Part M – Disabled Access

The requirements for disabled access in Part M of the Building Regulations mainly apply to new houses, rather than home extensions.

However it’s not a bad idea to incorporate some of the design aspects, such as shallow gradient ramps to allow almost level thresholds and wider doors where possible. Such features are a real boon for kids, pram pushers, and oldies.

But the regulations may also have some influence on the design of your immediate garden area.

Specifically:-

•  Ramps built to the steepest permissable gradient of 1:12 should be no longer than 5 metres. However, ramps at shallower gradients such as 1:15 or 1:20 can be up to 10 metres long, without a landing.
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•  Ramp should be at least 1500mm wide.

Normally steps are not allowed. But on steeply sloping sites it may be impossible to avoid having some  steps, which must have a rise of no more than 150mm and a minimum width of 900mm.