Design professionals and code enforcement officials have long benefited from United Spinal Association’s free technical assistance for compliance with a variety of state and federal accessibility requirements. The team has established a toll-free technical assistance hot-line (1-866-249-2441) to compliment our Accessibility Requirement’s web-forum, where questions and issues on accessibility are posted and discussed on a routine basis. The forum can be accessed on the Accessibility Services web-site: www.accessibility-services.com

Part of our great tradition and the key to providing insight into the most detailed of accessibility requirements is that United Spinal Association’s Accessibility Services Staff are involved in the development of a variety of Federal, National and Local Accessibility Requirements.

Our work includes:

• Residential Task Force – This committee is dedicated to the coordination between the residential accessibility requirements between ICC ANSI A117.1; the Revised ADA/ABA Accessibility Guidelines; and the Federal Fair Housing Amendment Act’s Accessibility Guidelines.

United Spinal Association’s goal is to contribute to the development of a
Universal Unit to not only improve the adaptable features within a dwelling unit for people with disabilities, but to simplify the confusing requirements impacting these units so that home designers and builders can achieve compliance. In addition, technical requirements to address the visit ability movement (basic accessibility features for single-family homes) are being developed.

For more information on United’s involvement in this committee please contact dmarinelli@unitedspinal.org

• Assembly Area Task Force – This committee is dedicated to ensuring that there is consistency between ICC ANSI A117.1 and the Revised ADA ABA Accessibility Guidelines. It is a key component that contributes to the ACS team’s consulting work on stadiums and arenas.

For more information on United’s involvement in this committee please contact dmarinelli@unitedspinal.org

• Accessibility Advisory Task Group of the International Codes Council (ICC) This committee has been established to coordinate federal civil rights laws with building codes. United Spinal Association’s goal is to contribute to codifying federal accessibility requirements (i.e., Section 504 of the Rehab Act of 1973).

For more information on United’s involvement in this committee please contact jperry@unitedspinal.org

• Harmonization of the International Building Code (IBC)
on developing code change proposals to improve the consistency with the Revised ADA/ABA Accessibility Guidelines for the 2007 edition of the IBC and beyond.

For more information on United’s involvement in this committee please contact jrooney@unitedspinal.org

• Harmonization of the Revised ADA/ABA Accessibility Guidelines
This committee’s work focuses on ensuring that the 2008 edition of the ICC A117.1 standard is as consistent as possible with the Revised ADA ABA Accessibility Guidelines. ACS staff is responsible for comparing a variety of sections (parking, drinking fountains, etc) so that consistency between these accessibility requirements can be maintained and improved.

For more information on United’s involvement in this committee please contact lvolpe@unitedspinal.org

• Safety Standard for Platform Lifts and Stairway Chairlifts
Senior Designer Carlos Rivera was named as member of the ASME A18.1 committee. ASME A18 is committed to the development and maintenance of standards covering the design, construction, installation, operation, inspection, testing, maintenance, alteration, and repair of inclined stairway chairlifts and inclined and vertical platform lifts intended for transportation of a mobility impaired person.
For more information on United’s involvement in this committee please contact crivera@unitedspinal.org

• Accessible Court Committee – US Access Board
The United States Access Board created the Courthouse Access Advisory Committee to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities to all aspects of courthouses. The goal of the Courtroom Access Subcommittee is to promote accessibility in the design of courtrooms and ancillary areas. This goal is accomplished by exploring challenges and constraints to access posed by the standard design of courtrooms and developing solutions and best practices for ensuring access to courtroom spaces and elements, including jury boxes, jury deliberation rooms, witness stands, spectator seating areas, judge’s benches, judge’s chambers, court clerk stations, and detaining cells.

For more information on United’s involvement in this committee please contact kking@unitedspinal.org

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Linda M. Stango and I am a resident of Rochester, New York. As a registered architect with 24 years of diverse experience in the public and private realm I recently joined the Accessibility Services staff at United Spinal Association. My expertise in accessibility issues and code enforcement will hopefully be a benefit to the organization and the clients we serve.

Prior to joining United Spinal Association, I was the Commissioner of Community Development for the City of Rochester. My position provided me the occasion to work with many grass roots neighborhood organizations on planning projects, capacity building and quality of life issues. My accomplishments included the initiation of an “Aging in Place” program in corporation with the Partners for Livable Communities. One outcome was the development of a rehabilitation program for seniors, which emphasized home modifications that increased accessibility and safety.

I started my tenure with the Department of Community Development 19 years ago, as a senior architect, with a primary focus on plan review and building code issues. This included the harmonization of local codes and the zoning ordinance with state regulations. As a certified NYS Code Enforcement Official (for 18 years), I enjoy the challenge of balancing code issues and design considerations. As an example, while working on the City’s ADA Compliance – Survey and Transition Plan, I assisted in the evaluation of Rochester’s City Hall; a National Register Richardson Romanesque building constructed in 1880. The building required modifications that had to be accomplished without adversely affecting its architectural integrity. It is this sense of balance of appropriate design solutions and code compliance that I enjoy and will bring to the Accessibility Services team.

I have served as president of the Rochester Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Chairperson of the Building Official and Code Administrator’s (BOCA) national convention and a member of the BOCA Evaluation Services Technical Committee.

I look forward to the opportunity of bringing my creativity, professionalism and ambition to United Spinal Association.

A great deal of our work at Accessibility Services involves plan reviews. We conduct reviews in order to ensure compliance with the accessibility requirements of applicable Federal laws and state building codes. Our plan review work has included stadiums, multi-family housing, office buildings, and college campuses. We have conducted reviews of new construction as well as renovations and/or additions to existing buildings and facilities.

There are always issues that come up time and time again that violate accessibility requirements. A common design mistake involves the clearance requirements for water closets located in commercial toilet rooms. Typically, the violation is a result of a lavatory encroaching on the clearance required around the water closet.

There are a couple reasons that design errors occur. The main reason is a conflict between the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) and ICC/ANSI A117.1. ADAAG is applicable on a national basis. ICC/ANSI A117.1 is a standard referenced by building codes – primarily the International Building Code (IBC) which has been adopted in most states throughout the country.

Designers have to be mindful of the aforementioned conflict in jurisdictions that have adopted the ICC/ANSI A117.1. The specific conflict is between Section 4.16.2 of ADAAG (Figure 28) and Section 604.3.1 of ICC/ANSI A117.1-2003 (Figure 604.3.1).

Figure 28 from ADAAG permits the distance between the leading edge of the lavatory and the centerline of the water closet to be anywhere from 18 inches minimum to 48 inches minimum depending on the direction of the approach.

This is in contrast with the ICC/ANSI A117.1 which does not permit the distance between the leading edge of the lavatory and centerline to be 18 inches minimum. The range of this dimension is between 42 inches and 44 inches minimally. The range of 42 to 44 inches is because Section 604.3 of ICC/ANSI A117.1 permits the distance between the center line of the water closet and the adjacent wall to be 16-18 inches.

Another reason for errors is the mistaken belief that the allowances for clearances to overlap found in Section 604.3.2 of ICC/ANSI A117.1 permit lavatories to encroach on the clear floor space of requirements of the water closet. This is clearly prohibited in Section 604.3.1: No other fixtures or obstructions shall be within the water closet clearance.

In the tug of war between accessibility standards, please note that ADAAG 4.22.2 does not permit the bathroom door to open into the clear floor space required for a fixture, whereas the A117.1 does, when a clear floor space is provided within the bathroom beyond the arc of the door.

If you are designing a toilet room in a jurisdiction that references ICC/ANSI A117.1 remember, that the requirements for the clear floor space for a water closet located in a toilet room are more restrictive than ADAAG. If you have any questions or comments about this topic or other accessibility issues please contact John Rooney at jrooney@unitedspinal.org.

Most retail establishments are covered under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA) and as covered entities they must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). Recently, access to goods and services in retail stores has taken center stage via two (2) large settlements – one with RadioShack and the other with Kmart. This article is meant to serve as a reminder to those individuals that design, construct and manage retail facilities, that compliance with Sections 4.1 – 4.35 and Section 7 of ADAAG are mandated by the ADA.

Last June, two RadioShack customers with disabilities and the Disability Rights Council of Greater Washington, Inc. (DRC) announced a historic settlement of their lawsuit
under the ADA against RadioShack, one of the nation’s leading electronics retailers. The settlement applies to the more than 5,000 stores owned and operated by RadioShack nationwide, and is the first settlement of its kind to address a crucial new issue in disability rights – access to interactive electronic displays, such as displays for camcorders, PDAs, music keyboards, wireless phones, internet centers, digital cameras and laptop and desktop computers.

As a result of the settlement, among other things, RadioShack stores will make their interactive displays accessible, ensure that aisles are 36 inches wide and clear of merchandise, stores will be surveyed and made ADA compliant; the DC area stores will perform accessibility assessments to identify barriers to accessibility; and, at least one register in every RadioShack store will have a credit/debit card reader that is accessible to customers who cannot reach the counter. In addition to these items, management and staff will also undergo accessibility training and RadioShack will retain an ADA Consultant proposed by the DRC who will review RadioShack’s store prototype plans, sales counters, and interactive displays.

In a separate settlement, Kmart will pay $13 million in damages to shoppers with disabilities in Colorado and six other states and will make all its U.S. stores accessible under a class-action settlement announced on March 14, 2006.
Kmart spokesman Chris Brathwaite stated “We settled because the new Kmart management thought it was appropriate to work with plaintiffs’ counsel to develop an action plan for bringing our stores into compliance with federal design standards created to make places like our stores more accessible for disabled customer.” Brathwaite also added “Ongoing improvements such as wider aisles and better inventory management will continue to make Kmart a pleasant shopping environment for all shoppers.”
The settlement agreement calls for Kmart to bring all its stores into compliance with the ADA over 7 1/2 years after approval of the agreement. Nationwide, Kmart stores will institute policies to ensure that shoppers who use wheelchairs or scooters have access to merchandise, counters, restrooms, fitting rooms and parking at all its stores. Kmart also added an innovative idea to the settlement agreement: the use of two-way communication devices in its stores to let shoppers with disabilities ask for help in retrieving merchandise.
These two settlements highlight the importance of thinking about both the architectural design of retail establishments as well as the operational policies instituted to display merchandise. Policies such as keeping aisles clear of merchandise to ensure that an accessible route is maintained throughout stores goes a long way in ensuring that people with disabilities have a pleasant shopping experience. Should you have any questions about retail establishments and accessibility compliance, please feel free to contact Jennifer Perry at jperry@unitedspinal.org.

APPROACH, ENTER AND EXITS

Our department receives many questions concerning the accessibility requirements of employee work areas. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the 2003 International Building Code (IBC) requires that employee work areas be designed and constructed so that individuals with disabilities can approach, enter and exit the work area.

According to the 2003 IBC and the Revised ADA/ABA Accessibility Guidelines, elements within individual work stations are not required to be accessible, with the exception of the following three requirements:

• Common use circulation paths within employee work areas shall be accessible routes.

• If the employee work area is provided with audible alarm coverage, the wiring systems shall be designed so that visible alarm notification appliances can be integrated into the alarm system.

• Employee work areas shall be provided with an accessible means of egress.

Elements within individual work stations, such as built-in counters and shelves are not required to be at accessible heights. Employers who hire people with disabilities who can perform the “essential functions” of the job are required to make “reasonable accommodations” to that employees work area.

The IBC commentary describes an individual work station in a laboratory as an example.

Installing sinks and built-in counters at accessible levels could make the station impractical for use by a person without a disability. When an individual work station is required to be adapted for an individual, it would be revised based on the individual’s specific needs and abilities. An accessible route to each work station in the laboratory would be required so that access to and from that station would be available.

EXEMPTIONS

Both the 2003 IBC and the revised ADA Accessibility Guidelines exempt smaller work areas (defined by IBC as an area less than 150 square feet and by ADAAG as an area less than 300 square feet) that are elevated 7 inches or more above the ground or finish floor where the elevations essential to the function of the space. The IBC commentary provides the following examples: a raised area around a metal stamping machine, a safety manager’s observation station on a production line or the pulpit area in a church.

The 2003 IBC does not require common use circulation paths within employee work areas less than 300 square feet and defined by permanently installed partitions, counters, casework or furnishings to be accessible routes. The revised ADA Accessibility Guidelines includes the same exception but for employee work areas that are less than 1,000 square feet. Both guidelines exempt common use circulation paths from being accessible routes if they are either located within employee work areas that are an integral component of work area equipment or if they are located within exterior employee work areas that are fully exposed to weather.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

When designing employee work areas, employers should keep in mind that individual work stations may have to be retrofitted to meet the specific needs and abilities of a current employee who becomes temporarily or permanently disabled or a new employee with a disability that is hired. Although not required, by making employee work areas more accessible or adaptable at the outset, employers can avoid more costly retrofits. By purchasing furnishings that can easily be adjusted to accessible heights, counters and shelving units will not have to be replaced. Should you have any questions about retail establishments and accessibility compliance, please feel free to contact Linda Volpe at lvolpe@unitedspinal.org.

QUESTION:
Are states obligated to make hiking trails in state parks accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act?

ANSWER:
Yes – there is an obligation under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to make public areas accessible when altered. Additionally, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that facilities altered with federal funds must be made accessible. The United States Access Board published accessibility guidelines for outdoor developed areas, including accessible walking surfaces, in its revised ADA/ABA Accessibility Guidelines. Although these guidelines are not yet enforceable, they are your best resource for accessible trail surface materials. You can visit the Access Board’s website at www.access-board.gov to locate this information.