Quezon Hall: Plan Review and Accessibility Audit Report

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section I.

Introduction

Page 2

II. Findings and Recommendations From Plan Review A. Third Floor Plan 1. Office of the Vice President for Development

2

2. Pantry and Staff Toilet

4

Prepared by: Armand Michael R. Eustaquio, Architect, Accessibility Consultant

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Quezon Hall: Plan Review and Accessibility Audit Report

I.

INTRODUCTION In January 1983, the United Nations declared 1983 to 1992 the International Decade of Disabled Persons. Less than two months after this declaration, Batas Pambansa Bilang 344 (BP344), otherwise known as An Act to Enhance the Mobility of Disabled Persons by Requiring Certain Buildings, Institutions, Establishments, and Public Utilities to Install Facilities and Other Devices, or the accessibility Law was passed into law on February 25, 1983. The Implementing Rules and Regulations of BP 344 were amended in 1994 and is the current version in use and being implemented by all Local Government Units, the DPWH, the DOTC, and all other concerned government agencies. The contents of this Access Audit Report were based primarily on the current and latest version of BP 344 or the Accessibility Law. Draft BP 344 IRR Amendments have been formulated and are still undergoing peer review hence these can still change or be modified depending on the results of the peer review. Recommendations that are based on the Draft BP 344 IRR Amendments are noted in this Plan Review/Accessibility Audit Report.

II. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE PLAN REVIEW B. Third Floor Plan 1. North Wing 1.1 Office of the Vice President for Development a. Findings 1) The toilet is not accessible for a person with disabilities 2) There is a need to verify from the Schedule of Doors if the door sash is 950mm wide and that the effective clear opening of the door is 900mm from the face of the door to the face of the opposite door jamb.

Fig. A.1.1 Partial Floor Plan of the Existing Design of the Office of the Vice President for Development

Prepared by: Armand Michael R. Eustaquio, Architect, Accessibility Consultant

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Quezon Hall: Plan Review and Accessibility Audit Report

b. Recommendations 1) Verify that the entrance door to the office of the Vice President for Development is 950mm wide and has a clear door opening of 900mm taken from the face of the open door to the face of the opposite jamb. 2) The decision to make all of some of the private toilets of the Vice Presidents accessible for a person with disabilities is the Administration’s decision. Batas Pambansa Bilang 344 (BP 344) or the Accessibility Law is silent about the need to provide accessible private toilets. Some options are: a) Designate only one (1) Vice President’s office to have an accessible toilet but the possible future implications are: a.1 A Vice President with no form of disability assigned to an office with an accessible toilet may exchange his/her office to give way to an incoming Vice President with disabilities who will need an accessible toilet or share it with the same. a.2 The time may come when more than one (1) Vice President may have some form of disability and need an accessible toilet.

Fig. A.1.2 Floor Plan of Proposed Typical Accessible Toilet for any (or all) Office for Vice Presidents 3) Other considerations: a) The floor area of a typical toilet for Vice Presidents in the present design is 3.51 square meters. The floor area that will be required for an accessible toilet will be 4.20 square meters of just an additional 0.69 square meters b) The cost of building an accessible toilet during the on-going renovations (while the toilets have not yet been constructed) will be minimal or negligible compared to the cost of renovating a regular toilet that has been constructed in accordance with the present design in the future to make it accessible for persons with disabilities.

Prepared by: Armand Michael R. Eustaquio, Architect, Accessibility Consultant

Page 3 of 5

Quezon Hall: Plan Review and Accessibility Audit Report

c) R.A. 9442 or the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities (formerly R.A. 7277) prohibits discrimination on employment against qualified persons with disabilities on the basis of having some form of disability. d) It would be awkward for any future Vice President with disabilities to use the common accessible toilet located on the South Wing. e) The above recommendations apply to all the other Offices of Vice Presidents: VP for Planning and Finance, V for Academic Affairs, and VP for Administration.

1.2 Pantry and Staff Toilet a. Findings 1) The Pantry is not accessible to persons with disabilities because of the narrow door opening. 2) The Staff Toilet is not accessible to a person with disabilities.

Fig. A.1.3 Floor Plan of Existing Pantry and Staff Toilet

Prepared by: Armand Michael R. Eustaquio, Architect, Accessibility Consultant

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Quezon Hall: Plan Review and Accessibility Audit Report

b. Recommendations 1) Verify the width of the door leading to the Pantry. Provide a 950mm wide door with a clear door opening of 900mm measured from the face of the open door to the face of the opposite jamb. Reverse the swing of the door to make it swing outwards towards the Fire Exit lobby. 2) Regarding the considerations:

Staff

Toilet

the

following

are

options

and

a) Option I is to provide signage informing persons with disabilities to use the accessible toilet at the Third Floor South Wing. This is acceptable in BP 344 so long as the route to be taken to the accessible toilet is accessible especially for a person who uses a wheelchair. b) Option II is to modify the design of the Staff Toilet to make it accessible to persons with disabilities. This will reduce the effective size of the Pantry as shown in Fig. A.1.4

Fig. A.1.4 Floor Plan of Proposed Accessible Pantry and Accessible Staff Toilet

Prepared by: Armand Michael R. Eustaquio, Architect, Accessibility Consultant

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