cburgess
Member
In my role as a state building official, a dispute has come to our attention over an accessibility issue. I'd like others' thoughts on it.
A new two-story school building for small children is under construction. A portion of the building's first floor is open through the second floor to the roof. On the second floor, that open-to-below area is bound by a compliant guard railing. The designer has placed a tubular spiral playground slide in that open area, from the second floor down to the first. It is accessed by a hole in the second floor guard rail system. There is an elevator to the second floor located immediately adjacent to the slide.
The local official has cited this slide as not complying with the building code's Section 1103.1 for general accessibility (our current code is based on the 2012 model). He has provided no information as to how he believes it falls short of the mark.
So the questions before me are these:
Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have.
A new two-story school building for small children is under construction. A portion of the building's first floor is open through the second floor to the roof. On the second floor, that open-to-below area is bound by a compliant guard railing. The designer has placed a tubular spiral playground slide in that open area, from the second floor down to the first. It is accessed by a hole in the second floor guard rail system. There is an elevator to the second floor located immediately adjacent to the slide.
The local official has cited this slide as not complying with the building code's Section 1103.1 for general accessibility (our current code is based on the 2012 model). He has provided no information as to how he believes it falls short of the mark.
So the questions before me are these:
- Is the device really noncompliant with 1103.1? There's an elevator to the top.
- If it really is noncompliant, does that presuppose that an accessible version exists, or that one can be created? And how would it be different? What does an accessible tubular spiral slide look like? Or would it simply need to be removed completely?
- The building code doesn't regulate outdoor playgrounds. Does it regulate indoor ones?
- How is this device any different from a piece of furniture that's ungoverned by the code? It's not a part of the building in the same way a doorway or set of stairs are.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have.