Physician Heal Thyself - BMA Cures DDA Issue

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07 November 2019

Doors at the entrances to the British Medical Association's 'heritage' building have finally been cured of the problem that they did not provide appropriate access for people with disabilities.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) intends that people with disabilities should be able to use historic buildings and sites which are open to the public in the same way as everyone else.

Meanwhile, the Equality Act 2010 imposes legal requirements that all buildings are to have disabled access where practically possible.

The duties contained in the DDA pose significant challenges to the owners and managers of historic buildings. The British Medical Association are in a Grade II listed building. It was important to adapt and preserve the existing doors to make them accessible to disabled people as part of the improvements within the building.

Character retained

Despite a number of recent upgrades and high tech installations, the building also retained original features and thus it was felt important to continue in this spirit throughout the project when Artic Building Services were appointed to the contract to improve access without detrimental effect on the special character of the doors and corridors.

Following a site survey, Artic established that the selected doors were able to have the required modifications to allow automatic door entry. Some doors required a fully automatic access system whereas some of the doors required a push button access system.

Out of hours

The works were completed outside of normal working hours to ensure no disruptions to the working day at the Association. Each door entry system required an independent power supply (and thus independently isolated) sourced from the most practical distribution board.

Each of the door entry systems comprised of record operators, silver push arms, silver push buttons, monitor Optex safety sensors, eagle activation and an LED display programmer controller.

On successful completion of the works each of the systems installed were tested and commissioned in line the manufacturers' requirements to guarantee correct operation. A full demonstration was then given to the building facilities team.

Picture: Above and below, doors at the BMA that have been converted to provide disable access.

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 07 November 2019

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