Is it legal for there to be no ground floor access to toilets in social venues?

margaret6mary6

Hello. I had embarassing moment after lunch in a restaurant. Two people with me, had to virtually carry me up two flights of stairs to the toilet. There was no ground floor toilet. Is this still legal

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community 

I'm not sure but I think only premises built after a certain date have to be accessible and provide accessible facilities 

I may be wrong 

Being a wheelchair user i come across this often 

I hope others will be able to give you a  definitive answer 

Dragonslayer

@margaret6mary6
Hi there
If I have copied the link correctly, you may find it contains useful info. 
Disabled guests | VisitEngland (visitbritain.org)

Cher_Alumni

Hello @margaret6mary6

I'm sorry that happened to you and can appreciate it being embarrassing.  Toilet access is a fundamental need and without it, disabled customers face a huge barrier in accessing services in a dignified way.

Services have a duty to make reasonable adjustments so that both disabled and non-disabled people can access them equally.  To my knowledge there are two pieces of government legislation/guidance related to this and the provision of disabled toilets:

• The Equality Act 2010
• Part M of the Building Regulations 2010

Whilst the onus is on what it is reasonable for a service to do - see this Citizen's Advice webpage on 'Duty to make reasonable adjustments' which further states:

If someone doesn’t cooperate with their duty to make reasonable adjustments, the Equality Act says it’s unlawful discrimination. You can ask the person or organisation to make the necessary changes. If they refuse, you can make a discrimination claim under the Equality Act.

To speak more about this with someone trained in this area, I'd highly recommend speaking with the Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS) who have a helpline: 0808 800 0082 which you can contact between Monday - Friday: 9am - 7pm and Saturday: 10am - 2pm.

Just to let you know, I've tweaked the title of your thread and moved it to our Disabled people's category to make it more visible to other members.

I hope today is a good one for you.  Take care and you know where we are if you need us.

calcotti

Note that Part M of the Building Regulations only applies when building works are being carried out - it doesn't mandate the carrying out of building work.

janer1967

A quick question @Cher_Scopeor anyone else 

The regulations you shared are all from 2010 so does that mean prior to then they did not apply 

I an interested to know as I said in my reply are there any regulations for old premises 

I would imagine it wouldn't be considered reasonable adjustments if the cost of providing access and accessible facilities is too high 

As is the same in employment law 

Cher_Alumni

Hi @janer1967

To my knowledge (others may have more insight), the Equality Act 2010 superseded the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 of which point 21 relates to the 'Duty of providers of services to make adjustments'.  Again what is 'reasonable' seems to be the key word.

calcotti

There is some guidance here
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/85011/disability.pdf
Page 7 includes

What is reasonable will depend on all the circumstances, including the cost of an adjustment, the potential benefit it might bring to other customers (ramps and automatic doors benefit customers with small children or heavy luggage, for example), the resources an organisation has and how practical the changes are.

So providing a ground floor toilet (or a lift to the upper floor) will be a completely different proposition for a small coffee shop with half a dozen tables to a large restaurant. The latter will have more space to accommodate change and may have greater financial resources.

Ultimately what is reasonable is a matter for the courts.

More guidance here
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/servicescode_0.pdf