RESOURCE
Glossary of Specialist Terminology
This glossary has been created by Steven Docker Associates to support professionals to understand terminology used within our expert witness, property finding, architectural services. Designed as a practical reference tool, it reflects our long-standing expertise in delivering tailored, client-centred accommodation solutions for individuals living with complex needs.
A
Accessibility Audit: A detailed architect-led review of a building's layout, structure and compliance with accessibility standards, often paired with OT assessments for holistic recommendations.
Accessible Route: A continuous, unobstructed path that allows a wheelchair user to move safely through a home or garden.
Accommodation Report: A detailed medico-legal report outlining the client's long-term housing needs following catastrophic injury, often used within litigation to quantify accommodation-related costs.
Adaptive Kitchen: A kitchen designed specifically for a user living with mobility or sensory needs, often including height-adjustable counters and accessible storage.
Adaptive Reuse: The conversion of an existing building into a new purpose while enhancing accessibility. For example, converting a barn or bungalow into an accessible home for a client.
Assistive Technology: Technology that supports independence such as automated doors, voice-activated lighting or environmental controls.
B
Barrier-Free Design: Architecture created without physical barriers such as steps, narrow doorways, or high thresholds.
BREEAM: A recognised UK sustainability assessment method for buildings. Relevant where clients require energy-efficient homes or complex mechanical systems.
Building Fabric: The physical elements of a property; walls, floors, roof and insulation. Often assessed to understand thermal comfort requirements for clients with neurological injuries.
Building Regulations (Part M): UK regulatory standards governing accessibility and usability of homes, including minimum door widths, ramp gradients, and accessible bathroom design.
Built-In Hoisting Points: Structural strengthening within ceilings to support future ceiling-track hoist installation.
C
Care Suite: A self-contained section of a home (bedroom + en-suite + sometimes lounge area) for a client requiring 24-hour care.
Carer Accommodation: Dedicated rooms for live-in or overnight carers, often essential in high-dependency packages.
Ceiling Track Hoist: A ceiling-mounted mechanical hoist that assists safe transfers between bed, bathroom or wheelchair.
Circulation Space: Space required for safe manoeuvring, particularly of wheelchairs, often defined by minimum widths and turning circles.
Clinically-Led Adaptations: Adaptations designed with direct input from clinical professionals such as OTs, physiotherapists, and care consultants.
D
Daylight Factor: A measure of natural light entering a room. Relevant for clients living with visual impairment or brain injury who benefit from controlled lighting conditions.
Design for Independence: A design approach that prioritises enabling individuals to carry out daily tasks autonomously wherever possible.
Dropped Kerb: A lowered section of kerb providing wheelchair access from road to pavement or driveway.
E
Egress Route: A designated safe exit route during emergencies, planned with mobility needs and carer assistance requirements in mind.
Environmental Controls (EC Systems): Smart home systems enabling users to control lights, heating, blinds and doors via switches, apps or voice commands.
Expert Witness: Specialist providing independent, litigation-compliant opinions on suitable accommodation and associated costs. SDA are widely recognised for this role.
F
Feasibility Assessment (Property Finding): An evaluation of whether a property can be suitably adapted which considers structure, layout, planning implications, and cost. We provide comprehensive feasibility assessments for new instructions, contact our team to discuss your requirements.
Fenestration: The design and arrangement of windows and glazing, relevant for ventilation, natural light, and sensory-sensitive design.
Future-Proofing: Designing a home so it remains suitable as the client’s needs change, e.g., reinforcing ceilings for future hoists, or designing adaptable bathrooms.
G
Glazing Ratio: The balance of window area to wall area. Impacts overheating risk, sensory comfort and energy performance. Particularly significant for clients with neurological injuries.
Grab Rails: Safety rails used for support when transferring or mobilising.
Gradient (Ramp Gradient): The steepness of a ramp measured as a ratio (e.g., 1:20). Lower gradients are easier and safer for wheelchair users.
H
Hard Landscaping: External surfaces such as patios, paths and ramps, essential for level access and safe wheelchair movement.
Hoist-Free Transfer: A transfer performed without hoisting equipment, usually following risk assessment to confirm safety.
Hydrotherapy Pool: A warm-water therapy pool used for rehabilitation, pain management and muscle tone reduction.
HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning): A building system responsible for regulating indoor temperature, airflow and air quality.
I
Inclusive Design: Design that accommodates a wide range of needs and abilities, ensuring usability for everyone, not only disabled users.
Ingress Protection (IP Rating): A system describing how resistant fixtures are to dust and water, important for bathroom adaptations, hoist motors, and outdoor equipment.
K
Kerb-Free Access: A pathway, driveway or entrance route designed with no raised kerbs, allowing completely smooth wheelchair access into and around the property.
Key Working Dimensions: A term used in architectural and OT-led housing design to describe important spatial measurements required to meet a client’s functional needs. E.g.:
- Minimum door widths
- Wheelchair turning diameters
- Transfer space beside the bed, toilet or shower
- Hoist track clearances
- Corridor width requirements
L
Level Access: A threshold-free entry or route with no steps or lips, allowing seamless wheelchair access.
Lifetime Home Standards: Guidance that encourages homes to be adaptable across a person’s lifespan, incorporating features like wider hallways and reinforced bathroom walls.
Litigation-led Adaptations: Modifications to property recommended within legal proceedings to meet the long-term needs of a claimant.
M
Manual Handling Risk: Risks associated with moving and handling individuals within care settings.
Massing: The overall three-dimensional form of a building. Relevant when planning extensions, new-build options, or considering privacy and neighbour constraints.
Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR): A system that circulates fresh air in energy-efficient, highly adapted homes, particularly those with sealed environments.
N
Neuro-Accessible Design: Design solutions tailored for people living with brain injuries, autism or cognitive impairments. Often focussed on low-arousal spaces, clear layouts and sensory control.
O
Open-Plan Adaptation: Removing internal walls to create larger, more manoeuvrable spaces for safe wheelchair movement and supervision.
P
Part M (Building Regulations): The section of UK Building Regulations specifically covering access to and use of buildings, including disabled toilet layout, door widths, ramp requirements and other accessibility standards.
Passive Solar Gain: Heat generated naturally through sunlight, which can benefit or negatively impact clients living with temperature regulation difficulties.
Profiling Bed: An adjustable bed offering various tilt and height positions to support safe transfers and pressure management.
Property Finding (Specialist): A service helping to identify suitable homes for adaptation, reviewing access, location, structural feasibility and budget.
R
Risk Assessment (Environmental): An assessment identifying hazards and recommending environmental modifications to improve safety.
S
Sensory Integration Features: Design elements (lighting, acoustics, textures) supporting sensory needs, particularly for clients living with cognitive or neurological conditions.
Shared-Space Bathroom:A bathroom designed to accommodate multiple carers during assisted washing, often more generous in size with hoist access.
Smart Home Infrastructure: Wiring and systems (e.g., CAT 6 cabling) designed to support current and future assistive technologies.
Step-Free Access: Any route without steps, usually including level thresholds and low-gradient ramps.
T
Technology-Enabled Care (TEC): Integrated technology such as fall sensors, bed occupancy alarms, environmental controls and remote monitoring systems.
Turning Circle: The space a wheelchair requires to perform a full rotation, typically 1.5m or 1.8m in diameter.
U
Unobstructed Width: The minimum clear width required along corridors, doorways or routes to allow safe and comfortable wheelchair passage. Often measured after accounting for door ironmongery, radiators or furniture that may reduce usable space.
Unobstructed Manoeuvring Space: A clear area free of furniture or fittings required for turning, transferring or positioning equipment such as hoists and wheelchairs.
Upstand (Door or Threshold Upstand): A small raised lip or vertical edge at a doorway or threshold.
User-Centred Design: A design methodology that starts with the individual’s functional needs, preferences and routines.
V
Variable-Height Worktops: Kitchen counters that raise or lower electronically or manually to support seated or standing use.
W
Wet Room: A fully waterproofed bathroom allowing level-access showering, often essential for people using wheelchairs or hoist transfers.
Wheelchair Turning Zone: A marked area within floor plans showing adequate space for a wheelchair to manoeuvre safely.
QUICK LINKS
Expert Witness
Our Accommodation Experts are highly sought-after expert witnesses in personal injury and clinical negligence cases due to their experience in designing and adapting homes for people who have sustained life changing injuries, and their reputation for their unrivalled insight, professionalism and independent analysis.
Property Finding
Our Property Finding team specialise in finding suitable properties, to purchase and rent, for people with a wide range of disabilities, throughout the UK.
Architectural Services
We understand the power of design; how specialist knowledge and creativity can empower individuals living with catastrophic injuries by creating bespoke, relevant, creative, inspiring, and sustainable places to live.