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From the
Northside Chronicle in Australia:
New homes will need to have wider doorways, entry level access and ground floor bathrooms within 10 years to comply with new voluntary building guidelines under an agreement between industry and the Federal Government.
They will also need to be designed to accommodate prams and wheelchairs, have reinforced bathroom walls for railings and allow easier movement inside.
The Universal Housing Design standards aims for all new homes to meet specific targets by 2020.
UDIA Queensland president Warren Harris said it was a good concept that would help residents ``future proof’’ their homes.
Mr Harris said the typical period a person lived in a house was between five to seven years but houses could be built to last the full-circle of life.
"If you had a model of a house that was adaptable, you don’t have to go through the pressures of moving further away from friends, the community you know, family and work,’’ he said.
"You stay connected and that is a big wish list component for people but they can’t always do it, they have to move or they chose to move, for the reasons of the family.’‘
Mr Harris said there was no reason why society should not go back to the way previous generations had lived in their houses for longer periods.
"We are reinventing what we used to do comfortably, that is a good thing,’’ he said.
"We create communities and developments with walls and barriers and that is not like what we used to do in the 60s and 40s.
"And why not? Why don’t we just get back to the way we used to live, which is a lot longer in the same house? Why don’t we reinvent some of those aspects back into our developments, it worked well for a very long time."
Under the guidelines, new homes will be classified under a three-tier ratings system Silver, Gold and Platinum. They will need to be built around six principles to meet the silver standards, including:
* A safe and continuous path of travel from the street entrance and/or parking area to a dwelling entrance that is level.
* At least one level entrance into the dwelling.
* Internal doors and corridors that facilitate comfortable and unimpeded movement between spaces.
* A toilet on the entry level that provides easy access.
* A bathroom that contains a step-free shower recess
* Reinforced walls around the toilet, shower and bath to support the safe installation of grab rails at a later date.
The agreed interim targets for voluntary uptake of the guidelines for all new residential housing are 25 per cent to Silver level by 2013; 50 per cent to Silver level by 2015; 75 per cent to Silver level by 2018 and all new homes to Silver level by 2020.
From the Northside Chronicle in Australia:
