Accessible threshold
The building regulations, set out legal requirements for specific aspects of building design and construction. A series of approved documents provide general guidance about how different aspects of building design and construction can comply with the building regulations.
Approved document M provides guidance for satisfying Part M of the building regulations: Access to and use of buildings, which requires the inclusive provision of ease of access to, and circulation within, buildings, together with requirements for facilities for people with disabilities.
Approved document M, Volume 1: Dwellings, defines an accessible threshold as:
| A threshold that is level or, if raised, has a total height of not more than 15mm, a minimum number of upstands and slopes and with any upstands higher than 5mm chamfered. Other acceptable solutions are described in ‘Accessible thresholds in new housing – Guidance for house builders and developers, The Stationery Office Ltd. 1999. |
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Access consultant.
- Accessibility in the built environment.
- Approved document M.
- Changing lifestyles.
- Equality Act.
- Inclusive design.
- Lifetime Homes Design Guide (EP 100).
- Lifetime homes.
- Localised obstruction.
- People with disabilities.
- Point of access.
- Principal communal entrance.
- Step free.
- Threshold.
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