Access and structural services

What is an access audit?

An access audit (also known as a DDA audit, Disability Discrimination Act Audit or Disabled Access Audit) is an assessment of a building, an environment or a service against best practice standards to benchmark its accessibility to disabled people.

The Act amongst other things protects people from discrimination when accessing services, facilities and public functions which means you can fall foul of the act if you do not make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not substantially disadvantaged when compared with non-disabled people. An access audit can identify and provide solutions where possible to avoid discrimination.

So what is the DDA/Equality Act?

The Disability Discrimination Act came into force in 1996 and made it illegal to discriminate against a disabled person for reasons related to his or her disability. This covered the fields of employment, service provision, transport and education.

The DDA required employers, service providers and education providers to make reasonable adjustments to avoid discrimination.

The Equality Act 2010 brought together all anti-discrimination legislation into one Act and covers disability, race, gender, religious, sex and age discrimination and supersedes the DDA but the requirements remain much the same.

The Equality Act has different requirements depending on whether you are an employer, service provider or an educational establishment.

At North Kesteven we have trained surveyors who can carry out Access Audits with prices starting from £200 incl VAT.

If you need further information please contact the Building Control team by telephone or email. Alternatively you can write to or visit a Building Control Officer at our Sleaford Offices: Building Control Services, North Kesteven District Council, Kesteven Street, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 7EF.