![]() Having plugs at 450mm and light switches no more than 1200mm above the soles of our feet makes a huge difference to how long we might independently live in our homes. This might be the most useful of all the requirements because it is often early on in our latter years that we struggle to reach the floor or high up. ![]() It has always been the case that rooms on other floors do not need to be accessible, but services and controls should be within the access zone of 450mm and 1200mm above floor level. Keep in mind that these regulations are meant to be for visitors. The door needs to open out and the scale means that wheelchair users are meant to transfer from the doorway onto the loo with the door remaining open. Pedestal basins are best avoided in favour of smaller wall hung ones. At least between 850mm or 900mm wide, a space of 750mm has to exist between the front face of the pan and the opposing wall (or radiator) and that’s it. However, these proportions are not generous and have baffled everybody that was obliged to think of them as accessible. Part M has always required a WC on the access storey and it is this requirement that has meant every 21st century new-build home has a cloakroom WC of given minimum proportions. It can be reduced to 750mm wide for radiator obstructions up to 2m long. The next standard door size up being 826 mm (or 838mm) means that your entrance hall/corridor only needs to be 900mm wide. Effectively, internal doors to all the habitable rooms on the entrance level should be at least 750mm clear opening width (between doorstops) which makes it impossible to use standard 762mm (30 inch) doors with doorstops. What Access if Required Inside?įor this category, the entrance hall/corridor width is an issue but one that is tied to the width of the internal doors. We have grown use to access thresholds now, but it still pays to have these served by a drainage gap or channel if not sheltered by a roof overhang or canopy. Those PVC-u front doors which had a raised sill were great for keeping water out but not at all accessible. The entrance door should have a clear opening width of 775mm (most do by default) and an accessible threshold. If the site is steeply sloping and needs steps, these too are acceptable but they do need a handrail you can grip on one side and an easy going pitch with individual risers between 75mm and 150mm high and goings of at least 280mm It isn’t necessary to have handrails to ramps in Category 1, to the relief of most architects. If I Have a Ramped Approach do I Need Handrails? Ideally the path should be level but if it does form a slope or a ramp, gradients up to a maximum of 1:12 apply if it isn’t more than 5m long. It means a 900mm wide minimum width to any path, steps or ramp and that width must exist alongside a driveway for access aside a parked car. It is the least onerous of the set, applying to create access to the entrance level only but as with all of them it begins at the curtilage of the site (although this could extend beyond your individual plot if you were part of a larger building development) and covers the approach to the building’s main entrance, the front door. It doesn’t apply to extensions or to any areas that are used solely for inspection, repair or maintenance such as plant rooms or attic spaces. It means that reasonable provision should be made not only to gain access to but also the use of the dwelling and its facilities. (Image credit: Martin Gardner, Michael Sinclair) M4 (1) Category 1: Visitable dwellings What Does Compliance with Category 1 Visitable Dwellings M4 (1) Mean? Ultra-wide corridors and level thresholds leading out to the garden through large glazed doors make this home by Strom Architects accessible for the owner's daughter, a wheelchair user, who visits often. If they don’t choose to apply either of the ‘optional’ higher categories, by default it is mandatory to meet the first of these, M4 (1).Įven if you are only required to meet the visitable standard, it is worth considering how you can improve on it and make your self build project a life-long home. This approach to the application of requirements through the planning system represented something of a departure from the usual theme of applying them solely by the work definition of the project. Some councils may choose to apply this by local planning policy as percentages, by geography or demography. M4 (3) Category 3: Wheelchair user dwellingsĪlthough M4 (2) and (3) are euphemistically referred to as ‘optional standards’ It is in effect the local planning authority (LPA) who decide whether they will apply to your project or not.M4 (2) Category 2: Accessible and adaptable dwellings.There are three categories under Building Regulations Part M, under which your build will have to meet certain requirements. What are the Categories of Building Regulations Part M? ![]()
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