FADS: The Little Standard That Grew

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FADS The Little Standard That Grew

• Universal Design and Visitability from A to Z
• Ohio State University, July 13, 2006
• Presenters
• Kim Wood, Architectural Technologist, City of
  London, ON
• Bob Topping, Architect, DESIGNABLE ENVIRONMENTS

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Overview

• FADS What is it?
• The Development Process
• Organization and Content
• The Implementation Phase
• The Evolutionary Process
• Lessons Learned the first 5 years
• Marketing How important was it?
• Whats next?

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FADS What is it?

• Facility Accessibility Design Standards

• Comprehensive standard for accessible design of
  buildings and other facilities
• Exceeds minimum requirements of the Ontario
  Building Code
• Based on the philosophy of Universal Design

4
The Development Process

• Nov. 2000, Corporate Accessibility Policy
  adopted by London City Council
• Directed staff to
• develop an Accessibility Design Standards
  Document
• standard to be applicable to all City of London
  owned, leased and operated facilities
• seek input from numerous interest groups
  throughout the creation of the standards

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The Development Process

• Jan. 2001, RFPs submitted for Architect to
  assist in the standards development
• Investigate Universal Accessibility Design
  Standards of other municipalities
• Review existing statues, regulations, codes,
  bylaws
• Consult with community agencies for the disabled
  
• Consult with internal stakeholders, Boards
  Commissions (Library Board, Transit Commission)
• Seek community input through public consultations

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The Development Process

• Feb. 2001, City hired Bob Topping and DESIGNABLE
  ENVIRONMENTS team
• Consultation Process began
• Feb. 2001 Conceptual Approach public meeting
• Mar. 2001 Scope, Format General Content
  meeting with invitations sent to 12 local
  agencies
• Apr. 2001 Draft Document Review meeting with
  invitations sent to 12 local agencies, Brds
  Comms
• May to Sep. 2001 several drafts refined
  internally

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The Development Process

• Oct. 2001, FADS adopted by City Council
• Mandatory for all City owned, leased or operated
  facilities

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Organization and Content

• Written for a technical audience
• Logical sections
• Section 1.0 - Introduction
• Section 2.0 - Glossary and Definitions
• Section 3.0 - Scope, Application and Enforcement
• Section 4.0 - Design Standards

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Technical Content

• Each Design Standards element is divided into
  detailed sub-sections
• Rationale the theory behind the design
  requirement
• Application where the design requirement is to
  be applied
• Design Requirements the dimensional
  requirements for each element
• Related Sections other sections to reference as
  they relate to that element.

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Scope, Application Enforcement

• FADS design requirements are
• mandatory for all newly constructed and
  retrofitted facilities owned, leased or operated
  by the City of London
• encouraged for all other facilities, whether new
  or retrofitted

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Scope, Application Enforcement

• FADS design requirements do NOT apply to
• Residential occupancies
• High hazard industrial buildings
• Buildings not intended for use on a daily or
  full-time basis

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Scope, Application Enforcement

• FADS applies to heritage facilities
• Independently use by the public
• be permanently and fully accessible where
  extensively modernized
• Used only by guided tour groups
• remain as existing with minor temporary
  modifications where assistance is provided
• Access to areas above and below grade is not
  necessary
• where context of those areas can be adequately
  provided on the accessible floor level

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Scope, Application Enforcement

• FADS recognizes the concept of Equivalent
  Facilitation
• as a means to encourage new and innovative
  designs and
• to allow a reduction in the minimum dimensional
  requirements of specific design elements in a
  retrofit situation where existing site or
  structural conditions cause a design element to
  be technically infeasible to apply

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The Implementation Phase

• Responsibility for implementation enforcement
• City of London Facilities Design Construction
  Division (FDC)
• Other City departments
• Parks Planning, Fleet and Facilities Operations,
  Parks and Recreation Operations
• Contracted consulting firms
• Process involved to ensure FADS is applied
• Training and FADS Information Sessions provided
  to Project Management and Operations staff
• FADS provided to design staff, maintenance staff
  and contracted consulting firms
• FADS application identify in project general
  requirements as mandatory
• FDC provide Staff Resource to guide and assist
  staff, consultants, external organizations and
  municipalities
• Internal Agreement made between FDC and the City
  Building Department

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The Implementation Phase

• Initial Challenges
• Resistance from contracted consulting firms
• City projects being submitted prior to FADS
  review / approval
• Other City departments not aware of FADS or their
  responsibility to use it in daily operations

• How we fixed it
• Added text in RFPs for mandatory use by
  consultants
• Created a FADS approval stamp
• Developed an internal agreement with Building
  Division

• applications turned away if drawings not stamped
  FADS compliant
• Inspectors issue Deficiency Notices where design
  elements NOT CONSTRUCTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
  APPROVED PLANS

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The Evolutionary Process

• Something very interesting began to happen . . .
  .
• Other municipalities and institutions in Ontario
  and beyond began to hear about FADS and request
  copies
• FADS was very well received

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The Evolutionary Process

• London began receiving requests from other
  municipalities wanting permission to adopt FADS

• Further requests were received to adapt and
  re-issue FADS
• London made the generous and courageous decision
  to authorize other municipalities to use FADS
• The City of London continues to encourage and
  support municipalities in their barrier-free
  endeavours and in working together for the
  removal of barriers in our communities
• DESIGNABLE ENVIRONMENTS also made the decision to
  share the intellectual property associated with
  FADS, to facilitate adoption by other
  jurisdictions

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The Evolutionary Process

• As other municipalities began to adapt FADS

• the content was refined and
• new content was added based on user group review
  and input
• These changes were shared with other potential
  adopters of the standard

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The Evolutionary Process
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The Evolutionary Process

• To date over 30 municipalities and other
  institutions have adopted or adapted the London
  FADS document . . . and the list is still growing!

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Lessons Learned the first 5 years

• Attitudinal Barriers
• Reluctance by Consultants to accept larger space
  standards
• Why design beyond the Ontario Building Code?
• We cant do that mentality
• Cost implications
• FADS creation 40K Update and Awareness 15K
• Anticipated costs would be higher Actual average
  1.5
• Buy-in
• Came in on the heels of ODA legislation
• Proactive support from municipal Accessibility
  Advisory Committee
• Lack of acknowledgement
• FADS inconsistently or insufficiently or not
  acknowledged in derivative standards created
  using Londons original standards

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Marketing How Important was it?

• FADS spread by word of mouth
• No active marketing strategy
• Release of 2001 standards came at a time when
  many municipalities had just began reacting to
  ODA and AODA legislation
• London has simply supported the theory of
  Creative and Open Borrowing

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Whats next?

• FADS presented to Minister of Citizenship
  Immigration with recommendation it be used to
  create provincial standards
• Ontario is implementing new legislation the
  AODA to remove barriers to persons with
  disabilities by the year 2025
• Provincial Standards Development Committees now
  being established to create accessibility
  standards for various sectors
• Promote FADS to the Province as being the
  comprehensive accessibility standards model to
  form the basis of creating Provincial Standards
  for the Built Environment
• Other municipalities and organizations continue
  to adopt or adapt FADS
• As each new adoptee reviews, revises and adds-to
  FADS content, the prior adopters will continue to
  gain the benefits
• FADS included in Canadian Human Rights Commission
  publication, International Best Practices in
  Universal Design A Global Review March 2006

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Overview

• FADS What is it?
• The Development Process
• Organization and Content
• The Implementation Phase
• The Evolutionary Process
• Lessons Learned the first 5 years
• Marketing How important was it?
• Whats next?

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Thank You!
You can download a copy of FADS (no charge) at

• http//www.london.ca/Planning/FADS.pdf