Abstract

Residential buildings are buildings used for dwelling purposes with two identified types which are Houses and Multi-story buildings. The national disability rate in Canada is 14.65 per cent, with statistics expecting 25 per cent of the population to be 65 years old and more in 2051; the accessibility and usability of residential building for wheelchair users is not guaranteed under the National Building Code (NBC), which means a significant part of the population do not have suitable buildings to live in.
Universal Design (UD) Concept raises the idea of a different attitude towards design; which is consistent with human needs with all their variety and diversity.
The present thesis argues that Occupant Accessibility (OA) is one of the objectives of the National Building Code (NBC) in Canada. The analysis of the related articles illustrates that wheelchair users face barriers in their path to residential units. A list of recommendations is proposed to be adopted by NBC to have real Barrier-free requirements without any need for adaptation or segregation, and where occupants, with all their variety and diversity, get a decent habitation.
The present research also highlights on Building Information Modelling (BIM) as a revolutionary approach in the construction industry that deals with a building's life-cycle phases in a new way of thinking and execution. A proposal for the integration of Universal Design (UD) concept into the Building Information Modelling (BIM) ideology to be part of its database is suggested by creating new universal design (UD) families in Revit software which is a main BIM tool.