AQW 9579/17-22

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 03/11/2020
Answered On Date: 12/11/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Finance for an update on the reform of building regulations to include Changing Places toilets in all future plans for public buildings.

Answer:

Officials in my Department’s Building Standards Branch are finalising research to inform the work of a technical sub-committee of the local Building Regulations Advisory Committee that is currently being established to scope out proposals for wider stakeholder consultation. Christine McClements, the mother of a child with severe disabilities, who has extensive knowledge as a Civil Engineer and user of Changing Places Toilets, has already agreed to join the sub-committee. We are seeking other members with the relevant expertise from representative organisations and industry. Draft proposals could be agreed and ready for wider consultation sometime in the spring of 2021.