Owlett Architectural explains DDA compliance

Graham Sims at Owlett Architectural, explains DDA guidelines for door closers, door handles and pull handles as the regulations cover all aspects of architectural ironmongery.

The Disability Discrimination Act (1995), or DDA, is a vital piece of legislation to bear in mind when specifying products for buildings.

As detailed in Approved Document M: 2004, (ADM) promotes civil rights for disabled people and protects them from discrimination.

Failure to comply can lead to heavy fines for those involved.

10 million reasons Under DDA regulations, almost all public properties must make reasonable provision, with regard to access to their premises.

In fact, apart from private residential properties, it's hard to imagine too many exemptions from these rules.

Almost 10 million people in the UK are identified as having a disability and, as such, are able to raise a legal challenge against any failure to meet DDA requirements.

All employers must be aware of the act, and any property that helps provide services or goods is also subject to complying with the guidelines.

As this is a far-reaching piece of legislation, most people are already aware of DDA rules and the potentially damaging financial penalties resulting from any failure to meet them.

Other useful documents to familiarise yourselves with are: the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) - particularly useful for specifying in schools and educational facilities; the Hospital Technical Memoranda (HTM) 58 for doorsets and 59 for ironmongery; and the British Standard BS8300: 2009.

These documents help to qualify what other qualities each product should demonstrate in order to follow disability legislation.

Reasonable changes Despite (and, somewhat ironically, because of) all these guidelines, there is still some confusion as to what products can be specified, how they should be installed and where they can and cannot be used.

The critical element of the Government's legislation is that 4EASY WAYS.

only changes that are reasonable need to be made.

Where there is no need to make changes, or if there is a physical feature preventing a change from being made, nothing should be altered.

There is no rulebook on this and, as a result, common sense should prevail.

It's important to bear in mind that where architectural ironmongery is concerned, a specific product cannot guarantee compliance with DDA guidelines.

They can help to meet the requirements of the Act, but it is the application of the product which determines whether or not DDA requirements are met.

Door closers Where door closers are concerned, the position of the door closer on a door can make a significant effect on the force needed to open it.

While a door closer might be fitted onto one door and meet DDA requirements, the same door closer may not operate on larger or heavier doors in the same manner.

As door widths vary, the force needed to open the door will vary too.

Because the correct door closer must be specified to maintain DDA compliance, it is imperative that the correct tests are conducted.

The application of the door closer needs to be tested against the DDA regulations, and this must be done when the door is fitted in situ, rather than in the factory, because a number of factors, such as latch resistance and internal and external air pressure, will have an impact on the opening force.

Door handles The main issue for lever and pull handles is how easily they can be operated.

To fit in with DDA guidelines, it should be possible to operate the door opening furniture one-handed, without tightly grasping it or twisting the wrist.

A helpful rule of thumb is that the door should be operable with a closed fist.

The shape of the handle should also act to prevent clothing being caught.

The British Standard BS 8300:2001 indicates that a circular section lever handle should be at least 19mm in diameter - ensuring it is large enough to grip comfortably.

It is also important that levers and pull handles should be spaced no less than 45mm from the face of the door, while the lever should also be of a generous length to allow the handle to be conveniently gripped and operated.

Ergonomically, this generosity translates into an internal dimension of at least 95mm and an external dimension of at least 140mm to maintain best practice.

Pull handles must also be fitted with a minimum of 45mm space between the handle and the face of the door.

The ease of grip and operation is supported with a minimum of 300mm pull handle length.

Full-height door pulls can be useful but, as with substantial weather boards, they may restrict the effective clear width.

In these cases, additional opening width should be provided.

Typically, pull handles and lever handles will be manufactured from stainless steel, aluminium, or brass.

The DDA stipulates that handles should not be cold or hot to the touch.

As all three conduct heat particularly well, this may seem particularly tricky, but as the vast majority of buildings are heated, further reasonable action is very rarely required.

Wood or nylon finishes are recommended by BS 8300:2001 to help insulate the handle.

Door Opening Lock and Latch Cases A common issue with mortice locks is the distance between the handle follower and the centre of the keyway - known as the lock centres.

Under DDA guidelines, this distance should be at least 72mm to ensure that people with impaired vision or dexterity have unobstructed access to the keyway and the handle.

Another important measurement to bear in mind with mortice locks is the backset measurement - the minimum distance from the door edge to the centre of the keyway.

While Document M does not specifically address latch and lock cases, BS 8300 requires a minimum backset of 54mm.

BS8300 also gives advice on bathroom and privacy functions.

In these instances, the turn to release the dead bolt should be large enough to operate easily.

Visual contrast Most people with a visual impairment have some residual sight.

For this reason, it is important for key objects to be distinguished easily.

The Light Reflectance Value (LRV) is a scale of brightness or luminance from 1-100 used on door faces, handrails, walls, and sanitary fittings.

It is a measure of the total amount of light reflected from a surface.

Document M of the DDA stipulates 20 point difference in LRV between the door and the door opening furniture.

Dark doors need to have correspondingly light door opening furniture fitted and light doors need to have similarly dark furniture.

A person with a visual disability may well have difficulty in identifying the colour, but will be able to perceive the contrasting light being reflected from the surface.

When managing levels of contrast between the door and door opening furniture, it's worth bearing in mind that aluminium has a higher LRV than stainless steel.

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