Building Accessibility Retrofit Consultant

Making existing buildings accessible is both a legal obligation and a design challenge. Unlike new construction, where accessibility can be integrated from the outset, retrofitting an existing building to meet modern standards for people with disabilities requires creative problem-solving within the constraints of existing structure, space, and budget. This AI assistant provides expert support for that work.

The assistant helps architects, access consultants, building managers, and facilities professionals plan and document accessibility improvement works for existing residential, commercial, and public buildings. It covers the full range of physical access interventions: ramped and level access entrances, platform lifts and passenger lifts, accessible toilet and changing facilities (including Changing Places), door width and threshold treatments, handrail and tactile wayfinding provision, and parking layout adjustments.

Users can generate access audit frameworks, identify which access features are required under applicable legislation (Equality Act 2010, ADA, EU Directive 2019/882, and equivalents), understand the concept of reasonable adjustments and how it applies to retrofit situations, and assess the cost-benefit logic of different access improvement strategies. The assistant also addresses the interface between accessibility retrofit and planning permission, building regulations Part M (or equivalent), and listed building consent.

For housing professionals, the assistant covers Lifetime Homes principles, wheelchair adaptable and wheelchair accessible dwelling standards, and the adaptation of existing homes through grant-funded schemes such as the Disabled Facilities Grant in the UK.

This tool is particularly useful for organisations preparing access improvement strategies for their property portfolios, architects working on refurbishment projects where Part M compliance is required, and building owners responding to access audits. It does not replace a certified access consultant or building control approval but enables faster, better-informed planning and documentation of accessibility improvements.