DDA: BS 8300: Approved Doc. M

 

Simple Guidance Notes To Assist With Door Hardware Specifications

 

BS 8300 encapsulates all the relevant standards under a single ‘umbrella’ to ensure that every aspect of disability is taken into account in building design for commercial and public buildings, including educational and institutional projects.

 

Even in domestic dwellings, if the building is for occupation by the less able or people with special needs, the recommendations of the DDA /BS 8300/Approved Document M must be adopted.

 

The needs of the less able should lie firmly in the minds of all those involved in the industry and consideration must be given to meet the needs of people with a disability - wether it be sight, touch, mobility or any long term physical or mental impairment.

 

Our simple guidance notes are designed to assist those involved in the specification process satisfy these requirements.

 

Door Furniture - What Is Recommended?

 

Lever furniture with a return to door design.

 

Lever furniture should have a diameter of no less than 19 mm and an integral length greater than 95 mm. Fixings must be secure, bolt through and/or secured spindles are recommended. Consideration must also be given to any thumb turns used and ideally will be of a larger, easily gripped type.

 

On doors where a locking mechanism is used BS 8300 prescribes minimum centres of 72 mm between key way and lever handle or, alternatively, the key way should be above the lever. A minimum backset of 54 mm is also required.

 

Pull handles should have secure fixings, bolt through or back to back are ideal. Pull handles should be fitted with a cover rose or trim to provide a larger surface area of support and easier recognition for visually impaired people.

 

Pull handle diameter should be between 19-35 mm with a minimum clearance of 45 mm from the back of the grip to the face of the door. Length should be at least 400 mm and horizontal pull handles should be used on non self-closing doors to assist wheelchair users.

 

Door Closer's - What Are Recommended?

 

Opening Forces: For disabled people to have independent access through single or double swing doors, the opening force - when measured at the leading edge of the door - should not be more than 30N (Newton's) from the closed position, and not more than 22.5N from 30 - 60 degrees of the opening cycle.

 

Closing Forces: There are no guidelines in Approved Document M relating to closing forces however, the minimum requirement on closing forces for fire doors under BS EN 1154 is 18Nm.

 

Requirements: The new legislation also makes reference to door widths and openings - For new buildings a doorway must have a clear opening of 850 mm; For current buildings a doorway must have a clear opening of 750 mm

 

Opening forces will be increased on smaller doorways so it is essential that the door closer used will still give suitable readings when fitted. A number of products are available which meet these forces under normal conditions but these are often affected by smoke, acoustic and other seals. Poor fittings and low quality hinges can also increase the opening forces beyond these requirements.

 

LRV’s - Light Reflectance Values?

 

Light Reflectance Values (LRV’s) are an important consideration for door furniture specification. This is a measure of luminance or brightness and careful consideration should be given at the design stage to door/door furniture coordination.

 

Approved Document “M” has provisions for visual contrast between ironmongery and door finishes.

 

The definition of “contrast visually” in ADM is given as a difference in LRV between the two surfaces of greater than 30 points, though recent evidence suggest that 20 points difference in LRV’s is an acceptable minimum for large areas.

 

Metallic Finishes

LRV Ratings are in brackets:

 

Aluminium F1 (60) Silver SAA

 

Aluminium F1-2 Matt (67.91) Matt/Silver

 

Aluminium F2 (56.22)  - Champagne Aluminium

 

Aluminium F3 (43.44) Gold GAA

 

Aluminium F9 (29.01) Silver (Alum/Steel)

 

Stainless Steel F69 (42.63) Brushed Stainless Steel (Satin)

 

Stainless Steel F68 (41.16) Polished Stainless Steel

 

Brass F71 (38.65) Polished Brass  

 

Brass F77 (31.35) Polished Brass (Resista/PVD Finish)

 

Nylon/RAL Finishes

LRV ratings are in brackets:

 

F1004 (44.78) Golden Yellow

 

F5002 (5.09) Cobalt Blue

 

F7043 (9.49) Flint Grey

 

F9016 (88.19) Diamond White

 

F3003 (7.97) Red Rouge

 

F5003 (4.85) Midnight Blue

 

F7506 (42.46) Manhattan Grey

 

F9017 (2.92) Black (Ebony)

 

F3005 (4.84) Claret

 

F6016 (10.98) Green (Viridian)

 

F8017 (4.97) Brown (Sienna)