Is Your Building ADA Compliant?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) went into effect on January 26, 1992, with the goal of prohibiting the exclusion of people with disabilities from everyday activities. The Act ensures that everyone is able to enjoy the simple things in life from shopping at a store to enjoying a meal at a restaurant to watching a movie in a theater. As a business owner, it is imperative that you keep the regulations stated in the ADA in mind when constructing or remodeling your business.
Architectural Barriers
Any physical feature of the building that could limit or prevent a person with a disability from entering or using your establishment is considered an architectural barrier. These barriers even focus on the finer details such as the width of your parking spaces or a couple of steps leading to the entrance of the business. Be cautious of using round door knobs that may be difficult to grasp or aisles that are narrow. Even looking at what type of flooring you use and if tables and counters would be appropriate for wheelchairs, scooters, or walkers.
Accessible Parking
Although we briefly touched on the width of parking spots in architectural barriers, there are a lot more regulations that go into the parking for an establishment. Handicap parking must be designated and accessible with additional space on either side that will serve as an access aisle. These access aisles are crucial for people using a wheelchair, electric scooter, or other devices to get out of their vehicle. The accessible spaces should be closest to the entrance and located on level ground. If the level ground is not available closest to the entrance, an accessible route must be available from the parking spots to the entrance of the business including no steps or steeply-sloped surfaces.
Although this is only a brief summary of the types of accommodations your business needs to include, the project managers assigned to your project will be able to walk you through the rest of the regulations and how to seamlessly incorporate them into your designs. The team at Magellan Construction is well-versed in how these regulations can affect the construction process, and we are available to help you navigate the process at (337)856-0034.
Source: https://www.ada.gov/reachingout/smbusgd.pdf