Correspondence: Jack Rostron, Liverpool John Moores University Peter Jost Centre Byrom Street Liverpool L3 3AF, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 151 231 2856; Fax: +44 (0) 151 231 2815; E-mail: j.rostron@ljmu.ac.uk

¹is a solicitor, chartered surveyor, chartered town planner and construction management tutor at Liverpool John Moore's University. He researches the needs of the physically disabled in the built environment. He is the author of several papers and books and sometime adviser to the World Health Organization.

Received 19 October 2007; Revised 19 October 2007; Published online 5 March 2008.

Abstract

This paper attempts to achieve two aims. First, to provide design guidance to professional advisers, occupiers, owners and developers of commercial property (especially offices and shops) to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Secondly, to provide a systematic and measured means of evaluating an existing building. Since the passage of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, owners and occupiers have to meet increasingly stringent requirements to remove barriers to access for the physically disabled. It is hoped that this paper will go some way towards achieving this goal.