Barrier-Free Design: What It Covers and Where

Accessibility gets treated as one subject and it is really two, running in parallel and enforced by different people. The building code sets physical requirements at the point a building is built or altered. Provincial accessibility legislation sets obligations on organisations, sometimes for existing buildings, and it does not run through the permit process.

A project can satisfy the code entirely and still leave an organisation with obligations under the other. Knowing which one someone is asking about saves a lot of confusion.

The 2020 model codes broadened the barrier-free provisions and tightened several of them. The direction has been consistent for decades: more of the building has to work for more people, and the exemptions have narrowed.

What the code covers#

The organising idea is a barrier-free path of travel: a continuous route from the property line or parking, through the entrance, to the spaces people use. Every link in that route has requirements, and a break anywhere defeats the rest of it.

Houses sit largely outside this. A single-family dwelling is not a public building, so the code asks little of it. Multi-unit residential is different: common entrances, corridors, elevators and shared amenities are in scope even where individual units are not.

The legislation that sits beside it#

Several provinces have accessibility statutes with their own standards, timelines and reporting requirements. They can reach existing buildings and existing services in ways the building code does not, because they attach to organisations rather than to construction.

They also cover things a building code never touches: how a service is delivered, how information is provided, how staff are trained. An organisation can occupy a fully compliant building and still have work to do.

Human rights legislation sits behind both, and it is the layer people forget. A duty to accommodate can apply regardless of whether a building met the code on the day it was built.

Getting it right on a project#

1. 1

   Establish which requirements apply

   Building code, provincial accessibility standards, and any municipal requirements. On a public-facing project all three can be in play, and they are administered separately.

2. 2

   Draw the path of travel early

   Trace it from the parking space to every space people use. Doing this on the site plan catches the kerb, the step and the pinch point while they are still cheap to move.

3. 3

   Check clearances against furniture, not empty rooms

   A corridor that works on a drawing stops working once the display, the bench and the recycling station are in it. Protruding objects are a common as-built failure.

4. 4

   Coordinate the fit-out

   Controls, dispensers, mirrors and hardware all have mounting heights, and they are installed by trades working from their own habits rather than the drawings.

5. 5

   Walk it before occupancy

   Push a chair through the route. It finds the door that needs too much force and the turn that does not quite work far faster than a drawing review does.

Common questions#

Does any of this apply to my house?

Very little. Single-family houses sit largely outside barrier-free provisions. If you want the house to work as you age, that is a design decision rather than a code requirement, and blocking for future grab bars during framing costs almost nothing.

What about a home business with clients visiting?

That can change the picture, because it may change the occupancy classification of part of the house. Ask before you convert a room and advertise it.

Do I have to upgrade when I renovate a commercial space?

Usually to some degree, scaled to the work. Extensive alterations pull in more than a paint-and-carpet refresh. The authority having jurisdiction sets the line and it varies.

Is a platform lift acceptable instead of a ramp?

Often, within limits on rise and use. They also bring maintenance and reliability obligations that a ramp does not, which is worth weighing rather than treating them as equivalent.

Who enforces the accessibility legislation?

Generally a provincial body rather than the building department, on its own timeline and with its own reporting. Passing a building inspection tells you nothing about compliance with it.

Are the code requirements the same across Canada?

The model code is a common starting point and provinces amend it. Several have gone further than the model in their own codes or in separate legislation.