Last edited 17 Mar 2017

BIFM standard Managing Accessibility and Inclusion

On 6 November 2014, The British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) published a new standard ‘Managing Accessibility and Inclusion’.

BIFM is the professional body for facilities management (FM). It has 15,000 members around the world and promotes excellence in facilities management for the benefit of practitioners, the economy and society.

The standard is part of BIFM’s Facilities Management Professional Standards Framework. It is intended to raise awareness of inaccessibility and encourage improvement in the accessibility of the built environment for all users.

The standard stems from the Built Environment Professional Education Project (BEPE), funded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Greater London Authority (GLA) and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). This is a 5-year project that forms part of the Olympic legacy programme, and includes championing inclusive design.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said: “I welcome the BIFM’s work to change its professional standards to explicitly address the access needs of disabled people. This will embed access and inclusion into the thinking of facilities management professionals in order to make a real difference to disabled people’s lives.”

Gareth Tancred, CEO of BIFM, and member of the BEPE Board, said “The BEPE initiative is all about going beyond legislation, to really inclusive and accessible work and leisure environments, so that disabled and elderly people can fully participate in our society. FM is fundamental to that and we are proud to be leading the way by setting out the professional standard to drive adoption and delivery in this area.

“We believe that adhering to the basic levels of practice set out by the law is simply not enough. FM must go beyond compliance if we are to create truly inclusive environments.”