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    Guidelines For Self Certification of Accessible Building

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    sachmbi0
    ACCESSIBLE BUILDING

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Guidelines For Self Certification of Accessible Building

    Uploaded by

    sachmbi0
    2 views3 pages
    ACCESSIBLE BUILDING

    Original Title

    Guidelines_for_self_Certification_of_Accessible_Building

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    © © All Rights Reserved

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    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

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    ACCESSIBLE BUILDING

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    2 views3 pages

    Guidelines For Self Certification of Accessible Building

    Uploaded by

    sachmbi0
    ACCESSIBLE BUILDING

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    ABLE (Accessibility assessment for Built Environment) India -

    Framework for self evaluation and certification

    As India is progressing to become one of the largest global economy, the idea of
    universality, non-discrimination, equity and inclusion becomes a non-negotiable aspect
    of urban development. Accessibility is a multi-layered, multi-dimensional and multi
    contextual aspect of the built environment. Key elements of an urban built environment,
    information systems, infrastructure development and their internal services play an
    active role in shaping one’s accessibility experience. Universal Design is an important
    approach, philosophy and a guiding code that aims to provide a constructive and
    inclusive environment to respond to the needs of diverse populations including persons
    with disabilities, women, parents with infants and toddlers, elderly, children etc. This
    approach has been adopted in the new “Harmonized Guidelines and Standards for
    Universal Accessibility in India, 2021” which through the prescribed design standards,
    suggests ways of making built environments accessible and usable by all.

    Since the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPwD Act), 2016; the narrative of
    disability inclusion shifted from the social model to a rights-based model. It
    complements India's obligation to the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with
    Disabilities, 2007; to which India is also a signatory. The convention proclaims that
    disability results from an interaction of impairments with attitudinal and environmental
    barriers that hinders full and active participation in society on an equal basis. Likewise,
    the RPwD Act focuses on empowering persons with disabilities and providing them with
    equal opportunities (Article 21). The act focuses on the significance of building
    seamlessly accessible environments to facilitate the independent movement of persons
    with disabilities. Articles 40 & 41 reiterate the need to lay down the robust standards of
    accessibility for the physical environment, transportation, information and
    communications, including appropriate technologies and systems, and other facilities
    and services provided to the public. The RPwD act encourages existing infrastructure
    and building premises to be accessible for persons with disabilities. Article 44 focuses
    on the mandatory observance of accessibility norms.

    In this regard, assessment and evaluation of accessibility features become integral to


    the holistic approach of making universally accessible built environments. The overall
    purpose of the framework is to assess the building design, evaluate the level of
    accessibility of the built infrastructure, identify the gaps in provisions and encourage
    best practices. To promote better compliance with accessibility, "ABLE (Accessibility
    assessment for Built Environment) India - Framework for self evaluation and
    certification'' is being developed by the Ministry of Housing of Urban Affairs. The
    framework acts as an assessment tool to measure and rate a building's accessibility
    compliance/performance by the building architects and engineers. Just like the
    rating system for environmental sustainability, the framework also aims to evaluate
    accessibility compliance in the entire building planning cycle as well as its operation and
    maintenance phase results over its full life.

    About the Committee


    In this regard, a committee was formulated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs,
    on recommendations of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for the purpose of
    development of a set of guidelines and provisions for self Certification of accessible
    building and placement of Plaques from a thorough review of the current guidelines,
    specifications and practices on accessibility certification. The committee consists of
    officials from active stakeholders and domain experts working for universal accessibility
    and inclusion of persons with disabilities and interacted periodically for a period of four
    months to formulate the framework.

    Process adopted
    The following systematic process was adopted for the development of ABLE- INDIA
    ● Systematic review of the existing checklists and popular rating systems of other
    domains including GRIHA etc
    ● Identification of elements of the built environment critical for accessibility
    evaluation of public building
    ● Focused discussions and deliberations of the experts through virtual and in-
    person meetings and interactions
    ● Formulation of a scientific methodology for scoring and grading - Identification of
    a lighter scale to capture the perception of accessibility. The DELPHI survey was
    conducted to identify the weightage of each element.
    ● Development of draft framework
    Comments and suggestions from the beneficiaries, organizations, professionals and city
    officials are invited on the draft framework. In the final stage, ground truthing by
    individuals will be taken up to ensure objectivity of the framework.

    ABOUT THE FRAMEWORK

    Applicability
    ● The present framework is developed for public buildings.
    Scoring System & Calculation
    ● Each parameter is to be marked on a (likert) scale of 1,3,5 marks on a likert scale
    based on the level/perception of accessibility. The objective questions will be
    marked for 5 marks.
    ● The elements which are not provided due to different design and building
    functions can be marked “Not Applicable” and will be exempted from the
    calculations. Although their absence should not hamper the accessibility in the
    building.
    ● Each element is also categorized as mandatory and optional. The mandatory
    element should have at least 3 marks for every mandatory parameter and score
    at least 75% of its total marks (based on applicable parameters) to be certified.
    ● The acquired score of each element will be multiplied by its weightage to get the
    final score of the parameter.

    Rating System
    A grade Building 90% or more of applicable parameters
    B grade Building 80% or more of applicable parameters
    C grade Building 70% or more of applicable parameters
    D grade Building 60% or more of applicable parameters

    “A” Grade buildings will be eligible for placement of a plaque for accessibility.

    Eligibility for Certification


    1. Competent Authority for Self-assessment and certification
    ○ Engineer with a B .Tech or equivalent degree in civil engineering/
    structural engineering or aligned building service engineering from a
    reputed college.
    ○ Architect with a B. Arch degree with valid COA registration

    Validity of the certification


    The certificate is valid for 5 years after which periodic audits should be conducted every
    2 years.

    The framework is available on-


    https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OcixQ6lRJ_uxI2Fzu8iCUU-
    hDSj0RTZn?usp=sharing

    Disclaimer
    ● This evolving framework for Accessibility assessment is an outcome of an on-
    going endeavor of initiating accessibility reviews in the urban built environment of
    India. It is expected to continue its evolution and refinement with the changing
    scope of accessibility.
    ● The present framework is applicable only to public buildings (including
    govt/private offices)
    ● This is a copyrighted document. The framework is an initiative of Ministry of
    Housing and Urban Affairs and the authorship of which lies with the committee
    members.

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