Our team of highly Qualified Access Consultants bring years of experience in the field coupled with a high level of technical knowledge in access regulations and standards to meet our clients' bespoke requirements to create Inclusive Buildings and Environments.
What is an Access Audit?
An access audit (formerly referred to as a DDA audit or Disability Access Audit) is the assessment of a building or service and its accessibility to disabled people. The Equality Act 2010 is split into several sections, the section relevant to Access Audits is contained in generally in section 3 which covers the provision of services to members of the public. Our auditing services comprise of a visit to your premises to initiate a detailed assessment of the site and buildings with regard to the needs of members of the public.
What is included within our Access Audit Report?
The scope of the access audit will depend on how the Equality Act 2010 and other relevant standards applies to you, which we will discuss with you at an early stage and agree with you before quoting. Generally, our access audit will cover all the elements of your building and the environment, following the journey of a disabled user, from the travel route leading to the site and all the way through the building.
Explanation of access legislation as well as your obligations as a service provider
Physical, Sensory or Intellectual barriers that are identified to disabled users
Test of reasonableness for reasonable adjustments considering various factors
Recommendations made for reasonable adjustments considered necessary
Description of the building elements, services and facilities that are present
Summary of works that we suggested, prioritised using our priority keys
Why do I need an Access Audit?
A disability Access Audit helps you to understand your obligations under the Equality Act 2010 as well as identifying barriers to disabled access, it sets out the options for removing these barriers, assessing the options available to set reasonable and clear recommendations as to which option to implement and its priority. The format of the Access Audit enables you to plan and budget for improvements to the accessibility of your building, environment or service over time.
By commissioning an access audit survey and implementing its recommendations, you will ultimately be demonstrating that you have adopted a reasonable approach to improving access for disabled people which will also help defend you in the event of a complaint or action brought against you by a disabled person.
Why Choose Us?
The Equality Act Code of Practice details that the preparation of an Access Audit Report by a ‘suitably qualified person’ will ‘help service providers to meet their obligations under the Act’. At UNEK, our disabled Access Auditors include members of the Access Association, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Chartered Institute of Building, so you can be sure that we are ‘suitably qualified’.
Memberships & Qualifications
Our Building Consultants and Chartered Construction Managers are degree qualified, highly experienced and include members of industry-leading professional organisations such as The Chartered Institute of Building, The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, The Pyramus & Thisbe Society and The Access Association, demonstrating our level of competence and professionalism within the firm.
Our Access Consultants include members of
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
The Access Association
