AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES IN THE PROVISION OF BUILDING SERVICES IN MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS IN ABUJA, NIGERIA
AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES IN THE PROVISION OF BUILDING SERVICES IN MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS IN ABUJA, NIGERIA
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Date
2014-07
Authors
MACLEAN, WALSHAK DIKWAL
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Abstract
Universal design (UD) can be described as the design of products and environments to be
usable by all people to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or
specialized design, thus bridging the gap between housing and disability though the concept
of Universal Design or ‘Design for all’ has been neglected in most developing countries
including Nigeria. This study assesses the implementation of universal design principles in the
provision of building services in multi-storey buildings. It also seeks assess conformity of the
design of building services in multi-storey buildings to Document M (disability standard of
the United Kingdom) and establish if Statutory Authorities check designs to ascertain its
conformity to universal design principles. Questionnaires were distributed to building
designers and a checklist structured using disability standard of the United Kingdom was
used as a guide to assess these buildings services for conformity to universal design. Also,
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data generated from
the questionnaires. It was established that most designers of building services became
familiar with UD through personal study or on-the-job trainings as very few of the building
services designers in Abuja learned about UD in the university. Development control
agencies have equally added to the non-implementation of UD as most designs are rarely or
never checked for conformity to UD. In conclusion, Persons living with temporal or
permanent disabilities have been segregated or stigmatized by architectural and building
services designs, there is a of shallow knowledge of UD by professionals in the construction
industry and most building services provisions have shown low conformity to UD principles
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AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES, THE PROVISION OF BUILDING SERVICES IN MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS IN ABUJA, NIGERIA