AEC definitions
Accessibility, in construction, is the set of requirements that make a building usable by people with disabilities: routes, doors, toilets, parking, and signage. In the United States the adopted building code and ICC A117.1 govern the permit. The ADA Standards are federal civil-rights requirements. A permit does not, by itself, prove ADA compliance, and an ADA survey does not replace the building code.
Definition
The architect shows accessible routes from site arrival through the spaces the code requires, with dimensions for clearances, slopes, and reach. The plans examiner reviews that against the adopted code. The inspector measures the built result. The ADA is enforced through complaints and lawsuits, not usually by the building department. Designing to the adopted code's accessibility chapters, and checking the ADA Standards where they differ, is the practical approach. Alterations have separate rules about how much must be brought up to current criteria.
In depth
From the public way or accessible parking, through the entrance, to the spaces required to be accessible, without a step the criteria do not allow. A ramp on the site plan that lands at a non-accessible door is not a route.
Interior routes include door clearances and turning space. Furniture plans that erase the turning circle are an operations problem if the code required the space to stay clear.
Many technical criteria match. Some differ by edition and by local amendment. The permit set has to satisfy the adopted code. The owner still has ADA obligations. Note which edition the drawings use.
Fair Housing and other federal rules apply to some residential projects. Do not assume commercial ADA criteria cover them.
Slopes, landings, mounting heights, and clear floor spaces should be dimensioned, not left as a general note that says 'comply with ADA.' The examiner cannot review a slogan.
Details for toilets, counters, and showers are where compliance is won. A floor plan alone is thin.
The existing building code and the ADA's alteration rules both address what must be upgraded when you touch an existing building.
The path of travel, the toilet rooms, and the entrance are frequent triggers. Budget them at the start.
Examples
The site plan dimensions an accessible route from the sidewalk to the entrance, slope included. The floor plan continues that route to an accessible toilet.
A door clearance detail shows the maneuvering space the adopted code requires. The furniture plan keeps that space clear.
A tenant alteration budgets the path-of-travel upgrades the code triggers, not only the new finishes.
FAQ
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