice. Having this uncertainty meant it was hard for AV installers to justify their knowledge over an electrician who could fit an induction loop system. It also meant the end clients weren't appropriately served.
In previous versions of the BS 8300 code of practice the main focus was on the design of seperate accessible facilities and their ability to meet requirements of the disabled. This more recent version, however, focuses on the inclusive built environment as a whole and how it can be made universally accessible, meaning developers can build/make the environments inclusive from the start. Therefore the revisions have been made to create inclusive design of an accessible built environment.
The key element of the revision to BS 8300 is to offer "equal access to services and buildings". As an example, this includes hearing aid wearers no longer only having access to only one designated checkout, they now are able to use any checkout as they all offer induction loop systems or other alternative assistive hearing systems.
There are now a firm set of guidelines for those in the construction industry to adhere to in order to be BS 8300 compliant. The guidelines apply to within the building itself and the immmediate surroundings. For example:
As the guidelines of the BS 8300 standard were developed by industry experts, they recognise the importance of expertise/knowledge in ensuring that the application of resources including Induction Loops and Assistive Listening Systems meet the needs of the end user. The revised British standard covers all external accessibility issues as well as all internal issues. The standard states which public areas should have assistive hearing systems and what type of loop system should be specified.
If an assitive hearing system can't cover the whole environment it is meant for, it must be addressed with clear signage to indicate where it is accessible. Environments and sectors where assistive listening systems should be applied include:
It is no longer enough to just install a loop. If a person with hearing impairment/loss cannot access information or entertainment because the system has not been specified or installed properly, the new revised standards have not been met.
Staff members are the connecting point between the hearing loop and the user. It is essential that staff know a loop is in place and the basic functionality of it; this way they can advise customers and visitors accordingly.
A lot of hearing aid users have found that induction loop systems are in place but are turned off or staff are un -aware that the loop system does not work. This is caused by lack of staff training or lack of testing using an appropriate testing meter. This is not only frustrating for the users of the loop, it also means people are likely to take their business elsewhere.
The new BS 8300 standard matters as it cannot be ignored in any project that you may be involved with. The new standard also provides more clarity on how the buildings should be designed, constructed and maintained to create an accessible and inclusive environment for disabled people.
CIE is one of the UK's leading and most innovative professional AV distributors and is a leading provider of Induction Loops and Assistive Listening Technology Systems.
Long regarded as the most authoritative guidance available to architects, the new standard now comes in two parts with the addition of guidance on exterior environments: approaches to buildings, spaces within the curtilage of a building or groups of buildings, street design and landscaped areas. As a result, Part 1 (BS 8300-1:2018), offers the first comprehensive guidance for new public spaces.
Recommendations in both parts of BS 8300 are accompanied by scene-setting commentary that places them in context for readers not familiar with the barriers experienced by disabled people. In some instances, recommendations are specific; in others, they include dimensional ranges intended to provide designers with some flexibility to tailor design solutions.
There are numerous amendments to guidance since the last edition, with many revised diagrams and tables. Access consultant Jane Simpson, also on the Regulation & Standards Group, has worked through the just-published updates and has picked out a list of some of the points worthy of note and review by architects:
Simpson points out that many architects are not familiar with accessible design approaches to landscaping and public space that go beyond Building Regulations Part M, which like the outgoing standard concentrates only on the approach to buildings.
David Petherick, Chair of BSI B/559 Committee, and Geoff Cook, Honorary Fellow of the School of Construction Management & Engineering at the University of Reading, will be presenting the new BS 8300 on 22 February 2018 at the RICS in the first of a series of Construction Industry Council (CIC) Inclusive Environment Briefings to be held this year.
The CIC briefing will also cover the new edition of the Wheelchair Housing Design Guide published this week by RIBA Publishing. This fully-updated, activity-based Third Edition discusses design considerations, requirements and recommendations for various activities carried out within the home.
As part of the flexible RIBA CPD programme, Professional Features, edited by the Practice team, count as microlearning. See further information on the updated RIBA CPD Core Curriculum and on fulfilling your CPD requirements as an RIBA Chartered Member.
The guidance in this standard covers a wide range of impairments and the use of the built environment by disabled people who may be residents, visitors, spectators, customers, employees, or participants in sports events, performances and conferences.
BS 8300:2009 Design of buildings and their approaches to meet the needs of disabled people was published on the 27th February 2018, and recommends that Changing Places toilets should be provided in larger buildings and complexes,
such as:
a) major transport termini or interchanges, e.g. large railway stations and airports
b) motorway services
c) sport and leisure facilities, including large hotels
d) cultural centres, such as museums, concert halls and art galleries
e) stadia and large auditoria
f) shopping centres and shopmobility centres
g) key buildings within town centres, e.g. town halls, civic centres and main public libraries
h) educational establishments
i) health facilities, such as hospitals, health centres and community practices.
Doc M is only one part of a larger collection of approved documents, provided to maintain consistency in construction industry standards. It is a legal requirement that all stakeholders from designers to installers have to comply with.
It is important to note that Doc M as referred to here ONLY applies to England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have their own version of the Building Regulations and their own standards around accessibility, with the autonomy to apply these in different ways.
BS 8300 is a British Code of Practice pertaining to the design, construction and maintenance of buildings. It defines the best practices to create accessible and inclusive environments for everyone, particularly the disabled, elderly and those with mobility issues.
While fire doors are designed with the overriding aim of protecting building occupants from the effects of fire, they must also serve their day-to-day purpose of providing access and, therefore, meet the standard set in BS 8300. There are some points of the standard that apply to doors in general and others that are particularly pertinent to fire doors. In providing inclusive access for all building users, the key considerations for doors could be summarised as follows:
Where possible, doors should be installed with no threshold. However, in the case of fire doors, a threshold is an essential element in providing a seal to make a fire door effective at withstanding smoke and heat. The rule is then that the depth of any door threshold should not exceed 15mm. This is low enough to allow wheelchair users to pass over the threshold without being hindered.
Although there are a few exceptions, nearly all fire doors should be self-closing. Fire doors deliver protection against heat and fire only when they are closed, so an automatic door-closer prevents doors being carelessly left open and ineffective.
Some designs of door handles are harder to use than others. For example, a round knob requires that a person has the hand strength to grip and turn it. BS8300 requires handles that can be operated with a closed fist, so levers are the expected norm. Not only that, but the levers used must also conform to specific criteria that include their diameter and the size of gap between the handle and the door panel (to allow hands of all sizes to grip the handle comfortably). Lever handles should also return to their starting positions automatically when released. With blind and partially sighted people in mind, door opening furniture (or ironmongery) should also contrast visually with the elements of the door where it is sited. There should be at least 15 points difference in the Light Reflectance Values (LRV) of the door opening furniture and the door itself.
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