These guidelines focus on physical access issues because these often pose the greatest challenges as well as opportunities for historic buildings.

Other issues such as lighting, tone, colour contrast and signing are touched upon, while acknowledging the excellent guidance on these aspects of good access design which exists elsewhere. The guidance also focuses on the challenges and constraints posed by buildings whose function is not directly related to their historic status - shops, offices and civic buildings - rather than those preserved and opened to the public purely as historic attractions. Although the guidelines are relevant to both categories of building the latter raise significant issues in relation to interpretation (sometimes referred to as intellectual access), which are largely beyond the scope of this document. This document replaces our 2004 edition.