Construction standards just published: Accessibility and Security in the Built Environment

Essential elements of a modern, inclusive and sustainable society, accessibility and security in the built environment require detailed planning and organisation. Standards that give guidance and help to facilitate this have just been published.

ISO 23234, Buildings and civil engineering works – Security – Planning of security measures in the built environment, details requirements and recommendations to help organisations put plans in place to protect against undesirable intentional actions. It provides a well-structured template to identify their requirements and develop appropriate security measures.

The document describes which methods and routines need to be implemented in various stages of a building or civil engineering works project, as well as the competencies needed to achieve a good result.

ISO 21542, Building construction – Accessibility and usability of the built environment, specifies a range of requirements and recommendations related to the design and construction of the usability and accessibility of buildings. These include access to buildings, circulation within buildings, exiting from buildings during normal conditions and evacuation in the event of a fire.

Recently updated, this revised version offers an improved document structure for easier application as well as extra information about aspects such as vertical circulation, acoustics and emergency evacuation.

ISO 23234 was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 59, Buildings and civil engineering works, and ISO 21542 by its subcommittee SC 16, Accessibility and usability of the built environment. Their secretariats are held respectively by SN, ISO’s member for Norway, and UNE, ISO’s member for Spain.