Case Study Barrier-free design for a financial economist

The employer is a tax office.

The man has severe spastic paralysis of the legs. He is dependent on the constant use of a wheelchair. His range of grasp and mobility are limited due to disability. The man's GdB (degree of disability) is 100. His severely disabled person's certificate contains the marks G, aG, H and RF.

The man is a trained financial economist and is employed as such by the employer.

The tax accountant works at a computer workstation in the motor vehicle tax registration office. His workplace has been relocated to the tax office in the outskirts of the district because of the accessibility of the building. The tax administrator had previously worked at his new workplace, which is located on the ground floor of the building, on a trial basis. The desk at his new workplace is already height-adjustable and wheelchair accessible.

The building of the tax office has two entrances. The main entrance can only be reached via three steps. To enter the building, two glass doors must be opened and a vestibule must be passed. The side entrance consists of an aluminium-glass front. The construction of aluminium profile and glass is approx. 5 m wide and also serves as the facade of the building. From the side entrance, after opening the heavy-duty aluminium door, one passes through the vestibule to the connecting corridor leading to the main entrance of the building. The way from the side entrance to the main entrance leads in the area of the connecting corridor over three steps. A further problem arises for the financial manager when reaching the canteen on the 6th floor, as the existing lifts only have doors that are approx. 70 cm wide, which are designed as hinged doors and are therefore difficult for him to open. In addition, the switches of the lifts were placed too high (about 1.4 m from the floor). The financial officer cannot use the lift and therefore cannot reach the canteen.

To enable the financial manager to reach his workplace independently, the access to the building had to be designed barrier-free or wheelchair accessible. For this purpose, a ramp had to be installed at the main entrance to overcome the three steps, and the existing entrance and vestibule door had to be equipped with an automatic door system for opening and closing. In order to make the side entrance barrier-free, the aluminium entrance door also had to be fitted with an automatic door opening and closing system and an inclined stair lift also had to be installed to overcome the three steps in the connecting corridor. In addition, one of the existing passenger lifts was converted for wheelchair access so that the canteen can also be reached by wheelchair.
A covered parking space for the disabled was installed near the building so that the financial manager can transfer from the driver's seat to the wheelchair and reach the building quickly, protected from the weather.

Wheelchairs with push rims on both sides
Door opener and closer
Lifts
Stairlifts with platform
stationary ramps
Work tables