I used to work largely doing web development. I didn’t design the look of websites, I built them — from the ground up. I made sure the technical back end worked properly.  In fact I still do it, but mostly for YTA.

What’s interesting about working with programmers and other free lance technicians much holds true for many architects and contractors. While construction and design is different from web development, there’s a similar mentality as both are a kind of engineering.

Sometimes your independent contractor will get a request from a prospective client to do something new. They would know enough that this particular thing could be done — but not know how. Nonetheless they would lie and bullshit and agree to do everything. The general mentality is to go home and spend the next 72 hours agonizing over a book trying to learn how to do what it is you’ve requested of them. The funny part about this is that often these free lance consultants would charge you a ton of money and quote you a huge amount of time. So not only do they want to have time to get it right, they also want to charge you for making them learn something new.

With this in mind I would like to introduce to you the California Division of State Architect‘s access compliance manual.

While this manual consists of largely technical information, such as occupancy type, and a re-printing of what is otherwise in the California Building Code, it does include some helpful dimensions on many of the specific measurements we perform. The application of those measurements and their types may be a little confusing.

This code reference, however, isn’t completely up to date. Included in the checklist is a regulatory list of applicable dimensions and requirements. It’s up to the consultant to decide if they apply. The issue with this checklist though, is that it doesn’t include the latest ADA 2010 — only the older ADA of 1992.

Most likely, a construction or design expert wouldn’t turn to the DSA, as the DSA is a state entity. The issue for accessibility in CA revolves around they would probably buy a access manual combo, such as CAARM or CalDag. I don’t know of a more recent CAARM, but if you look at the description, it’s applicable for the building code of 2001. For CalDag, the building code it references is the building code of 2008, not the latest California Code of 2010.

If this construction expert was savvy enough to recognize this outdated code, he would have to then cross-reference this book with the California building code, something he would have to do for the ADA 2010.

To complicate things further, if your building had not been altered since say, 2002, then the building code of 2001 may actually apply — but the ADA 2010 also applies, meaning he would have to cross-reference texts anyway.

In either case, before you hire anyone for your ADA needs, if you have the time, I would urge you to look at the Division State Architect’s Access Manual and get a taste for the complexity involved.

All of this cross-referencing and page flipping means more billable hours to you. Not only that, but why not hire someone who is already familiar with these different codes and regulations? The problem isn’t in using reference materials — no one can remember every number exactly, and the codes are always changing.  The problem is the general familiarity of the application.  How can someone catch all the nuances if they don’t know the basic applicability?

In this case, hiring someone who is new to this field will not only cost you more in money, but also in liability.  If they miss something or interpret something incorrectly, it’s your lawsuit.  Why not go with someone who is familiar with the risk?

Any questions or concerns?  Call us at 866 982 3212 or email us at help@ytaccess.com.

What do you do when you receive an ADA compliance letter? The general gist is pretty standard:

• Here are some items that are out of compliance
• These laws say you are in violation
• Pay our firm money to settle or we will take you to court

This is a nightmare situation for a small business owner.  You never have the resources to fight this, nor the time to look deeply into it yourself.  You might have heard a few things about this on the news or from your friends.  But you’re not an expert. This situation is bound to give you endless nights tossing and turning, feelings of helplessness, anger and disbelief.  Unfortunately, because of your limited resources, as a small business, you are an easy target for litigants.  So what should you do?

First off, I must offer a disclaimer.

I am not an attorney.

I cannot give you legal advice.  For legal advice, contact an attorney (for attorney info see below at step 1).

The most I can offer here, is our experience dealing with our client’s situations.

This article is meant to help guide you so you can make the right decisions.

Instead of making costly decisions.

What do we see our clients do?

The Situation:

An ADA compliance notice should list areas of deficiency in your facility.  The exact details of the violations are always changing so these letters change too.  But in general they follow the three bullet points above.

In the past, such notices were a cookie-cutter list, some of which were invalid and would get thrown out in court. The few items that stuck would prompt you to settle because even if you fought it, those items are legitimate.  In the eyes of the law, really, the only eyes that do count, being in violation with the requirements of the law mean that you need to pay the settlement and then pay both their attorney and your attorney.

The specific tactics have changed as the laws have changed.  Rather than threatening you with a list, half of which could get thrown out, making them look bad, savvier attorneys may threaten you with one or two very simple but legitimate issues.  Then you’re 100% wrong, and you HAVE TO FIX IT AND PAY.

So before we get to the steps, let’s address two scenarios.  What’s the worst that could happen?

The worst that will come from not following these three steps properly is that you will have to fight and lose a lawsuit and then pay the settlement.

Being sued once, if you didn’t learn your lesson the first time, there’s a good chance you will get sued again.  In fact, you could get sued for the very same issue by someone else while you’re still dealing with your first lawsuit.

This has happened to at least one of our previous clients.  They didn’t just refuse our service after asking about what we do during the initial lawsuit.  (They felt that the lawsuit was unjustified because in their words: “We were sure we didn’t do anything wrong.”) They were so emotionally distraught that just talking about the issue caused them to vent at us as though we brought it on them. They didn’t just not hire us, they also refused to hire ANYONE. In fact they refused to DO ANYTHING, as though their stubbornness would make the situation go away. Unfortunately, it did not.

It took them two lawsuits which they both settled before they hired us.

In a different situation, a quasi-government entity had me do an ADA compliance study. The laws yielded them some results which we presented. For what ever reason, this entity decided that an alternate construction was the most cost effective solution, despite our best efforts to warn them that this “solution” broke other laws.

They then got sued by someone else for their brand new construction.

Don’t be stubborn. Compliance is compliance. If you don’t hire us at least follow these steps, get an attorney and then get an ADA expert to study your site.

The Absolute BEST thing you can do to avoid such a letter is to be compliant.  Since the savvier attorneys who litigate such causes have been sending out ADA experts to measure and document violations, your best bet is to become ADA compliant.  You can do this a variety of ways.  You could hire ADA consultants like ourselves, or you could try and do it yourself.  Both options are presented here:

ADA Consultation Guide: What we do and where you can go to learn

Baring that, if you do have such a letter, let me emphasize a few things.

There are three steps to take.

Only three.   Sounds simple enough?  READ ON!

Step 1. The most important thing is to answer the letter.

I cannot emphasize this enough.

If you ignore the letter, in 90 days you will probably be sued in court.  Do NOT throw away the letter. Throwing the letter away or ignoring it, or pretending you didn’t get it compounds the problem, so that not only did you violate the ADA (thereby committing under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, making your violations an act of discrimination) but you also don’t show good faith.  Intention does not matter.  Your recorded, documentable actions do matter.  They matter a great deal.  Ignorance is not an excuse, it’s nearly an admission that you did something wrong, by not being responsible and not doing what you should have done in the first place.

You must be a responsible.

Doing otherwise only weakens your position.

So how do you answer it?  You can write the letter yourself, or you can hire an ADA experienced attorney.  We would recommend the individuals mentioned here:

Frank Chen

Matthew Norris

Both of these attorneys are experienced with handling ADA cases.

Even if you write the letter yourself, we still recommend that you hire an ADA consultant.  An attorney by the very nature of their trade can only help you AFTER YOU ARE SUED.  To prevent being sued in the first place, you should become ADA compliant.

Step 2. Get an ADA Compliance Survey

This step seems like a no-brainer.  But you wouldn’t believe the number of people who email or call and insist that their store is compliant because we have wheelchair users come in all the time!

This claim is the equivalent to a business addressing a lawsuit from one of their employees by claiming that their business is compliant because the other employees did not also sue.  This isn’t a defensible position as people don’t have to sue if they don’t want to.  Rather than argue with this excuse, businesses must understand, like it or not, if you open a business, you must follow the letter of the law.

If anything, getting an ADA expert who look at your site to verify the claims is one possible way to get around the problem.  Remember, they are suing you, so the burden of proof is on their side.

You must get the facts.  ADA violations are very dependent on specific measurements.  After all it’s the specific measurements which have gotten tens of thousands of small businesses in trouble.

If this litigant is new to this field, they could have made some errors somewhere, such as claiming that van parking cannot be shared with other access aisles.  We’ve helped attorneys with this.  The intermix of California Building Code and ADA Access Guidelines with the different standards and continuing discussion is very confusing, even to some professionals.  Many websites contain faulty information, or outdated information as do many ADA guidebooks.  A plaintiff new to this field might try to sue you for something that you aren’t required to do.

So getting an expert to verify the claims and then having your attorney talk to their attorney is the best way to resolve this issue.

What kind of expert should you get?  The highest license available on ADA expertise (in fact the only one) is called CASp.  You can read about it here.

ADA Compliance: Why CASp?

The (inexpensive) Cost of ADA Compliance

At the point you should understand that step 2 by itself won’t solve the issue.  You MUST FIX THE VIOLATIONS.  No survey, not even a CASp inspection will solve ADA violations by itself.  You must actively address the issues.  Which brings us to Step 3.

Step 3. Remediate the ADA Violations

So now you have the ADA violations in hand.  What then?  When following up with clients, we always astounded to hear that they did nothing with our report.  Or they gave it to a contractor who took the report away and never returned.  Maybe I should stop being so surprised.

Ideally, this step should have occurred first.

Doing Step 3 before any notice is received will PREVENT LAWSUITS IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Most lawsuits that happen ask for settlement money, looking for the simplest violations.  These are the most egregious because not repairing items that could be easily dealt with shows a lack of good faith.  In fact, such violations demonstrate negligence on the part of ignorant businesses.  The best thing to do then, is to remove that ignorance and do your best to comply with the law.

This doesn’t mean you have to fix everything.  Many of the items are of small expensive.

For instance, insulating pipes could cost as little as 30 dollars.  But buying the proper insulation and not addressing the hot water pipes even if you wrapped the drain, is a problem.  I’ve seen pipes wrapped in duct tape and packing foam.  Is that insulating?  After a while, these things get dirty, get torn off and look awful.  Is that really a solution in the long run?  (Incidentally, Here is a website that sells pipe insulation materials: Plumberex, ADA compliant Solutions.  We met them at a disabilities trade-show last year.)

But insulation as duct tape and foam… that’s something for the courts to decide.  Which may save you 30 dollars, perhaps, but it is grounds for a potential lawsuit.

But wait, why are you trying to save $30 when a lawsuit will cost you thousands?  Aren’t you complying to avoid a lawsuit in the first place?

Best to understand what the law is, and then exceed the letter of the law.

ADA Compliance Takeaway

So okay, the steps are short enough for a blog article.

But step 3 can take some time.  If you don’t have sole responsibility for your parking lot, you may have to talk with your property manager.  I cover those issues above in a link, but I’ll link it again: The (inexpensive) Cost of ADA Compliance

So compliance can take some time.  If you are sued, your number one priority should be to hire an attorney, or at least talk to a knowledgeable one.  We work with attorneys, give us a call we can introduce you to some experienced attorneys.

But the urgency of being in a lawsuit situation aside,  obviously education is the way to understand your legal liability.  Step 3 is the only step that will prevent future lawsuits.

To tell you the truth, it’s often too late to do anything but settle after you are sued.  A violation is in fact a violation. Preventive measures can only happen before a lawsuit.

Obviously then, education is the key.

Compliance is the solution.

But as many small businesses have discovered, compliance requires special knowledge.  Doing your taxes isn’t that easy, and doing a business’s taxes requires quite a bit of commitment upfront and on-going.

So why not hire a good CPA?

It takes architects about 3 months to learn all about the ADA, the different laws and so on.  The problem isn’t the specific building code (although all those numbers can be confusing), it’s all the legality that surrounds it.  And of course, they also need real world experience.

For someone with no experience in this field, it will take them about 6 months before they become able to inspect properties on their own.  At least a year before they can begin to advise people on what to do.  So why wait a year and spend all that effort to save several hundred dollars? Why not hire a good and experienced ADA expert?

Best to get that exposure report right away.

Thoughts?  Questions?  Comment below for feedback, or for more immediate and confidential assistance, call 866 982 3212 or email us at help@ytaccess.com

For those of you who don’t know, CASp stands for Certified Access Specialist. The short version of this history is that the California Senate passed a bill, SB 1608, which altered the nature of ADA compliance requirements for businesses.  This was an ambitious bill, pushed forward mainly by the California Chamber of Commerce.  SB 1608 has far reaching effects.  This article discusses some of the benefits of SB 1608 weighed against some of the added liabilities for business owners.

If you want a more detailed history of SB 1608, you can go to the California Chamber of Commerce ADA Reform page.  We’ve extracted some of the key points from their website, as they are quite broad of this lobbying effort.

I assume that you’re a business owner.  If you aren’t, then you’re probably either an attorney, a contractor or an architect (or an activist).  Either way, you’re interested in how SB 1608 impacts businesses, places of public accommodation as defined under Title 3 of the ADA.

Let’s start with the liabilities.  Understanding the benefits are less meaningful if you don’t know the liabilities.

I assume you’re already familiar with the responsibilities of ADA Compliance at your place of business. Basically, your business must work towards becoming 100% ADA Compliant.  There are a few things to consider in the course of this, like what kind of ADA inspection do you want to get, or when you will fix certain items.  Otherwise, the liabilities listed here are what CASp adds to your responsibility.  It’s important to note that ADA inspections are only the first step towards ADA Compliance.  An inspection, not even a CASp inpsection by itself, does ANYTHING to subtract from your duties to comply with the law.  What a complete ADA inspection does, is demonstrate good faith effort.  Inspections also are useful for contractors and architects who are not generally well versed in ADA compliance.

Liabilities of CASp Inspections

CASp and SB 1608 was passed only to protect businesses interested in ADA Compliance.  There are two main considerations.

1. A CASp inspection requires that a timeline be implemented as to when items are to be made in compliance.  There are no standard guidelines for how to assess this — as such a timeline is largely dependent on the financial resources of the entity in question.  This means that any CASp inspector needs to work with the entity in determining an accurate guide as to when items should be fixed.

If the timeline is too strict, the entity may fall behind fixing these items and in the case of an ADA lawsuit, the entity will look faulty.

If the timeline is too lax, in the case of an ADA lawsuit, the entity could have fixed certain times and remained needlessly liable for that time.

Remember the point of CASp is to become ADA compliant.  If you get a CASp Report and then do nothing, you will become more liable over time.  If you display the CASp certification, considering no one else has one, you’ll probably deter ADA lawsuits for a time.  After a time, having the CASp certification with obvious ADA violations will get you sued.  Then you’ll look extremely worse in court for not complying at all.

2.  CASp can be quite expensive, because of the added liabilities to the CASp Inspector in determining the timeline.  The average cost of CASp is $2400.

3. This is not a liability, but it is worth mentioning:  CASp goes into effect only if the site is sued AFTER getting a CASp inspection.  No protection is offered retroactively.

4. A CASp licensed individual is required to be included in building departments.  The original time line stated that such an individual was to be included as of July in 2010, but this date has been moved into 2014.  CASp is meant to bridge State Building Code and ADA guidelines, as most contractors and architects are not well versed in Federal Civil Code.  While having a CASp individual does not offer a significant benefit, as local ordnances only have jurisdiction over State law, not Federal Civil Law.  A CASp individual in the local building department is a resource to local businesses but as a state employee such an individual is limited to advising about the State regulations.  If you want the benefits of CASp, you’d still have to hire them outside of their normal building department job and pay them the required amount.

Advantages of CASp

The California Chamber of Commerce has listed 10 benefits of SB 1608 for businesses.  We have divided these benefits into two groups, for those who get CASp and everyone else.  This is the first section.

1.  Part of the fear of ADA compliance is the cost.  CASp helps a business focus on what they can pay for.  Remember, the timeline is there to help businesses comply within a reasonable time frame.  If a CASp inspector understands approximately how much a business can afford for ADA compliance per month, the cost of compliance can be spread out over time to achieve 100% ADA Compliance.

2.  CASp certification is offered for all sites, even if they are not yet compliant.  This certification can be posted on a store window to deter litigants looking for an easy target.

3. CASp tries to help businesses avoid expensive lawsuits.  To this end, CASp allows businesses to request a 90 day stay.  This means that opposing attorney can’t rack up expensive attorney fees during discovery, while you decide what to do (accept their settlement or not).

Benefits of SB 1608

The effects of SB 1608 offer several included benefits for business owners whether they get CASp inspected or not.

1. Litigating attorneys who demand money must also include a statement advising the business what their rights are.  So if you haven’t got CASp, you won’t be able to request the 90 day stay.

2.  SB 1608 limits the amount of the damages to $4,000 per visit.  Furthermore these damages must be related to the plaintiff and explained how they injure the plaintiff.  For example, having detectable warnings helps protect those who are legally blind.  Someone in a wheelchair probably won’t be able to sue for a lack of them.  Grab bars would effect such a plaintiff, however, so they will be able to make a complaint about that.

3. A clause is included in SB 1608 to help lessen the attorney’s fees in a settlement.

4. CASp individuals are going to be more common, at least loosely tied to local building deparments (see item #4 under liabilities of CASp).

5. Architects and contractors will be required to learn about the ADA as part of their continuing education so they can be at least aware of what they don’t know.

6. A State Commission is formed to help interface the Disabled Rights and interests of Building Departments.

7. Cal Chambers also lists “new deadlines” for State building code compliance with ADA requirements.  The Division State Architect was already doing this with the Department of Justice.  It’s important though, to have a codified process as the building code is updated every three years.  The ADA is also updated but less frequently.

Consequences of CASp and SB 1608

CalChambers does recognize the need for some coordination between advocacy groups and the interests of the status quo, but as a business organization, they tend to lean towards the interests of big business.  Much of what SB 1608 does is to help entities that have cash take advantage of SB 1608′s lowering of the cost of lawsuits.  Smaller businesses that do not have funds must rely on pressuring larger property management firms to help with the cost of ADA compliance.

It’s also important to note that CASp cannot stop lawsuits, they can only help make the process more difficult for litigants. One of the long term consequences of CASp is that as businesses get CASp certification, those who do not have it, or cannot afford it will face a steeper battle as they become easier targets for litigation.

Add onto this that the Unruh Civil Rights Act defines violations of the ADA as acts of discrimination — this verbage has not changed.  Intention is unimportant to this ruling, as proven in so many court cases.  Businesses that do not comply with the ADA regardless of getting CASp or not still carry the steep fines associated with acts of discrimination — $4,000.

This heavy responsibility is to be sure, mostly on businesses right now.  CalChambers and other business groups are bound to spread this liability to other responsible parties, such as architects, contractors and Real Estate Agents.  So it’s important that all responsible parties with an interest in a place of public accommodation help make their site ADA compliant,

ADA Reform however, is not finished.  Much of SB 1608 mentions benefits to business — offering little or no compensation for the rights of the disabled.  You can be sure there will be an increased effort of disabled advocates to have their say as well.

All this should be considered in getting an CASp inspection.  For a more of a fiscal view of how to balance these responsibilities with ADA compliance take a look here:

How to put a price tag on your liability.

If you’ve decided that getting an ADA compliance report is for you, congratulations.  Our ADA Consulting Services.

If you have questions or concerns call us at 866 982 3212 extension 1!  Or email us at help@ytaccess.com.  Our advice is always free.

235 main st. alhambra, ca 91801accessolution@att.netdirect number: 626.209.9709

Yung Kao

Yung Kao, AIA, CBO, CASp

Certified Access Specialist

ADA & Cal Access

Mr. Yung Kao is a California Certified Access Specialist (CASp) and a member of the Certified Access Specialist Institute (CASI). He is an ADA and California access-compliance consultant. His typical services include CASp Inspection for existing facilities, plan review or construction inspection for new developments, and expert witness in accessibility litigations. Yung received his Masters Degrees in Architecture and in Urban Planning from U. C. Berkeley.

Yung brings tremendous knowledge and experience to the field of accessibility compliance from his multi-track career as a design professional and a code administrator. He is an NCARB licensed architect, registered with the States of California, Nevada and Hawaii. He is also a CABO Certified Building Official. He was the Chief Building Official for the City of Monterey Park for 20 years. Prior to joining the city, Yung had six years architectural practice in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, and was involved in such projects as the Santa Monica Bank office building, Universal Studio Hilton and Tower, renovation of shopping centers, and tenant improvement for restaurants and banks.

A building code expert, Yung is author of numerous code changes adopted by the Uniform Building Code and the International Building Code. He served on ICBO’s Special Inspection Certification Committee, which oversaw ICBO’s Special Inspection certification exams nationwide. He was a member of the California 2000 Code Partnership Committee. He has been active with the ICC L.A. Basin Chapter code committees, and has chaired the Fire Safety committee, Use & Occupancy committee and several subcommittees in the L.A. Regional Uniform Code Program (LARUCP) which was set up to promote uniformity in code interpretation and code amendment for a consortium of 89 cities in the Los Angeles region. Yung was recognized in 2001 by the L.A. City Quality and Productivity Commission for his contribution to furthering the goals of LARUCP.
Combining the backgrounds of a design professional and a code administrator, Yung is able to look at existing access barriers with an eye on various scenarios of remediation. From this solution-oriented perspective he provides building owners and business operators a unique CASp Inspection service that offers insightful analyses of existing nonconformities and realistic remediation recommendations.
Mr. Kao holds several code-related certifications, including:

DSA Certified Access Specialist (CASp-261)
CABO Certified Building Official (No. 1,292)
ICBO Certified Plans Examiner (No. 20,567)
ICBO Certified Building Inspector (No. 28,540)

Additionally, we have done some presentations with Mr Kao.  He is quite knowledgeable as to how businesses and building departments should approach CASp, and the ADA.

For more information about CASp please see our ADA FAQ or the ADA links to more information.

If you have any further detailed questions feel free to call us at 866 982 3212 or email us at help@ytaccess.com

The following quote is from an article on ADA compliance. The quote tells a familiar story, where one owner of a hotel was sued more than once for different ADA compliance issues. The first time he was threatened with a lawsuit, he settled and fixed that one issue. Later, he was sued again, and fought back. At the time of the article, the case was not settled. If anything, this story highlights why a business should get a complete Accessibility Survey.

Many small-business owners, however, worry that paying large settlements to Pinnock would force them to close.

“It sounds like we’re crying,” said Carlos Vasquez, whose three San Ysidro motels near the border were sued. “We’re dealing with the same economy as everyone but add on the fact that people aren’t traveling to Mexico. Add the whole passport-requirements issue.”

Attorney Theodore Pinnock has filed nearly 1,500 lawsuits in California [between 1993 and 2008].

Vasquez’s Frontier Motel on Via de San Ysidro was sued by Pinnock four years ago for, among other things, a sign violation that Vasquez said he fixed. It cost him $10,000, including attorney’s fees. He said he won’t settle this time.

You can read more (Continue…).

The point illustrated above is that, of course, anyone worth their salt as an ADA compliance consultant will tell you that a true compliance survey will be complete, not just of one or two issues. Partial inspections are really worthless! At first glance, partial inspections seem like a savvy business move. Why ignore liability that doesn’t involve you — after all, what you don’t know doesn’t exist, right? Or if you’re not responsible then you can’t possibly care.

Yet we know this is not the case. Anyone who has ever argued with a cop over getting a ticket knows that ignorance is not a defensible position when you break the law. While providing alternate accommodations in lieu of what you can’t yet fix seems like a good catch-all for expensive compliance issues, in the long term, a lessee who continues to lease an out-of-compliance building tells the world that they don’t care.  Such lessees are choosing to locate goods and services in inaccessible locations. This is just as bad as a lessor who claims everything is the lessee’s fault. If a building is seriously non-compliant, the best thing to do is leave that location as soon as possible!

Which brings us to a stronger point. YTA will never do things half way. Our reports are the most complete and thorough of any ADA compliance reports we have ever seen. We also take your (and our) liability seriously. This is while some of our competitors may offer free (but partial) inspections, we aren’t going to do the same.

Free inspections sound like a good idea — they can let you know what some of your liability is — a taste of what’s in violation. Many business models are built around offering free (but partial) services. For example, many tax programs offer the Federal Income Tax portion as free — to use their program to do the state tax though, requires you buy the program. This sounds good, but before you can get meaningful results, you still do need to pay. It’s not like you are paying for only the state tax portion of the program — when you pay, you actually pay for the entire program. So it’s a good way for the free (but partial) model to compete for market share, because it seems like they are giving something of value away. We do commend our colleagues for taking the time and resources to help businesses with something. Our colleagues stand for the same thing we stand for — to bring about ADA compliance — to protect disabled individuals AND the businesses who do something about not being compliant.

But that’s where the differences end.

How good do you think the free version of tax software is? Getting a partial inspection may get their foot in your door, so to speak, for becoming ADA compliant, but what happens when your customer goes through your door? If YTA were to compete with this model, we would have to offer free inspections all the way up to some further arbitrary point. For example, we might do everything for a business (b) type occupancy except for the restrooms. For hotels (r) type occupancy, we might choose to check only the rooms with roll-in showers.

Such an approach would defeat the purpose of ADA compliance. Offering “free” and partial inspections devalues both what the ADA consultant does, and the importance of proper access compliance. If anything, “free” only entices an uneducated public by failing to communicate the real value that comes with applying access codes to an actual site. “Free” can sound like one gets something for nothing, or as in some cases, nothing for nothing. The real purpose of getting an ADA compliance survey is to better serve the public and eliminate liability. Partial inspections can do neither.

Any ADA compliance work needs to look at the complete general path of travel. Making suggestions or citing violations for only a part of the route can create nonsensical “solutions”. Compliant ramps are good and well, but if they lead to non-compliant rooms, then the path of travel is misleading. People can get trapped or confused. Any further access work in the future then would have to undo these “solutions” in order to become truly accessible.

YTA follows the model that general information should be free. We recognize that businesses need time to do what they do. This is why we offer free seminars whenever possible to interested organizations. We do not act as the gatekeepers of knowledge, keeping what we do for a business a secret. We would rather share information. Anyone can go to the ADA.gov or buy a set of the California Building Code (and given an indefinite amount of time become an expert). We have years of experience, but we are willing to offer this openly to save everyone time. We present the information. As our potential customer, you can qualify yourself. Our seminars will address 80% of the most common issues sued for. With this information, responsible individuals can go back to their facility and recognize if they need a customized experience.

This is also why we take the time and expend the effort to answer general questions but don’t offer free consulting services. Every site is different, with different liabilities. In to thoroughly eliminate liability and provide for access we need to fully inspect your property and make thoughtful recommendations. This costs us time and effort. We believe in a straight-forward no-nonsense approach. You recognize if we can help you or not.

We will not cookie-cut a report for you. Come to our speaking events. Through public education, we will show you what we do. If you have further questions, we will continue to service your needs.

Early back in 2009, we did some MCLE presentations with Frank Chen, one of the super lawyers.

Anyway, while he wrote an article a while ago for ADA compliance, here it is, quoted in part, below.

By Attorney Frank W. Chen INTRODUCTION In recent years, there have been a multitude of ADA accessibility lawsuits filed against businesses for alleged violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, and corresponding California law consisting of the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civil Code ? 51 et seq.), the Disabled Persons Act (Civil Code ? 54 et seq.), and the building standards set forth in Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations. Typically, the alleged violations involve lack of handicapped parking and inaccessible restrooms at businesses such as restaurants, motels, retail stores, and office buildings. Under California law, violators of these standards may be found liable for up to three times the amount of actual damages, but not less than $4,000, plus attorney’s fees and costs, even if the violation is seemingly trivial. Conflicting access standards under California and federal laws, a lack of continuing education for building inspectors and architects, and inconsistent interpretations of state law have made compliance with disability-access standards in California difficult.

I didn’t quote all of it, but you can read the rest (including resource citations) below.

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In the past, I’ve tried to take a factual stance on accessibility. No preaching, just the facts. But facts don’t always say much — facts change. They come and go. For this to be a successful business blog, it needs to reach out and take a stand. This company needs to present its philosophy, so that the general reader, potential client or not, understand why we do what we do — which is in a significant sense — even more important than what we do… as why we do something shapes everything about what we do.

If you are reading this I assume you know something about what YTA does. From the point of view of businesses, we are consultants who help businesses lower their liability by making rational accessibility tips. From the point of view of people who are disabled, we help make the world more accessible, but in a way that is nice. For activists, this may be too nice. In the most extreme position of activists, we are not helpful at all — we should be threatening to sue places that violate accessibility guidelines — and then actually suing the places to force them to comply with the law.

At the most basic level, this is what accessibility compliance entails. Compliance with the law. We have had some clients tell us “we don’t want people like that around here” and “i don’t believe that new ramp would ever get used” (as if disabled people do not exist). Both are appalling to hear and thank goodness, not many people say it. Whatever level of engagement you are willing to do for your clients, accessibility is still required by law.

How this happens can be complicated. Basically the ADA defines a disability a condition which “substantially limits a major life activity.” You can read more about what exactly a disability is here:

http://www.access-board.gov/about/laws/ada-amendments.htm

Now that you’ve read the link, regardless of what major life activity has been substantially limited, individuals with a limiting condition must be able to gain access to goods and services in the same way as the general public. This can extend to having assisted listening devices, to having grab bars in the restroom, or having door ways widened so a wheelchair can fit through them. Likewise, having architectural or structural barriers which trap people, or prevents people from getting what everyone else can get (such as a soda fountain switch that is too high up) would qualify as a violation of the ADA. Think of the difference between ketchup packets and having a push button on a ketchup-condiment dispenser.

The few items I have mentioned are simple. Much of what business owners would make of these depends on their attitude. Many business owners are scared away from compliance because they are afraid of expensive changes like tearing down structural, load bearing walls. Or putting in expensive ramps. Or completely changing the way the parking layout is and not having any site parking for a week. So these become “justifications” that serve to downplay the relevance of ADA compliance work. Having this kind of work isn’t often the case, but it could be. The flip side is that business owners may need to change many inexpensive things. Such as changing the door handles on doors that access public spaces and doors that serve as pathways of egress and ingress. Or lowering a counter that is made of wood. Or lowering or raising a sink in one restroom. These business owners might bitterly complain that the ADA is ‘nit-picky’. Again that depends on your attitude. Both positions are on opposite sides regarding the monetary commitment involved in ADA compliance — yet both sides assume their position as reasonable to justify the dismissal of ADA compliance!

Now, not all business owners we’ve spoken with have this attitude. Nonetheless, this little dialectic suggests that downplaying the importance of ADA compliance is unrelated to either position. Having any excuse to toss aside the ADA is a pathological attitude. After all, is it nit-picky to ensure that your customers have a good experience, or an experience that is safe for them? Is it nit-picky to consider the wide range of ability, age, and condition of every person whose money is green?

This gets us to the baseline of businesses. All businesses need to have positive cash flow in order to be a viable. We understand that. The ADA does make some allowances on what is ‘readily achievable’. The basic idea is that small entities that can’t afford costly renovations. What is the determining factor of what is costly depends on a great many things. Larger corporations, of course, will have a higher threshold of what is allowable. Yet if each business saved a dollar a day, since the ADA became law, that would mean today, each business in operating since the signing of the ADA would have $7,497.00!!

This emphasis on money seems to exemplify a basic attitude about the world we live in. This recent story on NPR, Is Marriage Rational comes to the conclusion that marriage is in fact not rational because it makes little economic sense. Personally I find it a sad affair that money has to be the determining factor as to the viability of anything. After all, why be a doctor or an attorney, if you’re after money? All that schooling… and that huge debt… Yet even this impetus on money isn’t enough to spur business owners and property managers to take steps to become compliant. Fines in California are 4k minimum per violation. That’s enough dough that it’d make you’d think that even medium sized businesses would comply. Add on the cost of a attorney fees and yet even this dollar amount does not seem enough to encourage action!!

It seems that even with the letter of the law — found in Civil Code Section 51 stating that violations of the ADA are acts of discrimination, bearing fines of at least 4k per instance — is not enough for business owners to make sense of what they should do.  This suggests that saving money and limiting liability isn’t what business owners think as being important enough to initiate action on their part.

Should businesses wait for a lawsuit to happen? Because then they have to pay 4k plus attorneys fees. Or should they spend some money, hire a consultant who is familiar with the intricacies of these requirements and then pay the few thousand (or in some cases few hundred) it would take to comply and then completely avoid that lawsuit? It’s not like they have to do this all at once either! The cost can be spread out over time. Courts do look favorably to businesses that have an operative ADA transition plan in place.

If anything, it seems that we as a people have forgotten what it means to be in business or even live among our peers. Success doesn’t come about by simply behaving according to a set of rigid rules. If that was the case, you’d think anyone could be wildly successful. Robots and computers cannot succeed at business. Success comes about like love. It’s a side-effect of successful relationships. Successful relationships take time, take energy and take good-will. Any business owner who would begrudge someone’s grandmother entrance to their facility does not have good will. Instead we often encounter the contentious attitude of us vs them. “We need to get them.” or “they will get us.” This is much like the attitude of the stereotypical “bad renter” who trashes the apartment they rent because it’s not theirs. Even if they don’t own the apartment they still live there!! Who wants to live among all their own filth and garbage?

My point: improving accessibility (even if its just to your store) benefits not only the general but the public but also your potential customers.  It will come back to you.  We all live together in the same city, on the same streets. Just like littering is bad for the community (and thus bad for us individually) so is polluting the environment or not voting and taking the time to learn about what’s important to be able to vote. Fiscal conservatives complain that deficient spending means that our children need to pay for our mistakes. I realize it’s getting to be increasingly difficult to feel a sense of community, especially in big cities like Los Angeles or Chicago where people can be very impersonal. We don’t need to adopt the rat in a cage syndrome though, we are human beings. We have a choice. We need people to be responsible, not just for themselves but others. After all, business owners are leaders in their communities. Business owners employ people. Successful business owners ensure their customers have good experiences and that their employees — the life blood of their business — succeed at their individual lives. This is success behind Zappos. This is also what’s missing in larger corporations that burn people out.

Accessibility is one of those indirect benefits. At the very minimum, it requires following the law. That’s important too — not knowing the law is no excuse. Ever tell a cop who pulled you over that you don’t deserve a speeding ticket because you didn’t know the speed limit? But as citizens in the great country of the United States of America, we need to see the reasons behind laws. The principles behind why laws are there. Thats what it means to be a “pillar of the community” someone who not only opens a restaurant to make a living but also to spread the joy of eating at a particular kind of establishment. Businesses serve the public — they serve the needs of the general population. That’s why anyone would go to a business. This is what’s great about capitalism — not greed — but that we can help each other out and get to make a living doing it. Vote with our dollars, as it were. That is also why we exist as a service, to help you achieve accessibility!

After all, in ten or twenty years, improving accessibility everywhere will also benefit your loved ones. And if you and I live long enough, having an accessible world will also directly benefit us.

For a guide on how to put a price tag on ADA Compliance