The Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification (RHFAC) is an industry-level certification program for the built environment, such as buildings and properties. It examines and rates the accessibility of a place for people with mobility, sight, and hearing accessibility needs.

With RHFAC, buildings achieve one of three levels: Accessibility Certified Gold, Accessibility Certified, and Not Certified.

For more information on RHFAC, please see their website.

With RHFAC, you receive an accessibility score and written summaries (including recommendations).

Accessibility score:
This is officially called an “RHFAC score”; it is a percentage, where 60% or higher is generally considered “Accessibility Certified” and 80% or higher is generally considered “Accessibility Certified Gold.” As well, each score is broken down into separate components of the building, allowing you to pinpoint which areas are performing well or needs improvement.

Written summaries:
This is officially called “Key Areas” and it contains three parts: areas of success, areas of short-term improvement, and areas of long-term improvement. This allows you see what is already working, but also what needs work – both easy “low-hanging fruits” and more complex capital projects.

All of the above is rigourously reviewed by a Rick Hansen Foundation adjudicator and the CSA Group before it arrives in your inbox.

Yes! Spectrum Ability offers two additional exclusive services, on top of what RHFAC officially offers. These are not offered by anyone else (as far as we know).

Accessibility Report (everyone receives this, included in our price):
We take the “Key Areas” part of your RHFAC score and explain the rationale of recommendations in more detail. Where appropriate, we will provide photo-realistic renderings of the recommendations so you can visually see the possibilities for improvement.

(The Accessibility Report is created and operates independently from RHFAC, with some overlap.)

Presentation (value-add service, available upon request):
This is a new service that Spectrum Ability is piloting! In addition to the above, we can also provide a presentation about our findings for a separate fee. This can be either a pre-edited YouTube video or a Zoom / Google Meet virtual call, using a PowerPoint-style slideshow. This may be especially useful for buildings that need an extra push to get “Gold” status with RHFAC.

There are several parts to the cost of an RHFAC rating:

RHFAC registration fee:
This is mandatory for RHFAC participants. It is a fee handled by and payable to the CSA Group – we do not control or handle this fee. As of March 2023, the fee is $2,350 CAD per building.

Spectrum Ability’s fee:
This is for our services. The amount varies depending on the type, size, scope, and complexity of the building. For example, an office building with an identical footprint for each floor is less complex than a community centre with many unique features. To get an accurate quote, please contact us.

Any add-ons or value-adds:
This can be for travel costs (if outside Metro Vancouver) or additional service requests that is not already included.

No. Compliance with building codes (or equivalent) ensures that a building has met minimum standards, but does not guarantee useful or meaningful levels of accessibility.

In fact, a building that meets only code minimums would likely not achieve a “Certified” rating from RHFAC. This can open a building to risks such as complaints, accessibility-related hazards, becoming prematurely obsolete, usability problems, human rights complaints, and sometimes legal action from users.

With RHFAC, we go beyond the code and provide the input to help you reduce your risks.

Furthermore, your RHFAC score is broken down into sections, allowing you to pinpoint your building’s weaknesses and strengths.

No problem! RHFAC can cover both pre- and post-construction projects.

Pre-construction ratings will be done based on the floor plans and elevation plans of the site, as well as other relevant information (for example, colours and textures of walls and floors).

Please note:
Pe-construction RHFAC ratings are valid only until the occupancy stage. When your building is ready for occupancy and you would like to keep your RHFAC status, you would need a standard (post-construction) RHFAC rating.

No, because what is “completely accessible”? And does that even exist? After all, everyone has different needs and the meaning of “accessible” depends on who is asking!

However, RHFAC gives you an idea of the level of accessibility that your building has. For example, if your building achieves a 61% score, it indicates that you have a minimal (but satisfactory) level of accessibility. Meanwhile, a score of 85% would indicate a high level of accessibility. Both of those scores fall within the “Certified” range.

By knowing the level of accessibility, you can start considering the building’s users and how best to accommodate their needs in a meaningful way, and plan your improvements efficiently.

In other words, certification is not meant to guarantee “full accessibility” (since that is difficult to define), but it is designed to see what level of accessibility that your building is currently at.

RHFAC addresses accessibility from a mobility, sight, and hearing perspective.

Mobility
This can mean people who use wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, or other devices. But it can also include those who do not, such as people with hip and knee issues, knee or leg braces, stamina issues, larger body types, and more.

Sight
This can mean people with partial, low, or no vision. There is a wide range of visual abilities and an equally wide range of solutions and technologies. We can capitalize on this by strategies such as colour contrast and braille, but also by considering basic navigational cues and strategies of a space.

Hearing
This can mean people with partial or total hearing loss, as well as Deaf people. We factor in people who rely on sign language or hearing aids, but also on issues that can impact communication, such as lighting levels (which can impact how well a person can read sign language or lips).

Combination of the above
Sometimes accessibility features impact more than one disability group, such as navigational cues, signage, and auditory and sensory environments. This can be important for people who experience more than one type of disability, such as a wheelchair user with vision or neurological issues.

Unlike diamonds, RHFAC is unfortunately not forever. Your certification expires after 5 years and you would need to renew it.

However, this is not a bad thing! RHFAC is continuously updating to stay aligned with current accessibility trends, innovations, best practices, codes, and legislation (where applicable).

By acting on the recommendations from the previous RHFAC rating, you can prepare for what’s next and maintain your score when it is time for renewal.

RHFAC participants in the past have included property managers and owners, business owners, municipal governments, architects, engineers, city planners, park and landscape designers, and more!

Most properties can receive an RHFAC rating, as long as there is an adequate number of features within scope.

Please feel free to contact us to see if your building is eligible!

In general, most buildings are eligible to go through the RHFAC program.

However, some mandatory requirements must be met for any building to achieve “Accessibility Certified” or “Accessibility Certified Gold” status, regardless of the score.

The mandatory requirements for “Accessibility Certified” are typically logical and basic. However, the mandatory requirements for “Accessibility Certified Gold” are much more difficult and may require planning and investment.

In rare cases, there might be some facilities that technically satisfy the mandatory requirements, but might not be good candidates for certification.

For information on mandatory requirements for certification, we highly recommend that you contact us to discuss!

We don’t have prizes for you, but others might!

Plaques
For buildings that achieve RHFAC Accessibility Certified, you can purchase a plaque from CSA Group to proudly display in your building.

Accessibility Challenge (BOMA Canada members only)
There is an annual Accessibility Challenge award at the annual conference. It is awarded to the BOMA member building with the highest RHFAC score of the year. (In fact, Spectrum Ability proudly provided the RHFAC score for the 2022 winner of that prize!)

Press coverage
Your building’s RHFAC status can be used to leverage positive press and publicity! We have seen several past clients use RHFAC with news outlets to promote their dedication to inclusive and accessible design, as well as launch commitments to creating more accessible spaces.

Buildings Without Barriers (currently on hiatus)
In the past, we’ve had clients participate in the Buildings Without Barriers challenge, which recognized RHFAC participants with several categories – awards included Commitment, Most Improved, Innovation, and Accessible Builder.