Overview
People need easy access to food, hygiene, and rest areas in their homes. It can be hard for people with disabilities to find a home that meets these needs.
The CSA/ASC B652, Accessible dwellings standard was developed to support peoples’ accessibility needs. It uses evidence to outline the requirements for the design, construction, and renovation of accessible homes. It was written to help people build homes that can meet a wide range of requirements and are easily adaptable over time.
The CSA Group Subcommittee on Accessible Residential Homes developed the standard under the jurisdiction of the Technical Committee on Accessibility. Standard development was funded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Accessibility Standards Canada.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE STANDARD
The standard shows how to give every person who lives in the home access to the essentials for daily life. It recommends elements for accessible home design including:
- area allowances for rooms or spaces in houses;
- best practices for home operating controls (operating controls include features like light switches, buttons for appliances, faucets, etc.);
- requirements for floors and ground surfaces;
- requirements for headroom and protruding objects;
- lighting guidelines; and
- accessibility features for each room.
SURVEY
To facilitate future work in this area, CSA Group would like to better understand the accessible housing landscape and the intended changes to practices with the adoption of the new CSA/ASC B652, Accessible dwellings standard. To help, please take this short 5-minute survey.
By clicking the button below, you will be redirected to the CSA Group survey.
CLICK HERE FOR SURVEY
Survey deadline: May 31, 2023
Please note that your participation is voluntary, and you may choose to withdraw at any time. All information collected per this survey will remain confidential. The survey results may be presented in a report but in an aggregate and anonymized form only (this may include the use of anonymized quotes). Click here for more information on our privacy policy.
Preface
This is the first edition of CSA/ASC B652, Accessible dwellings.
CSA Group acknowledges that the development of this Standard was made possible, in part, by the financial support of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
The technical requirements in this Standard are minimum levels. They represent a consensus of the Technical Committee members, who represent a broad spectrum of interests. The members are helped and encouraged by the public comments received as a result of the wide distribution of a draft at the public review stage.
This Standard is considered suitable for use for conformity assessment within the stated scope of the Standard.
This Standard was prepared by the Subcommittee on Accessible Dwellings, under the jurisdiction of the Technical Committee on Accessibility and the Strategic Steering Committee on Health and Well-Being, and has been formally approved by the Technical Committee.
This Standard has been developed in compliance with Standards Council of Canada requirements for National Standards of Canada. It has been published as a National Standard of Canada by CSA Group.
Scope
1.1 Application
This Standard can be used in the design and construction of new homes, or in alterations to existing housing, as it pertains to accessibility. This includes the design, construction, and alteration of built environments leading up to, into, and throughout accessible dwellings.
The requirements in this Standard are suitable for permanent dwellings, short-term dwellings and visitable dwellings. This includes accommodations such as detached houses, semi- detached houses, houses with a secondary suite, duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, row houses and boarding houses, apartments or condominiums, and communal residential dwellings (e.g., hotels/motels, hostels, dormitories, care facilities).
Multi-unit residential accommodations with shared common elements outside the dwelling (e.g., shared parking, exterior and interior paths of travel outside of the dwelling, amenity spaces, washrooms located outside of dwellings, etc.) are addressed in CSA/ASC B651.
1.2 Conflicting requirements
This Standard does not address the application of technical requirements and recommendations through regulations or conformity assessment schemes. In cases where a requirement or method in another standard that is referenced in a regulation conflict with recommendations in this Standard, the regulatory requirements take precedence.
1.3 Dimensions
The values given in SI units are the units of record for the purposes of this Standard. The values given in parentheses are for information and comparison only.
This Standard contains minimum requirements based on adult dimensions. Where converted from non-SI units, values have been rounded off with respect to critical dimensions.
All dimensions in figures are given in millimetres (mm) and are measured to the centreline, unless otherwise specified.
1.4 Terminology
In this Standard, shall is used to express a requirement, i.e., a provision that the user is obliged to satisfy in order to comply with the standard; should is used to express a recommendation or that which is advised but not required; and may is used to express an option or that which is permissible within the limits of the Standard.
Notes accompanying clauses do not include requirements or alternative requirements; the purpose of a note accompanying a clause is to separate from the text explanatory or informative material.
Notes to tables and figures are considered part of the table or figure and may be written as requirements.
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