National foreword

This Published Document is the UK implementation of CEN/TR 17621:2021.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee B/559, Design of an Accessible and Inclusive Environment.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

This publication is not to be regarded as a British Standard.

Compliance with a Published Document cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This Published Document was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 30 November 2021.

This Technical Report was approved by CEN on 23 May 2021. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/CLC/JTC 11.

CEN and CENELEC members are the national standards bodies and national electrotechnical committees of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (CEN/TR 17621:2021) has been prepared by the Joint Technical Committee CEN-CENELEC/JTC 11 “Accessibility in the built environment”, the secretariat of which is held by UNE.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN and CENELEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document has been prepared under Mandate M/420 given to CEN, CENELEC and ETSI by the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association in support of European accessibility requirements for public procurement in the built environment.

Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body/national committee. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN and CENELEC websites.

Introduction

This document exemplifies the technical performance criteria and specifications to fulfil the functional requirements given in the European Standard EN 17210. It demonstrates a proposal, or proposals, to achieve the EN requirements and recommendations, drawing on performance criteria and specifications given in International Standard ISO 21542, where these exist and/or with examples from other standards and guidance documents, where relevant.

Alternatively, national standards or regulations may be used to determine the technical performance criteria and specifications to fulfil the functional requirements of the EN 17210.

Another CEN-CENELEC Technical Report (CEN/TR 17622) will detail the assessment of conformity to the functional requirements given in the European Standard EN 17210.

This document is intended to be read alongside EN 17210. The structure in CEN/TR 17621 follows the EN structure, listing the equivalent headings, clauses and bullet points (a), b), c) etc.) and providing a way, or ways, to achieve the functional requirements and recommendations.

Where there are no technical criteria related to the EN clause / sub-clause, such as the Rationale, this is stated rather than leaving this blank.

Technical performance criteria and specifications from ISO 21542:2011 are used in the CEN/TR 17621 as the main source of information, and this is not referenced as the source each time, as this would be repetitive. When the source is ISO 21542:2021 (Enquiry version) we include this source in brackets, and other sources are also referenced.

Other sources are used where these have been identified as providing information not covered in ISO 21542 or useful supplementary information.

Additional sources include:

EN 16584‑1, Railway applications - Design for PRM use - General requirements - Part 1: Contrast,
EN 16584‑2, Railway applications - Design for PRM use - General requirements - Part 2: Information.
EN 16584‑3, Railway applications - Design for PRM use - General requirements - Part 3: Optical and friction characters.
EN 16587, Railway applications - Design for PRM use -Requirements for obstacle free routes for infrastructure,
Other specific ENs and product related ENs,
National standards,
Guidance on a specific matter.

See also the Bibliography.

1 Scope

This document has been developed to support EN 17210, “Accessibility and usability of the built environment - Functional requirements”. This document provides and exemplifies technical performance criteria and specifications for an accessible and usable built environment, following the Design for All/Universal design principles. The document specifies what is necessary to align with these principles which will facilitate equitable and safe use for a wide range of users.

The technical performance criteria and specifications are applicable across the full spectrum of the built environment and can be used as criteria for awarding public contracts (in support of the Public Procurement Directives).

These technical performance criteria and specifications are specifically applicable to the design, construction, refurbishment or adaptation, and maintenance of public or public-use environments including external areas.

Alternatively, national standards and regulations can determine the technical performance criteria and specifications to fulfil the functional requirements of EN 17210.

NOTE 1 Design for All and Universal Design share a similar inclusive design philosophy. Universal Design means the design of products, environments, programmes and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. Universal Design does not exclude assistive devices for particular groups of persons with disabilities where this is needed (UN CRPD).

NOTE 2 Terms such as "design for all", "universal design", "accessible design", "barrier-free design", "inclusive design" and "transgenerational design" are often used interchangeably with the same meaning.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Legal and policy background and associated benefits

5 Diversity of users and design considerations

6 Wayfinding

6.1 Wayfinding, orientation and navigation

6.2 Wayfinding information

6.3 Visual contrast

6.4 Tactile information

6.5 Audible information and hearing enhancement

6.6 Signage

6.7 Graphical symbols

7 Access in the outdoor environment

7.1 Accessible routes

7.2 Street furniture

7.3 Pedestrian crossings

7.4 Squares and plazas

7.5 ‘Shared Space' design approach

7.6 Plantings

7.7 Pedestrian bridges and underpasses

8 Arrival and departure areas - Parking areas

8.1 Rationale

8.2 Boarding points/Set-down points

8.3 Location of designated accessible parking spaces

8.4 Number of designated accessible parking spaces

8.5 Design of designated accessible parking space

8.6 Pedestrian paths in car parks

8.7 Signage of designated parking spaces

8.8 Access from parking space to an adjacent higher pedestrian path

8.9 Surface

8.10 Indoor parking

8.11 Cycle parking

9 Horizontal circulation in buildings

9.1 Entrances

9.2 Corridors and passageways

9.3 Doors

9.4 Windows

9.5 Patios, balconies, terraces

9.6 Surface finishes and materials

10 Vertical circulation in buildings and outdoors

10.1 Ramps

10.2 Steps and stairs

10.3 Handrails

10.4 Lifts

10.5 Vertical and inclined lifting platforms

10.6 Escalators and moving walks

11 Specific indoor and outdoor areas, equipment and provisions

11.1 Service counters for information, ticketing and reception

11.2 Waiting and queuing areas

11.3 Seating and resting areas

11.4 Storage areas, lockers and baggage storage

11.5 Kitchen areas and kitchenettes

11.6 Facilities for assistance dogs(outdoor and indoor)

12 Sanitary accommodation

12.1 Accessible toilets

12.2 Toilets for general use

12.3 Sanitary facilities for other users

12.4 Showers and bathrooms

13 User interface, controls and switches

13.1 Rationale

13.2 Public ICT information screens

13.3 ICT user interfaces

13.4 Controls and switches

13.5 Examples of general use elements

14 Fire safety for all - Evacuation and emergency exits

14.1 Concept for Fire safety for all

14.2 Fire engineering design objectives

14.3 Evacuation for all

14.4 Assistive fire evacuation: Areas of rescue assistance

14.5 Emerging fire evacuation technologies

14.6 Fire defence plans

14.7 Lifts for emergency evacuation

14.8 Emergency warning systems, signals and information

14.9 Emergency exit doors

15 Environmental conditions in buildings

15.1 Lighting

15.2 Acoustics

15.3 Indoor air quality

16 Accommodation

16.1 General

16.2 Hotels

16.3 Student accommodation

16.4 Adaptable housing

17 Cultural, leisure and sport buildings

17.1 General

17.2 Auditoriums, concert halls and similar

17.3 Libraries

17.4 Museums

17.5 Heritage buildings and sites

17.6 Retail and shopping buildings

17.7 Sport facilities

17.8 Restaurants, bars and cafes

17.9 Swimming pools, saunas

18 Administrative, service and employment buildings

18.1 General

18.2 Conference venues

18.3 Offices

18.4 Healthcare buildings

18.5 Educational buildings

18.6 Laboratories

18.7 Banks, post offices

18.8 Industrial buildings

18.9 Courts, police stations and detention facilities

18.10 Religious buildings

19 Outdoor and urban areas

19.1 General

19.2 Playgrounds

19.3 Garden, parks and nature parks

19.4 Beaches

20 Transport facilities

20.1 General

20.2 Taxi facilities

20.3 Bus and coach facilities

20.4 Rail facilities

20.5 Metro/underground facilities

20.6 Tram and light rail facilities

20.7 Airport facilities

20.8 Ports facilities

20.9 Cable car facilities

20.10 Service stations

Bibliography

PD CEN/TR 17621:2021

Accessibility and usability of the built environment. Technical performance criteria and specifications

Current

Published:

30 Nov 2021