As the owner of a private car park, it’s your responsibility to ensure that your car park complies with all the necessary laws and standards in place that monitor its usage. One thing in particular that you shouldn’t overlook is your obligation to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled motorists.

Keep reading as we discuss your legal obligations, along with the recommended advice on how to ensure your car park is inclusive, safe and accessible.

What are the Legal Requirements for Providing Disabled Parking Bays?

The rights of disabled motorists in the UK can be found within the Equality Act 2010. This clearly states that reasonable adjustments must be made to car parks (including those that are privately owned) to ensure that there is accessibility for disabled motorists.

As such, you have a legal requirement to provide designated disabled parking bays that are easy to identify at a glance.

Although there is no legal requirement to provide a specific number of disabled parking bays, there is guidance offered by the Department of Transport and the British Standards Institution (BSI) that we strongly recommend you follow to ensure compliance.

The requirements depend on the type of car park you operate. For example:

• If your car park is associated with an employment premises, 5% of the overall capacity of your car park should be designated disabled bays.
• If your car park is associated with leisure or recreational activities, 6% of the overall capacity of your car park should be designated disabled bays.

How to Make Your Car Park Inclusive of Disabled Motorists

When creating designated accessible spaces in your car park, it’s important that these are not only the right dimensions, but clearly marked as appropriate.

A disabled parking space should be wider and longer than a standard one; they should be at least 2400mm wide and 4800mm long. On top of this, there should be an additional ‘access zone’ painted around the parking space, which must be at least 1200mm around each side of the bay.

These spaces must also be made easily identifiable, with clear markings required on the floor and signage required at the driver’s eye level. For the floor markings, this requires you to have the International Symbol of Access (ISA) (also known as the Wheelchair Symbol) painted on the floor surface in each designated disabled bay.

Parking Services from PDUK

Do you need to paint designated disabled parking spaces in your car park? Look to us here at Park Direct UK.

We offer professional line painting services, where our experienced team will ensure your disabled bays are clearly marked and comply with the necessary regulations and guidance.

Get in touch with us today to enquire about our services.