2010 ADA Standards - Implementation

[RLGA]

Below is an excerpt from Title III of the ADA:

§ 36.406 Standards for new construction and alterations.

(a) Accessibility standards and compliance date.

(1) New construction and alterations subject to §§ 36.401 or 36.402 shall comply with the 1991 Standards if the date when the last application for a building permit or permit extension is certified to be complete by a State, county, or local government (or, in those jurisdictions where the government does not certify completion of applications, if the date when the last application for a building permit or permit extension is received by the State, county, or local government) is before September 15, 2010, or if no permit is required, if the start of physical construction or alterations occurs before September 15, 2010.

(2) New construction and alterations subject to §§ 36.401 or 36.402 shall comply either with the 1991 Standards or with the 2010 Standards if the date when the last application for a building permit or permit extension is certified to be complete by a State, county, or local government (or, in those jurisdictions where the government does not certify completion of applications, if the date when the last application for a building permit or permit extension is received by the State, county, or local government) is on or after September 15, 2010, and before March 15, 2012, or if no permit is required, if the start of physical construction or alterations occurs on or after September 15, 2010, and before March 15, 2012.

(3) New construction and alterations subject to §§ 36.401 or 36.402 shall comply with the 2010 Standards if the date when the last application for a building permit or permit extension is certified to be complete by a State, county, or local government (or, in those jurisdictions where the government does not certify completion of applications, if the date when the last application for a building permit or permit extension is received by the State, county, or local government) is on or after March 15, 2012, or if no permit is required, if the start of physical construction or alterations occurs on or after March 15, 2012.

(4) For the purposes of this section, "start of physical construction or alterations" does not mean ceremonial groundbreaking or razing of structures prior to site preparation.

(5) Noncomplying new construction and alterations.

(i) Newly constructed or altered facilities or elements covered by §§ 36.401 or 36.402 that were constructed or altered before March 15, 2012, and that do not comply with the 1991 Standards shall, before March 15, 2012, be made accessible in accordance with either the 1991 Standards or the 2010 Standards.

(ii) Newly constructed or altered facilities or elements covered by §§ 36.401 or 36.402 that are constructed or altered on or after March 15, 2012, that do not comply with the 1991 Standards shall, on or after March 15, 2012, be made accessible in accordance with the 2010 Standards.

Do the phrases in bold refer to the certificate of occupancy (CofO)?

 

[mark handler]

Ron

I don't think so.

A Certificate of Occupancy is issued before a building can be occupied, or before an existing building can be used for a new purpose.

You can pull a permit on an existing building without a new C of O being issued.

 

[RLGA]

Mark:

Then what do you think is meant by those phrases?

 

[mark handler]

mark:then what do you think is meant by those phrases?

the date of when you pulled the first or last permit.

 

[RLGA]

Leave it to bureaucrats to take what could be a simple description and make it verbose and less understandable.

 

[Examiner]

I read somewhere or was informed by the DOJ tech people that if a building is to be permitted or issued a C of O after the new law goes into affect we are to design using the 2010 ADA Standards. We are using the 2010 ADA Standards even if the job is going to be finised this year (2011). They also said to me that it was Okay to use the new standards now. Did I get it in writing, NO. Just a phone call discussion. I was suprised they called me at all after my email inquiry. Maybe they did not want something in writing to show up.

 

[RLGA]

Okay, I just spoke with an ADA technician at the DOJ. They qualify their advice at the beginning by statins that what they tell you is nonbinding on the department.

The technician's response to my question is as Mark had stated, it is the date when the last official permit is issued, and not the certificate of occupancy or the certificate of completion for nonoccupiable buildings (i.e. shell buildings).