This thesis examines the means by which emergency egress for people with a disability can be provided and presents a model for the adoption of egress provisions for persons with a disability into the Building Code of Australia. / With the introduction of the commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992 in March 1993, it became unlawful for a person to be discriminated against based on their disability. In the built environment this meant that all building and facilities are required to be accessible. However, this also includes the right for building occupants to also be safe and not be exposed to any form of adverse conditions such as fire, in a building. / The research undertaken to formulate this model traces the origins of disability rights both internationally and in Australia as well as Australian building code requirements. The technical provisions considered for inclusion in the Building Code of Australia (BCA) have been derived from an international survey of the research that has been undertaken and the various approaches taken by the building codes of other countries. In addition, to consider the appropriateness of the suggested model, a survey was carried out to gauge community expectations. The findings of this survey were then built into the model. / The conclusions show that people are willing to use whatever means of egress is provided if they have the confidence that the exit system will be safe during an emergency. / The research concludes that the technology exists to enable emergency egress for persons with a disability to be provided and that it is possible for the BCA to include specific provisions. / However, it also recognised that for it to succeed, a fully integrated approach addressing human behavioural and management aspects as well as the physical attributes of a building would be required. The present BCA does not take a wholistic view in this regard as it only addresses the physical construction of a building and hence its scope would need to be expanded. / To achieve this overall 'package', it is necessary for a major education campaign by which the community is educated about the use of the egress systems for persons with a disability using both 'protect-in-place' and 'everybody-out' strategies. This is especially the case for the use of lifts as the community has been educated for many years that it is not safe to use lifts in a fire. This requires a shift in the way people think about the use of lifts in a fire and is by far the most challenging component. / Thesis (MBuilding)--University of South Australia, 2003.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/267662 |
| Creators | Bretherton, Wayne Andrew. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | copyright under review |
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