Key findings of the review
10 - Accessibility compliance
Purpose
To examine the Council's application and enforcement of the Building Code's requirements for access and facilities for people with disabilities.
Background
The Building Act and Building Code contain requirements to ensure that people with disabilities are able to enter and carry out normal activities and functions within buildings. These provisions include sections 117 to 120. There are a range of training courses available for staff to enhance their knowledge and skills in this area.
Initial review
Most processing and inspection staff had been through accessibility compliance training courses, with further staff about to undertake a course. Most of the buildings inspected displayed a reasonable level of accessibility compliance although some exceptions were observed.
| Recommendations made to the Council |
Action taken by the Council before the follow-up review |
| Examine ways of eliminating accessibility non-compliance, by providing staff with ongoing training opportunities and incorporating accessibility compliance into audits of the building consent, inspection and approval process. |
Processing contractors and Council staff involved with commercial work had attended accessibility training. |
Follow-up review
The Department found that all contractors and Council staff involved with processing, inspecting or auditing commercial work had attended accessibility training run by the Barrier Free Trust. However, no evidence was found that the Council or its contractors had a formal mechanism to ensure this training was being effectively applied. A number of findings supported this. First, the Council's processing contractors' checklists, relating to access for people with disabilities, were of varying quality. The Council's ‘health check' sheet also did not include assessment of accessibility requirements. Second, the case studies revealed that compliance with accessibility provisions was not being consistently achieved and that access and facilities for people with disabilities were not being consistently considered or applied. The Department found no evidence that peer review of accessibility compliance was being undertaken.
| Recommendations made to the Council |
Response from the Council |
| The Council should consider methods of improving accessibility compliance such as: providing guidance to its contractors stipulating the minimum level of accessibility information to be contained in their processing and inspection checklists (this could be achieved through the issuing of a practice note or contractual mechanisms) developing and implementing an on-site peer review process for accessibility compliance, to ensure accessibility training provided to staff is being effectively implemented including information on accessibility requirements in the Council's consent ‘health check' sheet. |
Processing contractors' checklists are to be reviewed to ascertain whether or not accessibility requirements have been upgraded following the Department's visit and accreditation requirements.The Council's ‘health check' checklists are to be amended to incorporate accessibility requirements for commercial and public buildings.The Council's audits of compliance inspections are proposed. |
Conclusion
The Council has made limited progress towards meeting the recommendations of the initial review and acknowledged it should make further improvements.
The Department reiterates conclusions made under part 4.3; it is important to provide Council contractors with clear guidance on expectations regarding the minimum level of information required. This still gives contractors scope to use their own systems and processes as long as they meet the Council's expectations. If the Council has minimum information requirements for checking accessibility compliance for people with disabilities, then it can assure itself that a sound decision has been made and documented.