1. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012Making Schools Accessible -Guidance on accessibility forthe asset management > 400schools Dr Penny Galbraith FAIB FRICS www.galbraithscott.com.au 2. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012 About Penny:Fellow Australian Institute of BuildingFellow Royal Institution of Chartered SurveyorsAssociate (wannabe Accredited!) ACAAConsultant National Register of Access Consultants (UK)Disability Rights Commission Licensed Trainerwww.galbraithscott.com.au 3. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012Existing building specialist Design, construct, maintain,investigateClient project managementAccessibility Roles: Portfolio advice Strategic asset management Feasibility Due diligence Online disability awarenesstraining for business www.galbraithscott.com.au 4. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012Making Schools Accessiblewww.galbraithscott.com.au 5. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012Background:In 2004 Surrey County Council put out a projectspecification inviting proposals to carry out sampleaudits of their schools. www.galbraithscott.com.au 6. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012Surrey County Brisbane CityCouncil Council Population 1.1m882,000 Area 1,670 sq Km 1,220 sq Kmwww.galbraithscott.com.au 7. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012 Their problem and the background to this request: Special Education Needs Disability Act 2001 Legislative duties for Local Education Authorities and schools to increase accessibility of schools to disabled pupils Asset management of 400+ schools Schools making large capital funding requests Insufficient budget across portfoliowww.galbraithscott.com.au 8. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012The project specification Specifically Recent changes to the Disability Discrimination Act require LEAs and schools to increase the accessibility of schools for disabled pupils. Surrey has developed an accessibility strategy and supports schools in producing and implementing accessibility plans. www.galbraithscott.com.au 9. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012The project specification [Surrey] LEA aims to use funding to improve access in a strategic manner to ensure that: There is suitable provision for current and known future pupils withphysical and sensory disabilities There is a geographical spread in the provision throughout theCounty All new building projects are fully accessiblewww.galbraithscott.com.au 10. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012The project specification to draw up an access plan, schools need to identify barriers to access within the school and to consider what actions to take to remove those barriers. We recognise that this can be a difficult task since some schools may not have sufficient expertise in disability access issues.www.galbraithscott.com.au 11. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012The project specificationThe project: In order to help schools identify barriers. Carry out anumber of access audits on a sample of schools. Work closely with the Physical and Sensory Support team Identify and describe typical barrierssuggest solutions Examples of good practice that could be adopted by otherschools, including management solutionsGuidance for: Non-technical audience To develop their awareness of disability access issues Provide skills and knowledge they need to identify barriersand implement solutions www.galbraithscott.com.au 12. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012Our response Client specification outlined desired outcomes and needed the consultant to work out the specifics. SCC had particular emphasis on audits. We did not consider that audits would yield the guidance that Surrey needed. This was very typical of many clients who perceived an audit to be the solution to their accessibility problems.www.galbraithscott.com.au 13. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012To audit or not to audit? A detailed audit covering the minutiae of deficiencies in an existing building will typically run to tens and tens of pages + photographswww.galbraithscott.com.au 14. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012 To audit or not to audit? Appropriateness for the end user Interpretation by whom (in-house property team or layadministrator) Application what do I do with 100 + pages? Implementation how do I fix all this? Have we complied? www.galbraithscott.com.au 15. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012www.galbraithscott.com.au 16. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012How do we help this client help their 400+ schoolsprovide accessible education within limited budget?www.galbraithscott.com.au 17. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012Our responseTaking a holistic approach, we started by: Understanding SCCs business Asset management Statutory duties Practical implementation Under-resourced Identify different end users and their specific needs Principals SENCOs School administrators Governors Under resourcedwww.galbraithscott.com.au 18. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012Our responseFirst, we suggested that the outputs from thisproject would determine the scope and level ofdetail recorded for sample audits and the extent of consultation www.galbraithscott.com.au 19. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012Our responseThen, we acknowledged that sample audits werea good start. But that the sample must: Be representative of the range of schools inthe portfolio Gather sufficient information on the range ofbarriers, and solutions, likely to beencounteredwww.galbraithscott.com.au 20. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012Our responseWe proposed consultation with: Staff from the Physical Support and SensorySupport teams; Principals; Governors; Disabled users; Asset management teamwww.galbraithscott.com.au 21. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012Our responseThe output was crucial to defining the project.We proposed a resource pack which would: Be targeted at non-technical audience Illustrated with diagrams and photographs Show typical barriers Illustrate possible solutions, includingmanagement solutions Illustrate good practicewww.galbraithscott.com.au 22. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012 Our response In addition Assist staff develop an awareness of disability/accessissues Provide staff with skills and knowledge to identify barriersand implement solutions www.galbraithscott.com.au 23. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012Our responsePlus for the school management team, the context of theirlegal duties: Disability legislation and duties Accessibility issues, both management and design Wider issues that need consideration eg fire,asbestos, health and safety How to obtain consultancy advice and implementworks SCC Access StrategyRecognising when further advice is needed.www.galbraithscott.com.au 24. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012My teamMary NobleSet up and managed the NRAC before entering private practiceConsultant member of National Register of Access ConsultantsExternal tutor University Portsmouth Post Graduate Accessible Environments CourseLicensed DRC trainerWorked extensively with me on the PriceWaterhouse portfoliowww.galbraithscott.com.au 25. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012 What did we do? Draft outline of the output Access Resource Pack Audits Consultationwww.galbraithscott.com.au 26. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012The Access Resource PackThe outline contents page:1. Introduction2. Legislative overview England and Wales3. Overcoming barriers to accessing education4. Design guidance5. How to obtain an access audit and get what you need from it6. Interpreting your access audit and implementing recommendations7. Maintenance and asset management8. Designing and procuring work9. Wider statutory duties for schoolsAppendiceswww.galbraithscott.com.au 27. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012 Access Resource Pack The consolidated source of information was appreciated but by far the most popular section was the design guidance.www.galbraithscott.com.au 28. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012Access Resource PackThe design guidance was set out to be printed onboth sides and viewed like a book. www.galbraithscott.com.au 29. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012www.galbraithscott.com.au 30. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012 Access Resource Pack Conflicts Optimum design solutions Existing buildings Wider issues eg fire, OHS, security www.galbraithscott.com.au 31. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012www.galbraithscott.com.au 32. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012FeedbackThe first draft was issued to the 6 sample schools and theconsultation team.The feedback was overwhelming. Other Surrey schools heard aboutit and wanted one.Before we had even issued the final version, other LEAs were askingabout the document. www.galbraithscott.com.au 33. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012Professionally it was a very interesting project to be involved with.Making Schools Accessible Access Resource Pack was issued inhard copy to all 400+ schools with additional electronic copiesavailable via the SCC intranet.The document was extremely well received.Given the number of enquiries, we put together a deal with Surrey tojointly publish. Over 1200 copies of the document were sold to over of UK LEAs. www.galbraithscott.com.au 34. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012 For some LEAs we contextualised it to better reflect their organisation. www.galbraithscott.com.au 35. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott31 May 2012The proceeds of which paid for this! www.galbraithscott.com.au 36. Building and construction specialistsGalbraith Scott 31 May 2012Thank youwww.galbraithscott.com.au