What is PD CEN/TR 17622 about?
PD CEN/TR 17622 provides criteria to assess the conformity of the built environment with the functional requirements and recommendations described in EN 17210, accessibility and usability of the built environment – Functional requirements, regardless of whether self-declaration, second-party attestation or third-party certification is requested.
PD CEN/TR 17622 provides guidance on how and when accessibility and usability of the built environment have to be considered throughout all stages of the building process, including feasibility, design, construction, completion and post-occupancy. It is also applicable for refurbishment or adaptation of existing buildings.
NOTE-
Design for All, Inclusive Design and Universal Design share similar inclusive design philosophy.
“Universal Design” means the design of products, environments, programmes and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. “Universal Design” does not exclude assistive options or devices for particular groups of persons with disabilities where this is needed.
Who is PD CEN/TR 17622 for?
PD CEN/TR 17622 on accessibility and usability of the built environment is useful for:
- Primarily public procurers
- Architects
- Civil engineers
- Facility managers
- Ergonomists
- Construction industry
Why should you use PD CEN/TR 17622?
Conformity assessment, also known as compliance assessment, is any activity to determine, directly or indirectly, that a process, product, or service meets relevant technical standards and fulfils relevant requirements. Conformity assessment activities may include testing, surveillance, inspection, auditing, certification, registration, etc.
In the built environment, accessibility conformity assessment refers to the suitability of accessibility in buildings (complete or part of them), or in urban public spaces or elements or areas thereof. These spaces may be in the project, construction or post occupancy phase.
This accessibility conformity assessment in the built environment also has a particularity that characterizes it even more: it is carried out on functional requirements, unlike other assessments that are made directly on parametric considerations. Thus, the same functional requirement can be assessed differently in one country and in another, both being valid, depending on the requirements of each country and how that specific functional requirement is interpreted. The functional requirement is defined in the text of EN 17210, whereas the specific parameters (taken from CEN/TR 17621 or a national standard / regulation) are tools to specify the evidence, when a numerical value is necessary.
PD CEN/TR 17622 provides key elements for the assessment of compliance and working process of the functional approach to conformity assessment. This develops in providing greater detail for who can assess different players for different goals, what clauses and functional requirements you assess, when you can access specifics of conformity assessment in different phases and how to assess different tools for conformity assessment.
PD CEN/TR 17622 suggests you add evidence to clarify the assessment or to reinforce your decision. This evidence can simply be the value of the measurement taken, the reference standard considered, an observation of relevance etc. After the evidence is gathered it is necessary to end with a final decision, indicating if compliance with every functional requirement considered is satisfactory or not, as well as an overall assessment of the entire audited environment (according to the scope initially defined).
