ADA Compliance Survey

Does your office, store, facility or house of worship comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act? Adaptive Architecture can perform an on site survey of your building to determine any non-conformance with this very complex piece of government legislation. The survey would include, but not be limited to, the review of all building entrances, hallways, stairways, ramps, elevators, doorways, and bathrooms as well as automobile parking spaces.

We will provide you with a written report outlining our findings and recommendations on any necessary modifications to bring your building into compliance with the ADA. If extensive modifications are required, we can design and produce construction drawings to initiate the construction process.Adaptive Architecture has provided these service on numerous occasions and routinely lectures and writes about the ADA and accessibility issues. The following is a recent article on this subject authored by the principal of Adaptive Architecture.

Why Accessibility Requirements Should Be Enforced

By Todd Rosenblum, AIA

Ramps, handrails, wider door openings. These are all accessibility features that can literally open doors that have until recently been closed to a significant portion of the population. And not just those in wheelchairs - but those using a walker, cane or baby carriage, as well as those who just have difficulty negotiating stairs and other architectural barriers.

Accessibility requirements - whether those set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act Architectural Guidelines (ADAAG) or the American National Standard (ANSI) 117.1-1992 Accessible and Useable Buildings and Facilities - are important to anyone who uses buildings, not just those with disabilities. The provisions in these standards applying to building construction are directly applicable to persons with many types and levels of disability as well as the elderly, and improve the usability and functionality of buildings for all people.

Take for example, the lever type door handle and opening force requirements for entry doors. These can make the difference between truly independent access and inaccessibility for individuals with mobility and strength impairments. Often, a building that is perceived as difficult to access becomes completely inaccessible, as those with disabilities are discouraged from attempting entry.Accessible toilet and bathing facility requirements, while generally needing larger spaces, improve the usability of such facilities for all users. Accessible toilet stalls are ideal for persons requiring assistance with toileting, such as small children or the elderly. The same may be said for accessible showers and bath tubs, as the additional space and control requirements make these fixtures easier to use.

Requirements for the use of tactile signage, Braille, visual and audible alarm systems and telecommunications devices for the deaf are critical to the health and life safety of building occupants with vision and hearing impairments.

In our experience as architects, we have often encountered the question: "If I don't have any disabled employees or customers, why should I make my building accessible?" Our answer has been: "Because it's the law and it's the right thing to do. And maybe you would have disabled employees and customers if your building was accessible." For building owners, creating an accessible building is "the right thing to do" because it makes good business sense, opening up their facility's goods or services to more people. By some accounts, approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population has some form of disability. This is certainly a statistic that no business person should ignore. For a building's occupants and visitors, accessibility means the ready use of all of that facility's features and functions.

Whether we like it or not, we are all aging and will inevitably require some sort of accommodation to fully utilize the built environment. Even the most active among us can become permanently or temporarily disabled through an accident or sports injury and require accessibility features previously considered unnecessary bureaucratic requirements.

For more information on accessibility issues contact the ADA Technical Assistance Center at 1-800-949-4232.