Business Accessibility

Did you know that all businesses must be accessible to persons with disabilities? It is true. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990. The law requires accessibility in new, altered and existing facilities. Changes must be readily achievable. Note that ADA is federal civil rights law. The law was amended in 1999 to allow private lawsuits. There have been reports of lawsuits being filed against local Truckee businesses.

Outside accessibility features, such as parking, are easily noticeable as being compliant or not. Therefore, even when performing the simple procedure of re-striping a parking lot, particular attention should be paid to accessibility standards.

ADA and Title 24 California Building Code requirements are separate and different regulations. The building code sets forth disabled access requirements for new buildings. In California, when building permits are issued to improve existing buildings, the code requires the proposed improvements to comply with accessibility standards and in addition, that a minimum of 20% of the value of the project is spent on accessibility improvements (removal and/or upgrade of existing non-conforming accessibility features). The Building and Safety Division enforces these regulations. This is different from the ADA which requires mandatory compliance and is enforced through the federal court system.

Senate Bill 1608 was approved by the State of California in 2008. The law is intended to facilitate and assure compliance with disabled access laws. It authorizes a disabled access certification called CASp (California Access Specialist). The intent is that a business owner can contact a CASp to perform a disabled access survey of their business. The business owner will then know if their business is or is not accessible, in compliance with the law and what needs to be done to make it compliant. A CASp may also help should a lawsuit be filed against one's business. A CASp can be located by visiting the website located at casinstitute.org and clicking on "find a CASp".