The Specialist Disability Accomodation (SDA) design standards released on October 25th, 2019 supersede the Livable Housing Design guidelines that SDA had been based on until now. The release of the standards means that from 1st July, 2021, all applications to enrol a dwelling for Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) will be required to include a certificate from an Accredited SDA Assessor.
SDA assessors will as a part of the certification process, nominate the Design Category the dwelling satisfies based on the Design Standards.
Optimal Living Therapy’s founder, Lauren Hart has been completing SDA certifications and consultation for almost 2 years and attended the first SDA assessor course in Melbourne on February 3rd. Having successfully completed the exam, Lauren will be in the first roll out of assessors from March 31st (Livable Housing Australia’s date for registrations).
The new Design standards mandated SDA assessors can be 1 of 4 professions:
- Builder surveyors
- Architect
- OT
- Access Consultant
With additional qualifications of a cert 4 or diploma in access consulting required for all professionals.
