Welcome back!

For this installment, we will cover restroom accessibility.  For considerations regarding facility management or considerations on how to modify the restroom beyond simple, readily achievable items, I would recommend listening to this podcast found on facilitiesnet.com.  You can find the podcast here:

ADA consideration tips for Contractors and Property Managers

Now, if you had listened to this podcast, and you’re a leasee or a small business owner, you’re probably thinking that can’t be something I can do… in a long term solution, that may have to be done eventually but not right now.  Since this post is about providing tips on what can be done right now it’s got to be simpler and less intrusive on the structure of your restroom.  This is what readily acheivable means.

What is a Readily Achievable Accommodation?

Readily achievable is defined as providing alterations to existing facilities that are “to the maximum extent feasible”. The maximum extent feasible has to do with an entity’s financial threshold. If you are a smaller entity, your financial resources would be much less than a larger entity. So readily achievable accommodations changes depending on who you are. If you want a larger picture as to how readily achievable accommodations, you can go here to read more about the larger picture:

How to Determine your ADA Liability Cost

There isn’t any magical fixes, this is simply a matter of knowing what the laws are.  We will cover four pictures.

Discussion of ADA Accommodations

Restroom Picture #1: Proper Signage

If you’ve looked online for signage requirements, you’ll understand there are height and space requirements.  Those are pretty specific — and we won’t get into that right now ( we will cover this later).  My point, is that’s not well understood how to go about purchasing the proper signs.  Proper restroom signs need braille and raised lettering.  Whether this goes on the door, depends a great deal on the door swing.  For instance, these doors open out, so having raised letter and braille on these door signs would be a hazard.  For more detailed information about this, you can go here:

ADA Restroom Signage

In this picture though, you can see how the sign blends with the color of the wall.  The requirement for “contrasting color” applies not only to the pictogram and the lettering against the background of the sign but also between the sign and the wall.  It’s understandable that the owner of this restaurant probably wanted signage that would blend into the color of his wall so as to be unobtrusive.  But that does defeat the point, doesn’t it?  For someone who is legally blind, they may not be able to see the sign is there if it’s too small.  The large size of the sign contrasting with the color of the wall is meant to draw attention to the presence of the sign.  An individual who is blind could then walk up to the sign and touch it, and read the braille or trace the lettering and understand if this restroom is or is not meant to service them.

Restroom Picture #2: Amenity Height

One of the most common requirements for the accessibility of restroom amenities is the height of restroom amenities. The point of providing these items to the public is so that the public can use them.  Providing goods and services to everyone equally is the point of the ADA.  The height is not the only dimension to be considered.  Height is part of something called “reach range”.  There’s not enough space to go over in detail how the reach range is affected by approach or over-reaches but in general, the California Code of References specifies that at least one of the each type of restroom amentities must be at maximum 40 inches above the finished floor.  This means that if paper towels AND a dryer is made available than one of each must be at 40 inches to the operating point.  For mirrors, this should be at 40 inches.  For towels with controls, the control must be at 40 inches.  For soap dispensers, the dispenser must be at 40 inches.

In this restroom, the mirror here is at the threshold of 40 inches.  You can scale the mirror height through the titles and it’s pretty close to 40.  They definitely need to measure that height to the reflective edge.  Now, knowing what is at 40 inches looks like in this restroom, you can note that the paper towel dispensers are too high.  This can be resolved by either lowering one of the dispensers or by installing a lower dispenser in order to make paper towels available to everyone.  (This can be as simple as providing paper towels on the counter itself.  Of course such a ‘fix’ would require active monitoring so that the paper towels will always be available.)

For the soap dispensers, there are two.  One is too high.  One is lower than 40 inches but has a reach depth that is too deep.  In fact, it’s likely that all four amenities are too deep.   (I did not measure this restroom.)  In general, each amentity must have clear floor space under it so that someone in a chair can have enough space to go up to the item and reach it.  A good rule of thumb is that at 40 inches…

Restroom Picture #3: Sinks

The ADA 2010 simplified the knee clearance under sinks.  This sink has an interesting design and probably meets the requirements for knee clearance. (I did not measure this sink).  But just from looking at it, I see 2 other issues.

The second issue has to do with the pipes wrapping.  Wrapping pipes requires that the hot water input and the drainage be wrapped in insulating materials.   From this picture, it’s clear that the sink on the left is wrapped.  What isn’t clear is that that this sink is identical to the sink on the right.  If one sink of all of them were lowered, then that would be the accessible sink.  But if the dimensions of all the sinks are the same and there is no identifying sign that the sink on the left were otherwise the accessible sink, then this business might as well not have wrapped their sink.  They are still at risk to having their customer be burned by the hot water pipes simply because there is little in way of identifying the wrapped sink.

The second issue has to do with the bowl height.  While the code says that the top of the sink apron, or the sink counter, shall be no higher than 34 inches.  The issue isn’t just so the counter top is at 34 inches, but also so that someone can get their hands in the bowl to wash their hands or wash their face.  The bowl looks to add 6 inches, so even if they had knee clearance at 29 inches which is the minimum, adding another 6 inches puts them at 35, too high to be compliant.

Restroom Picture #4: Urinal

The last image we will discuss is the urinal.  The urinal requirements are pretty much the same as any other point of operation although there are two added requirements specific to urinals.  This urinal has the needed depth (the rim extends far enough from the back wall) but the height is too high.  Urinals are required to have the projecting edge to be 14 inches from the back wall minimum.  The rim height should be a maximum of 17 inches from the finished floor (judging from the picture, this one looks to be at least 2 feet from the finished floor.)

There are three additional considerations, the clear floor space, the slope of the floor and the flush control.

From the photo there are no obvious floor slope issues, but you can tell that the trash can is awfully close to the urinal.  It may interfere with the clear floor space.  This is a matter of policy, this large facility should instruct their janitorial staff to place the trash can somewhere else.

Also visible from the photo is the flush control.  You’d recognize this control to be automatic, as it has a sensor.  But if this control should have an additional push button for added flushing ability, then this urinal control should be within 54 inches of the finished floor.  Remember, 40 inches applies to the amenities.  54 inches is the side reach range if the wheelchair user reached up from the side of the chair.  48 inches is the front reach range.

This concludes our discussion.

ADA Compliance Takeaway

So you understand, the point of all these articles is to educate you readers about what ADA compliance entails.  Both what to do, how to approach it, how to best comply and what the common pitfalls for complete ADA compliance are.

Education is mostly free.  I have to spent a few hours, maybe a day and a half each week, working on articles, and you have to take time to read it, to shift through the multitude of available information.

Ultimately, though, we make a living doing ADA inspections and ADA consultation.

We  do know the laws and ADA regulations, but we don’t know your facility.

I can write about the most common and glaring problems, but I can’t advise you on your particular site.  Even if you submitted pictures, I can’t measure slope or spot issues you may not know about.  If you find this information helpful, feel free to drop an email or a comment.  Submit a picture too, if you like.  I can email you back with an opinion.  (Money is even more appreciated!)

But seriously, give me some genuine feedback and let me know if this was helpful or if you would like me to cover a specific topic.  If I get enough requests, I’ll take the time to write an article on it.  If you’re interested in having us apply our knowledge to your place of business/place of public accommodation in the form of an ADA consultation, by all means call us at 866 982 3212 or email us athelp@ytaccess.com.

Is your Business ADA Compliant? Learn about the legal liability your business has if it is not ADA Compliant. Don’t get slapped with a lawsuit over something you could have prevented!

Hosted at Four Points Sheraton (5990 Green Valley Circle in Culver City, CA) on Oct 6 @ 730am.

Click on the link below to pre-register for the event!

Culver City ADA Seminar

If you own a business, chances are it’s not 100% compliant. The only businesses which are guaranteed to be compliant are home delivery. Even then, if you accept visitors from the public in your lobby, family members of employees or event delivery personnel (who have to sign in at a counter) then you are technically open to the public.

If you think you are accessible, here’s a few items for your check list.

1. Floor Mats which are secure and do not pose a tripping hazard (glued or taped down)
2. Van Accessible Parking with an access aisle that is at least 96 inches wide.
3. A 6×6 inch ISA decal on or about your front door
4. Signage on the wall next to your restroom centered at 60 inches with raised letter, contrasting letters and grade 2 braille.
5. No door knobs anywhere. No twist hardware for the lock, for the latch or for faucets.
6. All restroom amenities are less than 40 inches from the finished floor. This means the point of operation!

If you’ve passed all 6 of these, then congrads, you’ve passed 6 of the 1300 unique checks that are part of doing an ADA Audit.

This is the second video in a series of videos which give access tips. In this video we speak of more specific parking details. It builds on the last video which is about how to decide where to place accessible parking in the first place. Don’t let your business get caught with these liability issues. Access helps everyone!

Stay tuned for more!

For those of you who can’t see embedded videos, here is a short link: Parking Video #2

If getting an inspection could have helped warn the business. Regular inspections are a necessary part of running a business. About 20 years ago there were no house appraisals. Only a few people did them. Most did not want a house appraisal before they bought the house. Now it’s a regular part of the process of buying or refinancing a house. The same was true for various other inspections as well. Eventually ADA inspections will be part of that process.

There are thousands of these lawsuits. As the word passes more and more individuals might be tempted to test the waters with these suits. Having an ADA appraisal done of your site costs a fraction of a what a lawsuit would cost. A good example would be from one of our clients who informed us that after taxes he made only about 28k a year. The aftermath of the lawsuit cost him 15k — which included the cost of settling, paying for an architect and an attorney. An ADA appraisal would have cost him less than a thousand and prevented attracting a professional litigant.

Seminars on ADA Awareness are useful to help small and local businesses.

From the Business Journal:

Many restaurants, bars, salons and other service businesses overlook a requirement in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that signs be mounted exactly 60 inches above the ground.

They may also forget that hot water and drainpipes underneath sinks need to be insulated to protect against contact, particularly from those in wheelchairs.

Those are some of the things that were learned at a recent workshop put on by the City of Clovis to help local businesses come into compliance with the 20-year-old law in response to the large number of recent lawsuits.

Around 50 businesses needed the help since San Jose lawyer Randy Moore began targeting the Central Valley around two months ago on behalf of clients. El Gallo restaurant in Clovis, for instance, was forced to close its doors after being penalized up to $88,000 for 22 different violations.

(Continue…)

Accessible signage can be extremely difficult to achieve if you don’t know what is required and what is not required. This is especially important if you are ordering custom signage that is both compliant with California Title 24 and looks good in your store!

The above unisex restroom sign is a great example of a sign that looks great, but actually has unnecessary elements. Consider the use of this sign: It is to be mounted on the restroom’s door, which is usually the only entrance and exit for the restroom.

Question: Why does this sign need Braille, “RESTROOM” in tactile (touchable) lettering and the ISA (International Symbol of Access, or the wheelchair symbol) on it?

Answer: It doesn’t need any of it. Putting Braille and tactile lettering on a door that constantly opens and closes without warning can be a safety risk for a visually-impaired person trying to read the sign. By law, you need all of this on a separate sign, mounted next to the door’s latch-side. By placing it there, someone can feel and read the Braille and raised, tactile lettering without having to worry about getting the door slammed on them. Also, the word “RESTROOM” and the ISA are not required on a door sign (though it can be helpful). The ISA can either be on the door or the latch sign.

There are a few other things to note about this sign. Notice that both the triangle (Men’s) and circle (Women’s) are blue. In dim lighting, the triangle may be impossible to see against the same-colored circle and does not provide sufficient contrast. Also, if the door itself is painted blue, it would be difficult to see the circle’s outline as well. Your restroom sign can actually be any color, not just blue. Just make sure it contrasts (light vs. dark, dark vs. light) with your door. A compliant restroom door sign (if it was blue) would probably look like this instead:

Now that we’ve covered the door sign, let’s take a look at the latch-side restroom sign. All of your accessible features should be featured on it, and also note the difference between latch-side and strike-side of a door: latch-side is where the door’s handle and closing latch are located, while the strike-side has the door’s hinges and the door will strike the wall when fully extended. There are specifications for the Braille and tactile lettering as well.The example on the right is generally what you’d be looking for in a latch-side restroom sign, but it is by no means the only style of sign you can install. One thing you must keep in mind, however, is that tactile text must be uppercase.

One of the best designers of accessible signs that we’ve ever seen is H. Toji & Company. Sharon Toji, a principal of the company, is one of the nation’s most qualified experts on accessible sign design and is a voting delegate to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) that writes accessiblity standards used by the International Building Code and are the basis for the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). She is also a member of the Access Advisory Committee to the California State Building Standards Commission, among others.

H. Toji & Company offers customizable signs with a wide selection of fonts, decorations and shapes, and have incorporated numerous features such as inlaid lettering and beveled edges that increase the sign’s durability, longevity and readability. If you are in need of accessible signage for your business, you cannot go wrong with signs from this company.

Read our ADA FAQ for more information on general liability.  For information about assessing your site yourself or hiring an ADA expert, please look at our ADA Consultation page.

Or, give us a call at (866) 982-3212 or email us at help@ytaccess.com and we can consult with you to determine your full accessibility needs, and refer you to Sharon Toji for any custom sign design specifications that you need.