Originally Posted by happy daze john in oz;On completion we found that there was no disabled access.
When the architects were questioned on this matter they informed the university that at the time of drawing up the contract such access was not compulsory.???????????????
QUOTE
Like most industries they would have been aware of 'impending legislation' within their own industry and these impending legislations have a lead time of 3 - 5 years on new projects/buildings with the lead time extended by a further 24 months for existing buildings. It was the same in the marine industry and as Supts' we had to be on top of 'impending legislation' at all times and on existing ships it was much cheaper to do it before the grace period expired, after the grace period the contractors/ship repairers had you by the short and curlies as far as cost was concerned. In the three companies I worked in as Supt I was able to convince owners to apply the new impending requirements as soon as possible because it would be cheaper in the long run and could be married into the next drydocking.
The statement made by the architects is pure lawyer speak, as any self respecting architect would be on top of impending legislation and incorporate it into the prospectus and plans.