Annex I

Requirements for Buildings
and Related Structures ^(*1)

1. Classification of components of the built environment

It is suggested that items listed under all categories comply with the access specifications for both government and privately-owned components of the built environment.

Category 1: Residential

1. Single detached, single dwelling units and duplex units;
2. Staff housing, multiple dwelling and high-rise residential units and tenements;
3. Tenement houses, row houses, apartments, town houses;
4. Hotels, motels, inns, guest-houses, boarding houses, private dormitories and other public lodging.

Category 2: Commercial

1. Office buildings;
2. Financial institutions;
3. Shopping centres, supermarkets and public markets;
4. Restaurants, dining and drinking establishments;
5. General wholesale and retail stores;
6. Amusement halls;
7. Massage and sauna establishments;
8. Funeral parlours, morgues and crematoria;
9. Car parks.

Category 3: Industrial

1. Factories and workshops using incombustible or non-explosive materials;
2. Breweries, bottling plants, canneries and tanneries;
3. Woodwork establishments and timber yards;
4. Pulp and paper factories;
5. Textile and fibre mills;
6. Garment factories;
7. Toys and games factories.

Category 4: Health Care Institutions

1. Hospitals and sanatoria;
2. Rehabilitation centres;
3. Medical clinics;
4. Psychiatric hospitals;
5. Nursing homes;
6. Homes for elderly persons.

Category 5: Educational Establishments

1. Schools, colleges and universities;
2. Vocational training schools;
3. Seminar halls;

The above should include classrooms, libraries, common rooms, toilets and changing rooms, auditoria, lecture halls, assembly halls, theatres, concert halls, gymnasia and sports facilities.

Category 6: Community

1. Theatres, cinemas, auditoria and convention halls;
2. Concert halls and opera houses;
3. Libraries, museums, exhibition halls and art galleries;
4. Civic centres and cultural centres;
5. Churches, temples, mosques and other religious buildings;
6. Clubhouses, lodges and social clubs;
7. Stadiums, sports complexes and arenas;
8. Recreational centres;
9. Camping grounds;
10. Parks and gardens;
11. Public show grounds;
12. Information centres and booths;
13. Orphanages;
14. Police and fire stations;
15. Law courts;
16. Post offices;
17. Social services/welfare centres;
18. Jails, prisons and reformatories and correctional institutions.

Category 7: Agricultural

1. Nurseries, orchards and vegetable gardens;
2. Dairies and creameries;
3. Granaries and rice mills;
4. Fish ponds;
5. Livestock/animal sheds.

Category 8: Transport

1. Bus stops, depots and terminals;
2. Taxi stops;
3. Train stations;
4. Under/overground train stations and terminals;
5. Tram stops;
6. Ports and harbour facilities, landing piers, sheds and ferry landing stations;
7. Airport terminal buildings andheliports;
8. Transport offices.

Both the "classification of buildings" and the "categories" are for guidance purposes and may be adapted to suit the users needs and other social conditions.

2. Access provisions for selected buildings in categories 1 to 8

In addition to the specifications cited for categories 1 to 8, the following access provisions are suggested:

3. Access provisions for public transport

(a) Road transport

1. Regulations should specify that new vehicles bought by public and private transport companies be accessible for people with disabilities. Studies indicate that buying a bus with lifts adds only 5 per cent to its cost.
2. Access regulations should specify modifications required for public buses which are already in use.
3. A minimum of four seats in all buses should be designated for persons with disabilities. Those seats should be near entrance/exit doors.
4. Adequate space for one wheelchair should be provided in all buses.
5. Parallel transport services for persons with disabilities who cannot use mainline systems are recommended.
6. Access regulations should be adapted to meet the needs of rural communities.

(b) Rail transport (including local trains, under and overground trains and inter-city trains)

1. Access regulations should stipulate that new rail transport facilities must be accessible for persons with disabilities.
2. All mainline train stations must be modified to become accessible.
3. One car per existing train should be modified to incorporate access features.
4. A minimum of two seats per car should be designated for persons with disabilities. Those seats should be near entrance/exit doors.
5. A minimum of one accessible toilet should be available near the above-mentioned seats.

(c) Sea and river transport (including ferries, as well as domestic and international passenger ships)

1. Access regulations should stipulate that new sea/river transportation must be barrier-free.
2. A minimum of one deck in ferries and domestic and international passenger ships should be modified to incorporate access features.
3. Ramps, passageways, gangways, safety equipment and at least two berths or cabins must be modified to incorporate access features.

(d) Air transport (including domestic and international passenger aircrafts)

1. Access regulations should stipulate that new air transport facilities must be barrier-free.
2. A minimum of two seats near the entrance/exit doors in all domestic passenger aircraft should be available for persons with disabilities.
3. A minimum of one accessible toilet should be near the above-mentioned seats.

4. Access provisions for communications systems

1. Persons with hearing and speech impairments are often forced to depend on others in order to communicate by telephone. Access regulations should ensure that persons with disabilities have equal access to telephones and other modes of communication.
2. All telecommunications services should include fax machines and telecommunications devices for deaf persons (TDD). A TDD can be used to send and receive non-verbal signals over telephone lines to other TDDs. The signals are received on paper and/or a display terminal.
3. Direct access to emergency services should be available through fax machines or TDDs.
4. Access regulations should ensure that persons with impaired vision or hearing have easy access to information about the location of the above-mentioned services and facilities.
5. Automatic indicator systems should be devised for persons with hearing impairment.
6. Audio loop systems should be installed for persons with hearing impairment.

5. Access provisions for walkways, roads and highways

1. Consideration must be given at all times to how pedestrians are to move around in the urban area. A comprehensive pedestrian system should be created to include the needs of disabled persons and elderly persons.
2. Special attention should be given to the provision of effective pedestrian links between bus and rail terminals.
3. Pedestrian walkways should be as far as possible from vehicular traffic. Wherever possible, walkways should take the shortest and most level route as ramps may be difficult to use without assistance.
4. At strategic points, walkways should meet the road network so that disabled persons and elderly persons can enter and leave vehicles easily and safely.
5. The following list of facilities should be considered in barrier-free design plans:
   1. Pedestrian crossings and walkways;
   2. Footpaths, pavements and roads;
   3. Off-street parking facilities;
   4. On-street parking facilities for persons with disabilities;
   5. Transport stops;
   6. Vehicular pick-up and drop-off zones;
   7. Dropped kerbs ;
   8. Ramps;
   9. Staircases and steps;
   10. Audible traffic signals;
   11. Tactile warning zones;
   12. Tactile guide paths;
   13. Colour-contrasted markings at pedestrian routes and crossings;
   14. Signposts;
   15. Street furniture;
   16. Public telephones; and
   17. Adequate gratings and covers for storm drains and manholes.

6. Design requirements for accessibility

(a) Criteria to be considered:

The types of disability and degree of frailty determine the various measures to be adopted to create an accessible environment for persons with disabilities and elderly persons. They may:

1. Require the use of wheelchairs;
2. Have difficulty in walking or require the use of braces, crutches, walking frame or other means of support;
3. Have total or partial impairment of hearing or sight;
4. Have poor or limited coordination of movement;
5. Have a weak grip; and/or
6. Suffer from othr conditions due to old age.

The minimum and maximum dimensions for space in the built environment should therefore take into consideration the needs and conditions listed in a. to e. above. Considerations based on anthropometric and dimensional data may guide design.

The following criteria should be considered:

1. Varying sizes of persons, the range of reach and vision in both standing and sitting positions;
2. Data on the dimensions of assistive devices such as wheelchairs, the range of distance of crutches and other mobility devices; and
3. Provision of adequate space for wheelchair mobility.

(b) Design elements

Design features for persons with disabilities and elderly persons should be given the same attention as fire regulations, structural standards and environmental control systems.

The following list of design elements needs to be considered when creating a barrier-free environment:

1. Entrances to buildings;
2. Doors and thresholds;
3. Ramps;
4. Staircases and steps;
5. Lifts (elevators);
6. Circulation and space within buildings;
7. Alarm signals;
8. Means of escape (in an emergency);
9. Sanitation facilities and fixtures;
10. Environmental control facilities and fixtures, including fixtures;
11. Floor finishes;
12. Handrails or grab-bars;
13. Windows and attachments;
14. Information boards and signs;
15. Illumination;
16. Communications facilities;
17. Doors, covered handles, latches, taps and controls.

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¹Sources:Accessiblity Law and Its Implementing Rules and Regulations, National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons, Metro Manila, Philippines, 1990; Code on Barrir-Free Accessibility in Buildings-1990, Public Works Department, Building Control Division, Singapore; Barrier-Free Design: A National Standard of Canada, Canadian Standards Association, Canada, 1990.

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ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Promotion of Non-Handicapping Physical Environments for Disabled Persons: Guidelines
- ANNEX 1 -

UNITED NATIONS
New York, 1995