Preparing a Checklist with Respect to Use of Proposed or Existing Buildings by Handicapped Persons

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Publisher’s version / Version de l'éditeur:

Technical Note (National Research Council of Canada. Division of Building

Research), 1967-09-01

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Preparing a Checklist with Respect to Use of Proposed or Existing

Buildings by Handicapped Persons

Henning, D. N.; Ferguson, R. S.

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DIVISION OF BUILDING RESEARCH

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA

TEClHIN lICAIL

NOTlE

No.

502

PREPARED BY D. N. Henning and

R. S. Ferguson

CHECKED BY APPROVED BY

R. F. L.

DATE Septem.ber 1967

PREPARED FOR

SUBJECT

The Associate Com.m.ittee on the National Building Code, Com.m.ittee on Building Standards for the Handicapped

PREPARING A CHECKLIST WITH RESPECT TO USE OF PROPOSED OR EXISTING BUILDINGS BY HANDICAPPED PERSONS

This note reports the analysis of the problem. of preparing a checklist to aid in the design of buildings for use by the handicapped.

The request for such a checklist was received by the Division from. the Com.m.ittee on Building Standards for the Handicapped, of the A. C. N. B. C.

The study was undertaken originally by D. N. Henning and

J.

L. Pauls, both students of architecture em.ployed for the sum.m.er

at the Division, but was developed in the present form. by Henning. The original task assigned was to prepare a checklist. Discussions with m.em.bers of the Com.rnittee and others fam.iliar with and expert in this field, and a careful study of the literature, rais ed a num.ber of questions, which suggested that a com.plete

analysis of the problem. was desirable first. This Note is a report

of this analysis.

Prior to presenting the analysis, som.e general com.m.ents

on this study will be m.ade.

A m.atter of concern to those prom.oting that buildings be designed so they can be used by handicapped persons is the extent

to which such accom.m.odating provisions are m.ade. With regard

to this study it was decided that the problelTI of extent of use lay

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-any inform.ation leading to the adaptation of -any new or existing building by any m.eans for any disability could be included. Ideally, all buildings should be adapted to every-body. Practically, this is im.possible but the extent to which any building m.ust be less than the ideal is a value judgem.ent and it is desirable that this should be m.ade on the basis of the greatest am.ount of inform.ation available. Therefore, the checklist should include all available inform.ation so that this m.ay be us ed at the judgem.ent stage.

CHECKLIST ON BASIS OF EXPERIENCE

A checklist could be m.ade on the basis of experience. This would not involve an analysis of the problem.s involved, but would be an arbitrary assem.bly of the inform.ation now

available. Such a checklist should be developed as a Com.m.ittee rather than as a research task. It should be regarded as a

substitute for a system.atic approach to the problem. and it would have lim.ited use. To be of m.axim.um. use a checklist should include inform.ation and not opinions. One opinion is worth as m.uch ｡ｾ another. There is no way of resolving differences of opinion except through inform.ation.

,CHECKLIST ON BASIS OF ANALYSIS

It is the problem. of the disabled which has created con-cern. The perform.ance of buildings with respect to the disabled has been investigated but perform.ance in satisfying the needs of able persons has received very little system.atic study. A state-m.ent of the activities in buildings in term.s of the abilities of the

able population should be prepared, and, to accom.m.odate a disability, could be adjusted by subtracting particular abilities. This m.odified statem.ent would serve as a checklist for building design to suit all those who, disabled or otherwise, might be expected to use the building.

ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM OF PREPARING A CHECKLIST The principal term.s used in this analysis have been defined since they have special m.eanings ascribed to them.. These should be read first.

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-Following the definitions the report continues with an explanation of the relationships that exist between the parts, elements, or functions which are defined.

This is followed by practical applications of this information. Two basic situations are discussed:

Situation 1

An existing building where the need is modificati.sm to suit the handicapped. Here, the building and goals of the occupants exist.

The problem is to relate the parts of the building to particular disabilities in order to establish the necessary modifications.

Situation 2

The design of a new building when the known disabilities can condition the design. In this situation the disabilities and abilities and the goal to be performed are given; the problem is to create a building that fits thes e. It is obvious that this is the design process, not merely the design process for the handicapped.

The inter-relationships among the different defined functions are shown diagrammatically in the text that follows.

The same diagram is used throughout the report and differences in situation are shown as differences in line of action. The report concludes with a suggested application of the diagram of functions to a more limited case of situation No. I (existing building).

The analysis that follows reveals the intricacies in the problem of design generally and explains why a checklist or standard developed from limited experience would be constantly in need of interpretation. Design practice would be continually raising situations which had not been anticipated. A checklist should be developed on the basis of all the information available. When this is put together, it will be impressive in extent and complexity. It is the quantity of information that makes the checklist necessary.

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-ANALYSIS OF INFORMA TION PER TINENT TO MAKING A CHECKLIST

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

The following defined terms must be considered for an understanding of building use by handicapped persons.

1. Action

- particular physical movement, e. g. twist hand - perception, e. g. seeing, hearing.

2.

3.

Activity

- purposeful grouping of actions. Activity may divided into:

(a) circulation - transportation through spaces, e. g. walking, wheeling.

(b) operation - manipulation of equipment, e. g. turning a tap, pushing a button.

Goal

- purpose or reason for an activity

- need which an activity satisfies, e. g. clean hands are the goal satisfied by the activity of washing hands. 4. Disability

- lack of normal ability which may be divided into: (a) perception of environment, e. g. blindness. (b) capability of physical action, e. g. arthritis,

lack of limb. 5. Aids

- personal extensions of man for increased ability, e. g. wheel chair, glasses, artificial limb. (This term does not include parts of the building which may be considered as aids, e. g. furniture, appli-ances. )

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5 -6. Building

- constructed physical environment. It has three divisions: (a) spaces

(b) space boundaries, e. g. floor, 'wall (c) utensils, e. g. W. C., doorknob,

light-switch, furniture.

Action and activity may be grouped together. implied in the term. activity since activities are made up actions.

Actions are of related D.isabilities and aids may be grouped together. Aids tend

ｾｯ reduce disabilities. Thus, the abilities and disabilities of a man with one leg become those of a man with one leg in a wheel chair or on crutches. It is these latter abilities and disabilities that must be dealt with.

The

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defined terms are shown in diagram 1. DIAGRAM 1 ACTIVITY (made up of actions)

I

GOALS

T

particular operation transportation goals

BUILDING

=7,----spaces space utensils boundaries movement and control pISABILITIES (modified by aids)

I

perceptual

A,relationship between these factors is shown in diagrams 2 and 3. Diagram 2 deals only with goals, actions and activities. This is expanded in diagra1TI 3 to include disabilities and buildings.

ｄｾ｡ｧｲ｡ｭ 2 is a closed diagram showing how the factors are

interrelated. Goals affect actions which affect activities which in turn affect the original goal. Thus a particular goal may be revised after testing various combinations of actions.

GOALS ossible ACTIONS . -...ｭｾ｡ＢＢｫＢＢＢ･｟ｴＺＢＢＢｬｾ｟ＰＱ ACTIVIT IES

which satisfy DIAGRAM 2

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-Disabilities affect actions and activities, e. g. hand arthritis

restricts the turning and pushing of knobs and levers. Paralysis of the

legs restricts movement from one place to another. A building also

affects activities. Moving from one place to another depends on

arrange-m.ent of spaces and their boundaries, and building utensils necessitate certain actions, e. g. the activity of drying one's hands with a towel

re-quires different actions from hand drying with a hbt air machine. The

relationship between disabilities, activities and buildings is illustrated in

diagram 3.

using pos sible

which satisfy

DIAGRAM 3

Operational activities relate to building utensils; trans-portational activities relate to spaces and space boundaries.

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-A building may be divided into smaller and smaller parts.

Actions relate to these small parts and activities relate to larger groupings

of these parts. For example, the activity of food preparation relates to a

"kitchen" space and the relationship of utensils in it. The action of

grasp-ing with a hand relates to a refrigerator door handle or a knob on the stove.

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The two contexts in which diagram 3 is considered are:

1. the evaluation of existing buildings

2. the design of a new building.

The following diagrams show diagram 3 in these particular contexts.

Situation 1: Evaluation of existing building

Given: goals and building

Required: to allow goals of disabled people to be satisfied

Solution: building adjusted to suit disabled. Adjustments

realised through checklist.

Because the building exists, possible actions to satisfy a goal

are limited. For example: there may be only 2 routes to go from one

room to another. Each route has certain characteristics and requires

specific actions for a person to move through them. These actions are

possible or impossible depending on the person's ability. A checklist is

a means of relating required and impossible actions. This is illustrated

in diagram 4. GOALS:::-Given:

llilfli

to satisfy DIAGRAM 4 PEOPLE DISABILITIES (aids) BUILDING

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-If p. required action cannot be perforITled the building ITlust

be changed or an appropriate aid provided for the disabled per son. A particular exaITlple of this situation is given in diagraITl 5. It shows that building and disabilities of people are related by

possible and necessary actions through a checklist.

Given:

ｉｾｾｬ

r

PEOPLE

I

ｾ

Ｚｄｅｓｉｒｅ

FOR t_{o sa}t"_1Sf

CLEAN HANDS

I::

y.

I

HAND ARTHRITIS

1 ｾｾｯｾＷ

ｾｾ

ｾＯＧ［ｾｾＺＺｾＯｶＧｖ

WASHING (HANDS)

PULLING PLUG made up of IN LAVATORY

/ ETC.

1/

V

Ｏｃｾｴｾｌ｜ｳｲＨ

/ /

I

TAP DIAGRAM 5 LAVATORY

I

PLUG ETC.

I

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-Situation 2: Design of a new building Given:

Required: Solution:

disabled people and goals satisfaction of goals

a building designed so that activities performed in conjunction with the building satisfy the goals.

/

ｔｾ･ new building will be the result of considerations of goals, abilities, and possible actions. Disabilities rather than abilities are listed because of the difficulty in categorizing man's abilities.

Diagram

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illustrates this situation. Given:

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f

GOALS

!

and possible

PEOPLE

BUILDING which satisfy

DIAGRAM 6

T,he information pattern in situations 1 and 2 is the same. The difference is in the given information. A greater understanding

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10 -Field of Study

This argUlllent will be applied to m'ore particular factors. The following will be considered instead of the general factor s of disabilities, building, goal and activity.

1 •. Particular goal 2. Operational activity 3. Building utensils

4. Movement and control disabilities The context will be that of situation 1:

Given: particular goals and building utensils

Required: to allow goals of disabled people to be satisfied Solution: building adjustment realised by relating possible

and necessary operational actions through a checklist. This is illustrated in diagram 7.