Savills Czech Republic has become a licensed partner of Access4you International, a European certification system that independently assesses and qualifies the physical accessibility of buildings. Under the agreement, Savills will offer Access4you certification to clients in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, extending its ESG advisory practice to include structured accessibility audits for commercial, public and mixed-use properties.
Access4you publishes reliable and detailed accessibility information about the certified buildings, to help people with diverse access needs to plan ahead their visits and navigate the built environment with confidence. For property owners, this verified information provides a basis for decision-making, credible communication and measurable social value.
Access4you evaluates buildings against more than 1,000 criteria covering the needs of eight user groups: wheelchair users, people with visual or hearing impairments, the elderly, people with reduced mobility, parents with strollers, the deaf, the hard of hearing and people with cognitive impairments. Properties are graded on a four-level scale (Certified Location, Bronze, Silver and Gold) depending on how many groups' minimum requirements are met. Each certified property receives a publicly accessible digital profile in the Access4you application and website, giving people with accessibility needs independently verified information. The certification is recognised under the GRESB framework and contributes towards points in WELL Building Standard, LEED and BREEAM ratings.
Marek Koyš, Lead Sustainability Consultant at Savills Czech Republic, says: "Building accessibility has a different value proposition depending on where a property sits in its lifecycle. For existing assets, certification gives owners an independently verified picture of their building's accessibility across each underserved user group. This information can support CSRD reporting, green building ratings, and is increasingly relevant to international tenants in regulated sectors. For developments still in design or planning phase, the argument is even stronger: accessibility built in at the design stage costs a fraction of what it would as a retrofit later on. The result is a building that naturally serves a wider range of users from day one."
Despite growing awareness, the number of properties in the Czech Republic that have undergone robust accessibility assessment and transparently provide this information to the public in a user-friendly way remains small. Properties that have obtained certification from Access4you to date include the Port 7 office complex, Westfield Chodov shopping centre, OC Arkády Pankrác or Shopland retail parks.
By comparison, Hungary, where Access4you was founded, has issued more than 500 certifications to date, and Romania over 300 and counting, reflecting the earlier pace of institutional adoption in those markets, while the rest of Europe is slowly catching up.
According to Tamás Méri, Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer of Access4you International: " In Hungary and Romania, building owners and real estate developers have recognised that providing detailed, reliable accessibility information not only helps people with diverse access needs to plan their visits, but it strengthens trust among their customers and visitors, supports tenant attraction, and the independently audited data can also contribute to their ESG objectives. As this approach becomes more widely adopted, we expect the Czech and Slovak markets to follow a similar trajectory, with more properties undergoing accessibility assessments."
Regulatory and reporting drivers
The European Accessibility Act (EU 2019/882), which came into force in June 2025, requires banks, insurance companies, telecommunications providers, transport operators and other designated service providers to ensure their services are accessible to people with disabilities. For tenants operating in these regulated sectors, the accessibility credentials of their premises are an increasingly practical factor in location decisions and lease negotiations. Access4you certification generates a structured, independently verified accessibility data that can support ESRS reporting, providing asset owners with measurable and auditable data for their sustainability disclosures.
Marek Koyš adds: "Accessibility is often treated as a niche subject, but in reality roughly one in three people experiences some form of mobility, sensory or cognitive limitation at some point in their life, whether permanent, age-related or temporary. Seniors, people recovering from illness or injury, parents with young children: these are everyday users of any commercial or public building. Our service provides a structured way to understand what a property currently offers to underserved groups, communicate it credibly, and address any gaps where desired."
Support for green building certifications
Access4you certification integrates with several widely used sustainability frameworks. Within the WELL Building Standard, it supports compliance with accessibility and universal design requirements. Under LEED v5, certified properties can gain between one and three points depending on the Access4you level achieved. Within BREEAM, certification from Bronze level upwards can contribute up to four credits in the design and construction category and an additional point within the In-Use scheme. Under GRESB, Access4you qualifies as a recognised partial green building certification scheme for interior and operational assessment.
Property owners, asset managers, developers and public building operators interested in Access4you certification can contact Savills Czech Republic to discuss how an accessibility audit fits their portfolio strategy or development programme.
More about Access4you here.