Building Codes and Accessibility Standards
For information about regulations and best practices around accessible and universal design, please select the links below.
Provincial Codes and Regulations
Standards and Best Practices
Clearing Our Path by CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) is a free, web-hosted, design standard that features a comprehensive set of best practices from a sensory disability point of view. It incorporates more considerations for lighting, perceptible information and wayfinding which can be overlooked or underemphasized in some standards.
CSA B651 is a standard called Accessible Design for the Built Environment. It contains best practices for making buildings and other facilities accessible to individuals with physical, sensory, and/or cognitive disabilities. It aims for 95% accessibility and is available for free digital download.
Universaldesignnl.ca is an interactive website owned by the Coalition and it allows you to take a virtual tour of a universally-designed single family bungalow.
The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design in Ireland have a number of online resources including their own downloadable and free use universal design standard.
The Universal Design Network NL is a group of professionals and persons with lived experience from a variety of backgrounds that promote the use of universal design in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The book Building Better Bathrooms contains best practices for a variety of accessible bathroom designs.
ServiceNL
To determine if a public building in Newfoundland and Labrador meets accessibility requirements you can ask ServiceNL to investigate by calling one of the numbers below.
- St John’s (709)729 1038
- Harbour Grace (709) 945 3107
- Clarenville (709) 466 4060
- Gander (709) 256 1420
- Grand Falls – Windsor (709) 292 4206
- Corner Brook (709) 637 2204
- Happy Valley-Goose Bay (709) 896 5428
If you have resources that should be included, please let us know by emailing us at info@codnl.ca or calling 709 722 7011. If you’re having difficulty connecting to these resources, please reach out to us.