UK Disabled Toilet Standards
Many employers and business owners find the combination of British Standards and DDA regulations confusing. They are unsure whether they need a disabled toilet alarm and which specifications their facilities must meet.
The legislation states that building managers must make a reasonable provision to ensure all users have appropriate bathroom facilities.
New building designs must incorporate these features to comply with the Government Access document, referred to as Approved Document M.
Reasonable provisions vary and will depend on the number of storeys, use of the building, floor space, and distance between communal areas and the nearest accessible bathroom.
If you do not have any disabled bathroom alarm system, there is a risk of breaching the Equalities Act 2010, so updating older accessible toilets or scheduling a retrospective installation in existing businesses is important to customer satisfaction, staff welfare, and liability mitigation.
Related Fire and Life Safety Systems
Clearway is an experienced provider of a vast range of building safety and life safety systems, from alarm installations to intelligent property management and fire prevention controls.
Many businesses install a disabled toilet following a thorough site risk assessment to identify where they must make further provisions to allow for safe, accessible use of their premises.
Examples of supporting services include:
- Disabled Refuge points: where evacuation routes or assembly points are not fully accessible, building design should incorporate a fire-safe refuge according to BS 5839 Part 9. These spaces must include communication fittings to ensure an individual can communicate with emergency responders to request assistance.
- Emergency Lighting systems: our emergency lighting installations include exit signs, spotlight units and bulkheads; they include directional wayfinding to disabled refuges and accessible exit routes in the event of emergency or alarm activation.
- Commercial Fire Alarms: we provide a range of high-performance fire alarm systems designed for your building, with 24-hour monitoring and options such as public address systems and evacuation instructions.
Please contact Clearway if you would like to discuss any aspect of your property life safety and fire safety systems, or wish to receive guidance about the most appropriate solutions.
