Does anyone know if there is an alternative product on the market that can ascend/desend a small flight of stairs that also conforms with DDA.The reason i ask is we have 2 stannah platforms in our school that were installed as part of a refurbishment 6 years ago and in order to conform to building regs they had to go in.They have never been used but are inspected 6 monthly by the Local Authorities Insurers and a further 4 times a year on a service contract. Everytime they are inspected there is always something wrong and school is haemorraging money keeping these things maintained when they are never used. Could anyone offer some good advice or encountered a similiar dilemma.

Hamm Your description of the stairs as a "small flight" is somewhat vague. What are the horizontal and vertical distances involved? Also, are the two platforms you mention fold-down ones which travel diagonally at the sides of stairways just above their steps or are they of the vertical lift type in their own permanent enclosures with interlocked doors or gates? In either case, and without impugning the school involved, it's possible that the platforms are being used/misused sporadically by employees e.g. to move furniture or equipment, and/or perhaps as playthings by a few pupils when nobody is watching. This is more likely if the platforms can be operated at any time without the need for a key. Also, if nobody has done so, it would be worth looking at the service reports to see what sort of faults are being found. Could they be genuine ones which stem from intermittent use/misuse and/or just spurious ones concocted by the service company engineers to generate extra income for their company? If it seems fairly evident from enquiries within the school that the platforms are rarely or never used, it might be worth contacting the service company to ask why faults keep being found, and hint that it might lose its contract. Does the company do work for other schools within the same authority and are they experiencing similar problems? Bear in mind that a replacement service company might prove to be no better than the present one! Also, why not ask the manufacturer for its advice? It might be inclined to help if it knows that discontent with their products might result in them being replaced by another firm's products. In addition it makes sense for an engineer from within the local authority to be involved in most/all of the above aspects. I did this several years ago regarding a problem with ceiling-mounted sling hoists for pupils in a special needs school and found it invaluable. (One of the advantages of local authorities is that they employ/have ready access to a range of specialist experts - although sadly this might be less so nowadays because of downsizing due to reductions in annual government support grants!) Another possibility is that the installations of the current platforms could have been avoided if more thought had been given to alternative ways of enabling mobility-impaired people to move between the floor levels involved. If the horizontal distance involved is relatively low and there is sufficient space available for a ramp (with a gradient no steeper than say 1 in 12) up part of the stairway or elsewhere, this might be a viable alternative. Some years ago I was able to suggest this to a secondary school which had been advised to install a powered inclined platform over half the width of a wide low stairway. As the vertical height involved was less than 1 metre and there was ample space for an appropriate ramp, the school was happy to opt for a ramp. This was far cheaper and simpler than the installation and subsequent occasional use and maintenance of a powered platform which would have been vulnerable to breakdown and possible tampering. Moreover, after the ramp was installed (with a balustrade at its outer side), it was available for use by everybody and enhanced the smooth progress of pupils and employees at the stairway. By contrast a powered platform, even when folded up, would have reduced the available width of the stairway located along what could be a busy internal thoroughfare at lesson change times.

Unplug them and throw a cover over them. Save on all the associated costs. You don't need to provide things 'just in case'. If anything changes they can be recommissioned.

Those who wish to get rid are running very close to the wind of discrimination. How does one know when they will be needed - it could be tomorrow. Building Regs do require arrangements, maybe another method is more suitable BUT at this time this is what you have and it is certainly reasonable to continue to maintain what you do have. Bob

Have to agree with Bob here - First person who cannot get up the stairs who has a mobility issue might litigate under the DDA They would not have been put in in the first place if their was not a need of some kind!

steveeckersley Just a reminder that it is now EA 2010 not DDA for action on discrimination:-) Your name always reminds me of one of my long lost friends - Eckersley Wainwright - Good Lancastrian name!! damelcfc I take your point here with existing buildings pre 1996 construction but the accessibility requirements under Part M have been present since then so arrangements should then have been made post this date. Unfortunately application has been sloppy by many designers and building control persons. Any school would be hard put to argue lack of reasonableness though as with many other public buildings. Bob