Access Audits
What is an Access Audit
An access audit is essentially a survey of premises and their management in terms of their accessibility to all people including disabled people.
Why carry out an Access Audit
The Disability Discrimination Act requires all businesses to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that their services are accessible to disabled people. In many cases, this means making very minor and inexpensive alterations to your building, or your working practices. An Access Audit will let you know where your services are inaccessible, and provide recommendations about how to overcome access barriers.
What Shape can offer
In discussion with you, Shape can tailor a package to meet your needs. Our services include:
- Help developing your brief
- Walking and Talking you through your services and premises
- Training you in access auditing methodology
- Preparing notes for you on the relevant aspects of the Disability Discrimination Act, its regulations and Codes of Practice.
- Researching for you, relevant technical and building product details.
- Undertaking for you a comprehensive access audit
- Appraising architectural drawings and proposals for change
- Preparing reports for you and or your funders
- Delivering access and equalities training (see separate document 'Shape Training')
- Facilitating consultation exercises on your behalf
- Supporting you in the development of your Access Action Plan
- Evaluating your implementation programme
- Deploying 'mystery shoppers'
About our Access Auditors
All our auditors have extensive experience working with and for disability and arts organisations; they are familiar with contemporary best practice in Inclusive Design and work to the methodology described above. It is not possible for an audit to establish what improvements or alterations it will be reasonable, in terms of the Disability Discrimination Act, for an institution to implement. The legislation is not prescriptive in that sense; whether the action taken is reasonable will ultimately be tested in the courts. However, it is likely that where an institution can demonstrate that it has adopted recognised models of good practice, it will count in its favour.
Fees
In general it can be assumed that if a survey takes a day to complete, it will take the auditor a further 2 days to produce a report; 3 days in total. For larger or more complex projects the auditor may need to spend 2 or 3 days on site with an additional 4 or 6 days respectively for report writing.
The standard rate we charge for the service is £500 per day plus VAT, although this may be negotiable for smaller/non-profit making organisations.
A half day 'Walking and Talking' session costs £250 plus VAT.