What your architect might not tell you -- but you should know

When I worked for a disability rights law firm, I learned that many architects and product manufacturers say they are "ADA-compliant" when in fact they are not. One lawsuit I worked on was against a library. Did I hesitate when asked to go after a library? No, I was eager. Of all places, libraries should be fully accessible!

Libraries are not off the hook if an architect incorrectly tells them that their plans are Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant. Nor should they be ... library users need to get in the doors and be able to use all library services. Libraries should check out ADA compliance for themselves or hire a qualified consultant to do so.

If you're planning a new building or renovation, you should know that on July 23, 2004, the Access Board issued new ADA guidelines that will apply soon. The guidelines, a decade in the making, will apply to virtually all types of libraries, covering items from drinking fountains to parking spaces to protruding objects.

Although they will be effective September 21, 2004, the guidelines will not become enforceable standards until the Department of Justice adopts them, most likely sometime in the next year. 69 Fed. Reg. 44,084, et seq., (July 23, 2004)

p.s. Don't forget to check your state law, which may have additional requirements.

Comments

In defense of architects (of which I am one) in the real world, there's no such thing as being "ADA compliant." Because ADA is a lightning rod for lawsuits, and is ever-evolving in the courts, no architect (that I know anyway) would ever certify a project as ADA compliant. What I do state in my general notes, is that our construction documents comply with the current federal ADA requirements in their present form, and to our best understanding of these issues. Declaring a project "ADA compliant" to a client would be similar to an attorney declaring an exhaustive, profuse contract "air-tight." It's just impossible to foresee every possible permutation or application of the sweeping requirements for barrier-free accessible routes, restrooms, elevation changes, and ergonomic issues. The courts here in Texas have ruled against construction companies and architects even when no clear ADA violation exists -- people in wheelchairs present a powerful visual in the courtroom, and juries feel compelled to reward them for their disability alone. As an elder colleague informed me a while back: it's not what the rules say, it's what the poor fellow in the wheelchair suing you says. Because of this we are now being held to the impossible standard of not only having to comply with every minute detail, but also to predict every perceivable difficulty a disabled person could face.