Legal Issues
The bad news is that there is a wide range of regulations, permissions, and legal requirements that surround any sizeable building or refurbishment project. The City Lit project involved 47 lawyers from 4 different firms! However there is also good news - universities and colleges have a considerable amount of knowledge and expertise in their professional support departments that can be brought into your project to make sure that you comply with any requirements and they also usually have contracts with solicitors and lawyers to deal specifically with legal issues. Your first step should be to get to know what resources your institution does have that can help you with your project. Below we outline some of the areas that you need to think about and show where you are likely to get help.
Requirements and Sources Of Help
Procurement Regulations
Finance Department
Purchasing Officer
Procureweb http://www.procureweb.ac.uk
Planning Permission and Building Regulations
Estates Department
Architect
Local Authority Planning Office
Health and Safety Statement
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations
Estates Department
Architect
Health and Safety Officer
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/designers
Freedom Of Information Act
JISC infoNet http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/foi
JISC Legal Advisory Service http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/
Designated Freedom of Information Officer
Accessibility including Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA); The Building Regulations including 2002 [Part M Access and Facilities for Disabled People]; Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)
JISC TechDis Advisory Service http://www.techdis.ac.uk/
Centre for Accessible Environments http://www.cae.org.uk/
Design Guidance Document 'Building Sight' issued by the RNIB
Local Authority Access Officer during design
Regional agencies such as Disability North
