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There may be designated ‘scrutineers’ within your group who are responsible for checking plans and reading through lists of planning applications to decide which ones are likely to have implications for access.
The brief overview below might be of help to your group’s scrutineers when they are presented with an architect’s drawing.
A quick guide to reading plans
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Plans of buildings represent the proposals of the architect as set down on paper. They are normally drawn to scale, and the scale is usually shown in a box in the bottom right hand corner. If a scale of 1:100 is given, then the actual building will be 100 times larger (so that every 1mm on the plan represents 100mm of the finished building).
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A scale rule is needed to measure parts of the plan. These allow distances on the plans to be read at the size of the actual building. When using a scale rule, you must remember what each unit of the scale represents. For example, if a line on a plan measures 18mm and the scale is 1:100, this line will represent 1800mm of the finished building.
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When checking plans, it is a good idea to work systematically and check each aspect of the plan, just as you would survey an existing building. Start with the entrance to the site and car parking, then the entrance (remembering door widths, circulation areas, accessible toilet provision, access to upper floors, lifts, stairs, and so on).
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Ensure that the scrutineers of your group have a sound knowledge of Part M of the Building Regulations and best practice guidance (BS 8300, CAE publications, and so on) so they can apply this knowledge when reading plans. Your group may also like to comment on aspects of building design that are not covered by Part M (such as wayfinding, and fixtures and fittings).
For detailed advice on reading plans, you may like to refer to the Centre for Accessible Environments' publication Reading and Using Plans. This can be ordered from www.cae.org.uk.
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