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Boat dock questions

G

gfretwell

Silver Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2011
Messages
320
Location
Estero Florida
I am confused by what I hear and what I read about the accessible boat dock rules.

This is Florida. I am arranging dock improvements at my community association. The marine contractor says the new dock we are building needs to be accessible but they define that as 36" wide. I read it as 60" wide. That will be "the" accessible dock at this location. We have another docking location a couple hundred yards away. Will we need another accessible dock there or can we just say we have the one we need for this facility.

The second location will really be a problem since the elevation is not conducive to a legal ramp.
 
In a way, you are both correct depending on which part of the "dock" you are talking about. For the most part, your 60" answer is correct. There is a lot to know about access to boat docks, the dock itself then the boat slips.

All of the information you need can be found here:

http://www.access-board.gov/recreation/guides/boating.htm

If you have any specific question that need further clarification, please feel free to come here and ask.
 
Thanks, that is here I was looking. I still do not see how a 36" wide pier could possibly qualify but the contractor is saying that will work.
 
Don't confuse a dock with a boat slip

Boat Slips[Text Version]

A boat slip is the portion of a pier, main pier, finger pier, or float where a boat is berthed or moored, or used for embarking or disembarking

Accessible Boat Slips

Accessible boat slips must have clear pier space at least 60 inches wide and as long as the slip. Providing more than 60 inches wide clear space will improve safety for people with disabilities, especially on floating piers. This space is the minimum necessary for individuals with disabilities to have sufficient space adjacent to their boat slip to use a chair lift or transfer device for getting on or off their vessel and provide a turning space for changing directions. Every 10 feet of linear pier edge serving the accessible slips must have at least one continuous clear opening that is at least 60 inches wide. There are three exceptions:

  • The width of the clear pier space may be 36 inches wide for a length of 24 inches, as long as multiple 36-inch segments are separated by segments that are 60 inches minimum clear in width and 60 inches minimum clear in length, and the clear openings are at least 60 inches deep.
  • Edge protection is not required, but if provided, it can be 4 inches high maximum and 2 inches deep maximum at the continuous clear openings.
    page-13hi.jpg

  • In alterations, facilities with finger piers must have at least one accessible finger pier, which is the length of the boat slip and a minimum of 60 inches wide. Other accessible slips can be located perpendicular to the end of the pier with clearance extending the width of the slip. In facilities without finger piers, at least one accessible slip must be parallel to the pier and be a minimum of 60 inches wide.
 
Florida has its own DOJ certified accessibility code based on ADAAG 1991 [last I checked]. The stuff from access board does not apply - although that doesn't relieve anyone of the need for accessibility.

Second if the facilities are for the use of residents only, they fall under HUD-FHA not ADA as common areas.

Both common areas would be required to be accessible.
 
This is a common area in an HOA community. It is a pier serving a boat slip.

There are two mooring areas.

If we did have to built an accessible (60" wide) slip/pier could it be at another location on the property ? Does every mooring area need one accessible slip or are we one "facility" only requiring one?

Total count is less than 25.
 
Ben is right about this. Florida does not have the rules in place to "require" compliance with any requirement for accessible docks because they have not adopted rules that are enforcable. The information above is only a suggestion. You can tell the submitter that you can only "suggest" strongly that they follow the Access Board's guidelines. The new 2010 Accessibility Standards have provisions as well but are optional now. The feds can still pursue the owner in federal court for discrimination. But that's a federal concern - not one that is in place in the Florida Accessibility Code.
 
[Disclosure: I am a Florida Architect - License AR63850]

I recommend using an architect to determine building code accessibility requirements, not a contractor.

I also recommend using an architect to guide you in ADA and FHA compliance, not a contractor.

You can PM me with your needs and I will send you a proposal.

It is likely to cost less than an attorney to fight a discrimination lawsuit.
 
Can you clarify - is the following statement is correct?

The "slip" is the portion of a dock that is adjacent to a boat space for mooring or boarding purposes.

The "dock" everything else that's at or near water level, that leads up to the "slip". (Is the "dock" always a floating system?)

The "gangway" is the variable-slope attachment that mediates between the dock and the pier (non-floating, over-the water structure.

OR is it:

The "slip" is analogous to a parking stall, and a "dock" analogous to a passenger loading zone?
 
According to the 2010 Accessibility Standards:

Boat Slip. That portion of a pier, main pier, finger pier, or float where a boat is moored for the purpose of berthing, embarking, or disembarking.

Gangway. A variable-sloped pedestrian walkway that links a fixed structure or land with a floating structure. Gangways that connect to vessels are not addressed by this document.







There is no definition for "Dock" in the standards. The dock is the entire thing. Slips and gangway. Pier and whatever else you want to associate with boats in the water.

 
This is a boat slip. A single fixed pier about 30 feet long, 36" wide and as currently in permitting.

My real question is whether adding another accessible slip at the other mooring location would satisfy the need if we had a problem. They all end up in the same river.
 
Thanks, Gene.

I spent my childhood in Newport Beach. "slips" were the places where boats stayed 98% of the time, and "docks" were the places right off the main bay area where a boat would pull up for loading / unloading, after it had left the slip.

Much more helpful to use the code definition.
 
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