What you need to know about accessible grab rails

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Grab rails and drop-down rails that are associated with accessible washroom cubicles provide a fundamental purpose for persons with disabilities. They are safety devices to support users whilst standing, manoeuvring around the toilet cubicle, or transferring to and from the WC pan. Traditionally these fittings are immovable, but what if the need arises to remove them temporarily?

Dolphin supplies accessible WC sets, shower sets, and combined sets, and in this article, you will learn more about why support rails are essential, what types are available, the benefits of removable rails, the challenges Architects face, and the various standards outlined in the accessible washroom regulations.

Why are washroom grab rails essential?

Support rails play a significant role to assist persons with different types of disabilities including motor, cognitive or visual impairment. Horizontal or vertical accessible grab rails can help a person pull themselves up or down and provide extra support to hold onto when balancing themselves.

To learn more visit our washroom learning hub here, or browse our range of doc m packs and grab rails here.

Removable support rails

Hotels are a classic example to install removable drop-down rails. The house count (total occupancy of the hotel at any given moment) varies daily, from a low occupancy rate to fully booked. Removable support rails are beneficial as they provide a flexible solution and can be tailored to suit guests without access needs, particularly at maximum occupancy with no accessible reservations.

At the same time, when rooms need to be booked for persons with disabilities, the support rail infrastructure is already in place thus enabling a simple and quick procedure to connect the parts again.

Hotels are successfully implementing the required 10% accessible rooms and washrooms into their buildings, welcoming disabled visitors (including wheelchair users). Both the Building Regulations and British Standards provide detailed specifications regarding the physical characteristics of accessible hotel rooms.

Challenges Architects face

Poor workmanship and non-compliant grab bars result in other problems such as lack of durability in hinged support rail fixing, pattress guidance, and inadequate installation. As a result, the rail may break off from the wall and what’s worse, it may injure the person holding onto it with a firm grip as it comes loose. The disaster this creates for commercial buildings or Hospitals is catastrophic.

Grab rail regulations

Document part M and BS 8300-2:2018 outline the design considerations and British standards for accessible grab rails and drop-down rails. There are further regulations that apply including European standards according to DIN EN 12182 (Assistive products for persons with disability – General requirements and test methods) and the Good Loo Design Guide.

Serious consequences arise when accessible grab rails are not manufactured or installed correctly. It is costly to replace support rails that have fallen off a wall and dangerous to those who are near the hazard