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ADA

annmarie64

Registered User
Joined
Jul 30, 2021
Messages
6
Location
California
I have four buildings that are are part of a private development. All of the buildings are on the same site in California:

Building #1 is 2-stories of student housing (R-2) only
Building #2 is 3-stories - Mixed Used on the 1st floor and 2 stories of student housing (R-2)
Building #3 is 2-stories - Office (B) on the1st floor and student housing on the 2nd floor (R-2)
Building #4 is 3-stories - Mixed Used on the 1st floor and 2 stories of student housing (R-2)

Question #1 - Is it possible to put ALL of our required ADA units for ALL of the four buildings on the ground floor of Building #1 only?

Assuming Question #1 is possible:
Question #2 - Is it possible for me to delete the elevator in Building #1 since it's completely R-2 and will have all of the ADA units on the ground floor? We have stairs.
Question #3 - Is it possible for me to delete the elevator in Building #3 since Office is one the 1st floor and R-2 is on the 2nd floor? We have stairs.
 
Suppose you have all the ADA units in building 1. One day that building is severely damaged in a fire, total loss. What do you do for ADA units for the year it takes to rebuild?
 
Can you alter your design to somehow connect all of the buildings so that they would be considered "one building"? Maybe you could get away with it then...
 
It appears as though the Fair Housing Act is the answer. It's a no. Cannot discriminate at all.
Yep the FHA is the go to on this, though not my everyday area of expertise, my understanding is that you need to provide the same opportunity to all, thus by limiting the locations to 1st floor one building, you have not provided the 2nd floor or 3rd floor life style option to all.
 
2019 CBC 1102A.1 "...Each building on a building site shall be considered separately when determining the requirements contained in this chapter..."

2019 CBC 11B-224 Transient Lodging Guest Rooms, Housing at a Place of Education and Social Service Center Establishments
2019 CBC 11B-224.1.3 Range of Accommodations
Accessible guest rooms or suites shall be dispersed among the various classes of sleeping accommodations to provide a range of options applicable to room sizes, costs, and amenities provided.

1998 Fair Housing Act Manual-(HUD)- "...Covered units should be dispersed between buildings and, if possible, among all the (accessible) floors...."
 
I have four buildings that are are part of a private development. All of the buildings are on the same site in California:

Building #1 is 2-stories of student housing (R-2) only
Building #2 is 3-stories - Mixed Used on the 1st floor and 2 stories of student housing (R-2)
Building #3 is 2-stories - Office (B) on the1st floor and student housing on the 2nd floor (R-2)
Building #4 is 3-stories - Mixed Used on the 1st floor and 2 stories of student housing (R-2)

Question #1 - Is it possible to put ALL of our required ADA units for ALL of the four buildings on the ground floor of Building #1 only?

Assuming Question #1 is possible:
Question #2 - Is it possible for me to delete the elevator in Building #1 since it's completely R-2 and will have all of the ADA units on the ground floor? We have stairs.
Question #3 - Is it possible for me to delete the elevator in Building #3 since Office is one the 1st floor and R-2 is on the 2nd floor? We have stairs.
You cannot deny those with disabilities access to upper floors to visit other students.
 
2019 CBC 1102A.1 "...Each building on a building site shall be considered separately when determining the requirements contained in this chapter..."

2019 CBC 11B-224 Transient Lodging Guest Rooms, Housing at a Place of Education and Social Service Center Establishments
2019 CBC 11B-224.1.3 Range of Accommodations
Accessible guest rooms or suites shall be dispersed among the various classes of sleeping accommodations to provide a range of options applicable to room sizes, costs, and amenities provided.

1998 Fair Housing Act Manual-(HUD)- "...Covered units should be dispersed between buildings and, if possible, among all the (accessible) floors...."

The original poster said it was private student housing, but did not say it was at a place of education. There are plenty of college towns that have offsite private housing aimed at the student market, in which case 11B-224 would not apply to the dwellings.

Nevertheless, the original post's question is definitively answered by your reference to CBC 1102A.1. If it is private housing, each building gets considered separately. Then, per CBC 1104A.2: "Where the first [i.e., lowest] floor containing dwelling units in a building is above grade, all units on that floor shall be served by an accessible route."

annmarie64, a belated welcome to this forum! You titled this thread "ADA", but if it is private, off-campus housing in California, the housing portion it is subject to California Building Code 11A, which is similar to the Fair Housing Act in scope. In that case, as per the paragraph above all of your dwelling units on the ground floor of building 1 and the second floor of buildings 2, 3, and 4 will need to be ADAPTABLE per CBC 11A and need to be on an accessible route (typically an elevator in each building (#2-4) is one way to comply).

Other tricks / workarounds:
Connect all of the buildings, as a previous post suggested.
Provide at least one dwelling unit on the ground floor of each building, and make it accessible or adaptable. Then you've fulfilled the requirements of both CBC 11A and FHA.

(Side note: consider posting other future accessibility questions in the accessibility forum on this website.)

You cannot deny those with disabilities access to upper floors to visit other students.

ADAguy, please provide a code citation that supports this statement. There is a lot of CBC 11B and ADA compliant new public housing that has multiple floors but no elevators, only an accessible ground floor and stairs to upper floors.
I know that capability for wheelchair-user visitation to all dwelling unit entrance doors is a concept in Universal Design, but Universal Design is not a code or ADA requirement.
For purposes of visiting other tenants, the code only requires that all tenants have an accessible route to any common facilities, and if those common facilities happen to include meeting places, great. For example, tenants can agree to meet at the lobby or recreation room.
 
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