Summary

This guide covers pricing for access ramps at commercial, retail and public-facing premises — shops, offices, surgeries, community halls, restaurants — as distinct from domestic wheelchair ramps fitted to a private house under the Disabled Facilities Grant (covered separately in wheelchair ramp installation pricing guide). The regulatory framework, the customer relationship, and the commissioning driver are all different, and a tradesperson pricing this work needs to understand why.

For a domestic ramp, the driver is usually a specific resident's needs, assessed by an occupational therapist, funded (in part) through a Disabled Facilities Grant, and built to Approved Document M Volume 1. For a commercial or public building, the driver is the Equality Act 2010's duty on service providers to make "reasonable adjustments" so disabled customers and staff aren't placed at a substantial disadvantage compared with non-disabled people. This is an anticipatory duty — it applies whether or not a specific disabled customer has yet complained about access — and the relevant technical standard shifts from Approved Document M Volume 1 (dwellings) to Volume 2 (buildings other than dwellings), cross-referenced against BS 8300-1:2018 (external environment) rather than BS 8300-2:2018, which covers the interiors of non-domestic and communal-residential buildings and explicitly excludes individual dwellings (dwelling interiors are covered separately by BS 9266).

The commercial context also changes who pays and how "reasonable" gets tested. The Equality Act prohibits passing the cost of a reasonable adjustment on to the disabled customer, and what counts as "reasonable" is assessed against the size and resources of the business — a large retail chain is expected to do more than a single-shop sole trader with limited cash flow. This means a tradesperson quoting a shopfront ramp is often quoting into a business decision under legal pressure rather than a discretionary home improvement, and pricing clearly, with options at different specification levels, genuinely helps a client who may be weighing cost against legal exposure for the first time.

Key Facts

Quick Reference Table

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Ramp type Scope Typical width/length Total Price Range (Regional) Total Price Range (London)
Portable/temporary shopfront ramp Aluminium wedge or folding ramp, no fixing 900mm-1,200mm, <1m rise £150-£500 £200-£650
Modular aluminium ramp, single flight, no handrails Bolted modular sections on level ground 1,500mm wide, 2-4m run £2,300-£4,250 £2,800-£5,200
Modular aluminium ramp, single flight, with dual handrails As above, both sides, dual-height rail 1,500mm wide, 2-4m run £3,500-£6,000 £4,200-£7,200
Permanent concrete ramp, single flight Groundworks, sub-base, poured concrete, non-slip finish, handrails 1,500mm wide, 3-6m run £4,500-£8,500 £5,600-£10,500
Permanent ramp with direction change and intermediate landing Two flights, mid-level landing, full handrails, tactile paving 1,500mm wide, 6-10m total run £8,000-£15,000 £10,000-£18,500
Structural steel/GRP platform ramp (raised, complex site) Fabricated steel or GRP ramp deck, engineered support Site-specific £10,000-£25,000+ £12,000-£30,000+

Detailed Guidance

Working out which gradient table applies, and why the domestic figures don't transfer

The single most common pricing error carried over from domestic ramp work is applying the Volume 1 (dwellings) gradient figures — a flat 1:20/1:15 rule — to a commercial job, when Volume 2 (buildings other than dwellings) and BS 8300-1:2018 use a going-based table instead. In practice the numbers converge at longer runs (1:20 for the maximum permitted 10m going matches the domestic figure), but for shorter runs the commercial table is stricter: a 2m going is capped at 1:12, not the domestic 1:15 relaxation. Always measure the rise and the available going, then read the correct gradient off the Volume 2 table (interpolating between the fixed points at 2m, 5m and 10m) before quoting — this is a five-minute calculation at survey stage that avoids a costly redesign later.

Modular versus permanent — a commercial decision, not just a cost one

Modular aluminium ramp systems dominate commercial retrofit work for reasons specific to business premises: many high street units are leased rather than owned, meaning the tenant may not have the freeholder's permission (or the appetite) for permanent structural alteration; listed building shopfronts often can't take a permanent concrete ramp without consent that may not be forthcoming; and a modular system can be removed and reinstalled if the business relocates. The trade-off is a less integrated appearance and a higher unit cost per metre run than a built concrete ramp — but for many commercial clients, the ability to install without planning risk in days rather than weeks is the deciding factor, not the headline price.

Permanent ramps suit owner-occupied premises, new-build or major-refurbishment projects where the ramp is designed in from the start, and situations where the business wants a long-term, fully integrated solution — particularly where the ramp also needs to handle heavier footfall or trolley/wheeled-equipment traffic that a lighter modular system isn't rated for. Always ask whether the premises are leased or owned, and if leased, whether landlord consent is needed, before recommending a permanent solution.

Handrails, tactile surfaces and colour contrast — the extra specification layer versus domestic ramps

Commercial and public building ramps carry a higher specification bar than domestic ramps in three areas that are easy to underprice if you're used to quoting residential jobs: dual-height handrails (900mm and 600mm, to serve both standing wheelchair-transfer users and shorter or ambulant users, rather than the single 900mm domestic standard), mandatory colour contrast between the handrail, ramp surface and surrounding ground (to assist visually impaired users, which typically means specifying a contrasting paint or anodised finish rather than accepting the ramp manufacturer's standard colour), and tactile/corduroy hazard paving at the top of the ramp where it meets a vehicle route. None of these are expensive individually, but missing them at the quoting stage means either an unplanned return visit or a client left with a ramp that doesn't fully discharge their Equality Act duty.

Surface specification and footfall

A commercial ramp sees far higher and more varied footfall than a domestic one — mixed-ability pedestrian traffic, wheelchairs, prams, trolleys, and in wet weather, higher water volume run-off from a wider surface. Specify a surface finish with a slip-resistance rating appropriate to BS 8300-1:2018's requirements for external accessible routes (typically referenced via a wet pendulum test value), not a standard domestic path or driveway finish — brushed/textured concrete, ribbed GRP grating, or purpose-made anti-slip decking are the common specifications, the same broad categories as domestic ramp work but specified to a tighter, tested standard given the public-liability exposure a commercial premises carries.

Pricing worked example: permanent concrete ramp for a small retail unit

A single-storey retail unit has a 200mm step at the entrance and wants a permanent, fully compliant ramp with handrails, replacing a temporary wedge ramp that customers have complained about.

Total cost to the tradesperson: £4,110. Applying a 25-30% margin (roughly £1,150) gives a quoted price to the customer of approximately £5,200-£5,600, before VAT, subject to final site conditions and any landlord/planning sign-off required for the permanent alteration. As with all pricing work, the customer should only ever see the final quoted figure, not the internal cost build-up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a business legally required to install a ramp, or is it discretionary?

The Equality Act 2010 creates a duty to make "reasonable adjustments," which is not the same as an absolute requirement to install a specific ramp regardless of cost. What counts as reasonable depends on the size and resources of the business, the practicality of the change, and the effect on disabled customers of not making it. In practice, most courts and tribunals treat "we can't afford it" as a weak defence on its own, particularly for anything as fundamental as step-free entry to premises open to the public — but the exact specification (modular vs permanent, for example) can legitimately be shaped by cost and practicality. This is a legal question the client should ultimately take advice on; a tradesperson's role is to quote clearly at more than one specification level so the client can make an informed decision.

Can the cost of the ramp be passed on to a disabled customer or added as a surcharge?

No. The Equality Act 2010 explicitly prohibits a service provider from charging a disabled person for the cost of a reasonable adjustment made to accommodate them. The cost sits with the business, the same as any other overhead of trading — it cannot be recovered as a specific surcharge from the individual customer who benefits from it.

Does the Access to Work grant help pay for a shop's access ramp?

No — Access to Work funds equipment, support workers and adjustments for a specific named disabled employee in their role, not general structural alterations to premises that benefit all customers or staff. A permanent access ramp for general customer/staff access remains the employer's or occupier's own responsibility and cost under the Equality Act, separate from any Access to Work claim an individual employee might make for other workplace adjustments.

Do I need planning permission for a shopfront ramp?

Often not for a modest ramp on non-listed premises outside a conservation area, but this isn't universal — check local planning constraints, particularly where the ramp projects onto a public footway or highway (which may also need a separate licence from the highway authority), sits on a listed building (requiring listed building consent regardless of ramp size), or is in a conservation area where visual impact is more tightly controlled. Always confirm before quoting a fixed permanent installation; a modular, non-fixed system is more likely to avoid these constraints entirely.

Regulations & Standards