Easy Access to Historic Buildings (2004) is a substantial update of a document first published in 1995 to help owners and architects/surveyors find solutions to the access problems of their historic buildings, monuments and landscapes. The guidance advises primarily on proposals affecting listed buildings, but the principles and advice are applicable to all historic buildings. It considers the challenges and constraints posed by buildings such as shops, offices and civic buildings, as well as those open to the public as historic attractions.

Legislation introduced since the publication of Easy Access to Historic Buildings in 2004

After Easy Access to Historic Buildings was published the scope of the Disability Discrimination Act was extended. The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 amended the Act to insert the ‘disability equality duty’, known as the ‘general duty’. The duty is aimed at ensuring public authorities build disability equality into everything they do and to produce a Disability Equality Scheme. Amendments were also made to Part 3 of the DDA affecting private clubs, public authority functions and providers of premises and transport services.

Subsequently in October 2010 the Disability Discrimination Acts 1995 and 2005 were superseded by the Equality Act which brought together many separate pieces of legislation into one single Act. The Act provides a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all.

Planning legislation has also been amended to include the requirement for ‘Design and Access statements’ (DAS) when most types of planning application are submitted as well as listed building consent applications. The access component needs to explain the policy adopted to access including what alternative means of access have been considered and how policies relating to access in relevant local development documents have been taken into account. For historic buildings the statement should make clear how the approach to access has balanced the duties imposed by the Equality Act (where the proposal is subject to those duties) and the particular historical and architectural significance of the building. 

Reconciling the interests of conservation and access

Historic buildings, landscapes and monuments, the physical survivals of our past are protected for their sake and for ours. They are irreplaceable but sometimes they need to be changed. Appropriate or sensitive alteration will have due regard for what it is that makes a particular building special or significant. In most cases access can be improved without compromising historic buildings. The key lies in the process of information gathering about the building, understanding its significance and vulnerabilities and knowledge about the needs of people with disabilities.

Determining reasonableness-establishing an access strategy

Any organisation, be it a high street retailer, a museum or a restaurant, that is required to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 needs first to establish an access strategy. This requires a strategic commitment at a high level in the organisation to making the service more inclusive either through design or management measures, or more often a combination of the two.

A timescale and budget need to be considered, and someone should assume responsibility for overseeing, evaluating and reviewing the implementation of any measures that are subsequently identified in the access planning process which needs to be well documented and transparent.

What in practice is likely to be ‘reasonable’? The Code of Practice:Services, Public Functions and Associations (2011) produced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission states:
“What is a reasonable step for a particular service provider to have to take depends on all the circumstances of the case. It will vary according to:

• the type of service being provided
• the nature of the service provider and its size and resources
• the effect of the disability on the individual disabled person”

It is important that organisations and professionals do not undertake works involving access improvements without a good understanding of the needs of people with disabilities and the options available to meet those needs.

The access planning process

Preparing an access plan, and working through the issues it raises is fundamental to the process of determining the need for changes to a historic building. The process should consider the options available (including the provision of the service by other means) the priorities for implementation and the likely impact of each proposal on the building’s significance. In reconciling access and conservation, the access plan can seek to embody best practice in access design and building conservation.

The first step in planning access improvements is to undertake an access audit. This will assess and document the barriers to access which exist within a building and its surroundings. The complementary part of the process will be to review or prepare a conservation assessment that will establish the relative significance of a building or site in terms of its special architectural, historic or archaeological interest. Local authority conservation staff can provide advice on compiling these, as can your English Heritage regional office.

The access plan:

• Should consider the requirements of wheelchair users and those with restricted mobility, sensory impairments,and learning difficulties
• Should take into account the needs of families with young children
• Needs to take account of intellectual access which is as important as physical access for some disabled people
• Should be central to any organisation’s strategic commitment to improving access
• Needs to be reviewed regularly so that the current provisions can be kept up to date and take account of changes in regulations and in available solutions
• Proposals should be tested before they are incorporated into the access plan by focus groups made up of people with disabilities or drawn from a local access groups
• The plan can also inform any access statement required under Approved Document Part M of the Building Regulations.

English Heritage believes that dignified access should be provided wherever practicable and celebrated with high-quality design that is also sensitive to the special interest of historic buildings.

Local authorities who own or manage historic buildings are encouraged to adopt access plans that are consistent with the special architectural, historic or archaeological interest of the property or landscape concerned.