Submissions: Published response
What is your organisation’s name? - Organisation name
What best describes you? - Interest in making a submission
How familiar are you with the Disability (Access to Premises – Building) Standards 2010? - How familiar are you with the Disability (Access to Premises – Building) Standards 2010?
What has been your experience of access to and within public buildings? - Put your answer in the box
There is no quantification of most slip resistance requirements. There is no published data to support the mandatory requirements for ramps and stairways published in the NCC.
The existing slip resistance requirements are based on ex-factory measurements, where many products rapidly lose their slip resistance. Overspecification of slip resistance can make it impossible for some people to ascend stairs, as well as causing cleaning problems. We need a Goldilocks approach to ensure that all the relevant factors are "just right".
There are difficulties with the luminance contrast requirements as are discussed in an appended document.
What do you think the Premises Standards Review should focus on? - Put your answer in the box
Providing sufficient information to ensure that flooring products will provide adequate safety over an economically reasonable life cycle. We select different footwear according to the environment. A similar approach needs to be taken to flooring. Different types of flooring may have the same measured slip resistance, yet behave very differently.
If we assign building surveyors with the responsibility of long term egress safety, we first need to ensure that they have adequate educational resources.
Ensuring that the luminance contrast requirements for various elements are appropriate, and that the methods of measurement and calculation are relevant.
If you have a problem with access to public buildings do you know what options there are to make a complaint? - Put your answer in the box
One can't complain when access problems are due to deficient standards that are quarantined from review and amendment.
What has been your experience of complying with the Premises Standards via the National Construction Code? - Put your answer in the box
Not Answered
Where do you see opportunities for improvements in the Premises Standards? - Put your answer in the box
Not Answered
Do you have any general comments? - Put your comments in the box
I have provided a link to a submission where I responded to an Australian Building Codes Board Consultation RIS: Proposal to include minimum accessibility standards for housing in the National Construction Code. This is solely concerned with slip resistance, a neutral cost measure that had been overlooked in the Consultation. The submission anticipates the eventual inclusion of slip resistance guidance. It provides the first rational recommendation for the slip resistance required in universal design housing, albeit a tentative recommendation pending further research. It reveals some little known dark facts that should be better appreciated.
I have also uploaded an abstract that was submitted for the 2021 International Ergonomics Congress. It relates to the history of luminance contrast requirements and the unrecognised inadequacy of our standardisation processes.
In both these critical areas of accessibility, errors would have been minimised, if not eliminated by consulting those with the requisite level of knowledge and expertise.
Do you want to include a video, audio, image or written submission? - Upload file 1
Do you want to include a video, audio, image or written submission? - Link to file 1
Response ID
Unique ID