ADA: We have devoted this portion of our Internet site to the recent civil rights legislation known as ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) which has been in effect since early 1992. Most of you know that this law exists, but you might not understand how it affects your property.

In the past, compliance for handicap accessibility was required only when a building was being renovated. This is not the case with the ADA law, which states that "All Public accommodations are required to identify & remove, to the greatest extent possible, architectural barriers". The building owner & manager need to identify which barriers exist, then decide which are readily achievable. Some may be attainable in the course of general building maintenance; others may be very difficult and expensive to remedy. This law is enforced by the federal government, not by building departments, though many building departments are now requiring complete ADA compliance whenever a building permit is requested. Building owners and their managers must decide for themselves whether a barrier can be removed easily. Once the decision has been made, we can help with the solutions.


ADA SITE CONCERNS: Accessibility includes building exteriors as well as interiors. It includes items such as ramps & curb cuts which provide access onto walks & other raised areas. ADA states that 50% of all public entrances should be accessible by wheelchair. All ramps should have a 1:20 slope. For a small office building with two entries, this means that the entry which is used most by people who work and visit the building should be handicap accessible. For a strip shopping center, an accessible entry for each tenant is needed. Signage must also be addressed inside & out. This includes noting accessibility routes into a building, public telephone areas, etc. Sara E.F. Gensburg, Ltd. can help you with the many facets of ADA compliance.

ADA PARKING CONCERNS: General parking requirements for a site are usually determined by two factors: square footage and building use. You might find the following examples helpful: a 10,000 square foot retail center requires one parking space for every 200 sq.ft. of gross area or 50 cars total; 2 of the 50 must be handicap-accessible. An industrial property with 150 employees needs parking for every 2 to 5 employees, which translates to 30 to 75 total parking stalls; 3 of these are required to be handicap-accessible. Note that these figures may vary due to the specific use of the space. Factors to keep in mind regarding handicapped parking: handicap accessible spaces should be 16'-0" wide (almost twice the width of a conventional stall); the entire path from parking space to building entry must accommodate a wheelchair, so locate them as close as possible to an accessible building entrance. (A rule of thumb, 1 handicap accessible space per 25 cars.) Contact our office for your specific requirements or parking layouts.

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT DOCUMENT SITE: This website contains copies of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), ADA regulations, technical assistance manuals prepared by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and other technical assistance documents sponsored by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) and reviewed by EEOC or DOJ. If you jump over to the above site, we hope you will come back to visit us again. One way to do that is to place our URL in your HOT LIST on your web browser.

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