For anyone to think there are CHALLENGES building a new home with these basic accessible/visitable features 1) level front entry (no steps/ramp is needed 2) wider doorways 3) accessible washroom Think Again!...The CHALLENGES faced by those who live with a disability are Far Greater....Consider suddenly not being able to live in your own home or not being able to visit family because of barriers to entry and getting to a washroom.
Why are there no accessible new houses built-ready on the market? Why are they only available if you can wait and pay for one to be customized?
The fact is, all new houses being constructed in our City today are "inaccessible". This is a problem and action addressing it is long overdue.
Some key statements copied from the attachments included in the handout to the Building Industry Liaison Team (BILT) yesterday are:
"Designers and builders must talk to and work with as many people with disabilities as possible. ..Visitable housing is an approach to house design that promotes the inclusion of a basic level of accessibility into all housing, and enables everyone to get in and out of the house and be able to use a bathroom on the entrance level.The concept of "visitability" is one of the simplest and most economical approaches to universal design that can address homeowners' and community needs over time, contributing to a more flexible and sustainable built environment."
"Single-family housing is largely unaffected by accessibility requirements. Building codes include barrier-free design requirements for public buildings, however, they do not force barrier-free requirements on single-family homes. If we build visitable housing today, the future economic benefits will be vast. Given the statistical information that we already know, what an incredible waste of resources if we build homes today, only to have them undergo unnecessary costly modifications IO years later to make them accessible for persons with disabilities."
If you want to understand the issue, I invite you to read some of the attachments presented to BILT members in Oshawa yesterday.
Why are there no accessible new houses built-ready on the market? Why are they only available if you can wait and pay for one to be customized?
The fact is, all new houses being constructed in our City today are "inaccessible". This is a problem and action addressing it is long overdue.
Some key statements copied from the attachments included in the handout to the Building Industry Liaison Team (BILT) yesterday are:
"Designers and builders must talk to and work with as many people with disabilities as possible. ..Visitable housing is an approach to house design that promotes the inclusion of a basic level of accessibility into all housing, and enables everyone to get in and out of the house and be able to use a bathroom on the entrance level.The concept of "visitability" is one of the simplest and most economical approaches to universal design that can address homeowners' and community needs over time, contributing to a more flexible and sustainable built environment."
"Single-family housing is largely unaffected by accessibility requirements. Building codes include barrier-free design requirements for public buildings, however, they do not force barrier-free requirements on single-family homes. If we build visitable housing today, the future economic benefits will be vast. Given the statistical information that we already know, what an incredible waste of resources if we build homes today, only to have them undergo unnecessary costly modifications IO years later to make them accessible for persons with disabilities."
If you want to understand the issue, I invite you to read some of the attachments presented to BILT members in Oshawa yesterday.
