Disabled Access
The Americans with Disabilities Act gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, State and local government services, and telecommunications.
Questions or concerns regarding disabled access issues should be addressed to the Building Official, Robin Woodman at rwoodman@ci.capitola.ca.us
Accessibility and Your Business
What exactly are the responsibilities of a business when it comes to providing access for people with disabilities? In order to clearly understand this issue it is important to know that there are two separate laws, which affect you, the business owner. The first is a federal law, the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA, as it is more commonly called, is a very comprehensive, anti-discrimination law created by the United States Congress and signed into law by President George Bush in 1990. Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in places of public accommodation and commerce. The second set of regulations that apply to businesses and accessibility are contained within the state of California’s building code, Title 24. Title 24’s accessibility requirements are triggered when you apply for a building permit to construct, repair or remodel your business.
Let’s look at each of these laws in more detail. The ADA prohibits businesses from discriminating on the basis of disability. But what exactly are business owners required to do under the federal law? The ADA requires owners of existing places of public accommodation to remove architectural and communication barriers to the extent that removal is readily achievable. “Readily achievable” is defined as easily accomplishable without much difficulty or expense. Architectural barriers in this context might include a lack of accessible parking in an existing parking lot or narrow doorways. Communication barriers would include inaccessible public phones or permanent room signage that does not include Braille symbols. These are some examples of items that might be made accessible without much difficulty or expense. The actual determination of what is readily achievable must be made by the owner in consideration of individual circumstances.
The second set of regulations, California’s building code – Title 24 does not allow the business owner the same latitude as the ADA in determining what must be done to provide accessibility. Every time a non-residential building permit is issued accessibility requirements are triggered. The area of remodel, structural repair or addition is required to comply with all accessibility building standards. In addition, an accessible primary entrance and path of travel to the area of remodel are required, as well as accessible restroom, drinking fountains and telephones.
Exceptions to this rule can be made if the total construction valuation is less than $166,157 (2019) and the building official has made a finding of unreasonable hardship.If these criteria are met, the building official may exempt the applicant from installing access features that create a disproportionate cost. The factor to be used for determining disproportionate cost is 20% of the cost of the project without the access features. The project must, however, provide access features to the maximum extent possible without incurring disproportionate cost.
The following example illustrates this calculation:
A. Total cost of construction with access features: $70,000
B. Total cost of construction without access features: $50,000
C. Difference between (A) & (B): $20,000
$20,000 exceeds 20% of the cost of the proposed construction. Therefore, the cost is disproportionate and the access work would be limited to providing full access in the area of remodel, plus $10,000 would be invested in access features in the following order of priority:
1. An accessible entrance.
2. An accessible route to the altered area.
3. An accessible restroom.
4. Accessible telephone.
5. Accessible drinking fountains.
6. Accessible parking.
In a nutshell the California building code requires the expenditure of at least an additional 20% of what you had estimated your construction cost to be without access features, if the features listed above are not already in place.
