Posted on

ADA Presentation, Perris Chamber of Commerce

We are having a presentation at the “Wake-Up Perris” monthly event for the Perris Chamber of Commerce

 

We will be talking about our company and the ADA compliance industry.

You can attend this event

By joining us at the Bob Glass Community Gym

101 North D St., Perris, CA 92570

July 5th, 2011

7:30-8:30 AM

As always we will be giving a general business talk, and answering any of your ADA compliance questions.  You can also email us at help@accesssolutionllc.com or calling me at 866 982 3212.

 

Compliance is one of those legal liabilities, you can’t foresee it unless you know what the laws are and how it effects you.  Don’t be a victim of costly ignorance.  Education is the key.

 

This event was cancelled.

Posted on

ADA Seminars, Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce

Greetings again!

We are pleased to be luncheon speakers for the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce.

Event Details are below:

South Coast Winery Restaurant
3608 S. Bristol
Santa Ana, CA 92704

Date: 5/5/2011
Time: 11:30 AM TO 1:00 PM

Phone:
714-541-5353

May Business Connection Luncheon

“ADA Compliance: Managing Liabilities & Risk”

David Marshall, Yours Truly Accessibility Corp.

Learn about:
• Six common access problems that are free or at least inexpensive to fix
• Two common problem areas most lawsuits occur over
• How liability can be spread between landlord and tenant

David Marshall has experience looking at hundreds of sites for ADA compliance.  He has worked as an expert witness for attorneys and seeks to help businesses become compliant through education.

Members $20, Guests $25 including tax

 

The link is as below to the registration site: http://www.santaanachamber.com/events/eventdetail.aspx?EventID=48

 

This presentation is for general businesses, so it serves as an introduction to ADA Liability Issues.  If you are interested in having us speak to your organization, please email us at help@accesssolutionllc.com or call me at 866 982 3212.  We are offering speaking events for business organizations for FREE for the rest of 2011.  This of course, includes Q&A at the end.

Let us help you with your ADA compliance needs.

We hope to see you there

Posted on

ADA Seminar, Asphalt Pavement Association

 

We are excited to be doing a presentation of ADA Issues, SB 1608 and CASp to the Asphalt Pavement Association of California in April 12, 2011 in Pico Rivera, CA.

 

This organization is an association of professionals in the asphalt, concrete and pavement area.  This also naturally includes  parking lots and ADA compliance issues.   We will be speaking about the liability of contractors as an extension of the general ADA liability that property managers, building owners and business owners regularly face.

 

More specially we will be getting into the complex interplay of the different Federal Accessibility standards and the California Building Code that causes issues for many architects and contractors.  Just yesterday I was on the phone with a businesses owner who did understand his ADA liability and was venting that his architect and contractor did not:  “Just how far out of compliance can you be?” the business owner quoted them.  They wanted to go his site, “open a book” and check the access standards from a single guide.

I don’t know if they were thinking the California Code of Reference or CARM (California Accessible Reference Manual) but either way I doubt they would take into account the seating since it’s “furniture” and not part of the building or the new ADA 2010 laws that won’t be in a book.  It can be quite hard to keep up to do date with a print copy of something.  If anything they would need at least 4 “books” to cross reference the materials property.

This of course doesn’t even take into account the many ongoing debates of the issues.

 

After seeing our presentation I am sure many of these contractors won’t be relying on books like CARM or CALDAG anymore.  Those resource materials are one individual’s opinion, not at all official — AND they don’t take into account the complexities of law that have arisen since 2010.  If you keep abreast of the news, or just read this blog (where we keep abreast for you), you’ll see that with CASp and SB 1608 just how specialized this area of law has become.

After this, they will know what to look out for, who to contact and what to do about ADA compliance.  Reading from CALDAG or CARM might have been okay in 2004, when it was just the 2001 CBC and the 1990 ADA without CASp… but those days are over.  Thank goodness.

Education is the key.

 

While this presentation is for professionals in the industry (and not really open to the public) if you are interested in having us speak to our organization with a tailored presentation, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 866 982 3212 or at help@accesssolutionllc.com.

If you have a specific question or concern about access feel free to also contact me.  I can’t do an ADA assessment over the phone, but the general knowledge of ADA compliance is something we offer for free.  I can at least point the way for you so that your needs will be taken care of.

Posted on

ADA Guidelines for Small Businesses

As promised, the Department of Justice has posted an ADA Primer for Small Businesses.

This document explains many of the confusing requirements that the ADA has in addition to building code like requirements.  Basically, the safe harbor for older ADA compliance with 1990 standards is an option for businesses wanting to comply with the ADA up until March 15, 2012.  The safe harbor applies to elements on a case by case basis.

After March 15, 2012 businesses WILL NO LONGER HAVE THE OPTION as to which standard they want to comply to.  So if an older standard is easier to achieve, that option will no longer be available after March 15, 2012.  You will have to comply with the 2010 ADA standards.

If you’ve been following us on this blog or if you have been to one of our ADA Seminars on ADA Compliance then you understand that the majority of places of public accommodation are in fact not compliant with even the older ADA 1990 standards.

 

In  many cases, older standards can be more stringent.  For example, the ADA of 2010 allows some tolerances for the centerline position of toilets.  If you are in California, this might make a difference, or it might not as the California Building Code still applies.

Many of the issues in the PDF affect issues of policy, for instance

  • Braille Menus or readers must be required
  • Service Animals are now defined solely as Dogs (except in one particular case, miniature horses)
  • Communication with Customers must be readily available in NON-Verbal Exchanges

These are the main requirements.  As always, readily achievable barrier removal must be performed whenever possible.  A few examples of these include

  • Lowered Counters
  • Clear floor space underneath controls
  • Steps at the Main Entrance
  • Installing Amenities and Grab bars in the Restrooms
  • Many Parking Accessibility Issues

We will example some of these in details in later articles.  For now, though you should look at the PDF.  Also be aware that the safe harbor does not apply in cases like

  • Accessible Showers
  • Saunas
  • Residential Facilities
  • Play Areas
  • Swimming Pools

There are many more requirements, but if you are an average business owner than you are probably not effected by these.

For now though, this ends the summation of this guide.  The link again, is here: http://www.ada.gov/regs2010/smallbusiness/smallbusprimer2010.htm#policies

 

As always if you have any comments, questions or concerns feel free to call us at 866 982 3212 x1 or email us at helpaccesssolutionllc.com

Posted on

Justice Department’s New ADA Rules Go into Effect on March 15, 2011

This following is quoted from the Department of Justice in Full from here:

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/March/11-crt-324.html

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 14, 2011
Justice Department’s New ADA Rules Go into Effect on March 15, 2011

WASHINGTON – Revised regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will take effect tomorrow, March 15, 2011, the Department of Justice announced.   The revised rules are the department’s first major revision of its guidance on accessibility in 20 years.

 

The regulations apply to the activities of more than 80,000 units of state and local government and more than seven million places of public accommodation, including stores, restaurants, shopping malls, libraries, museums, sporting arenas, movie theaters, doctors’ and dentists’ offices, hotels, jails and prisons, polling places, and emergency preparedness shelters.   The rules were signed by Attorney General Eric Holder on July 23, 2010, and the official text was published in the Federal Register on September 15, 2010.

 

The department is also releasing a new document, “ADA Update: A Primer for Small Business,” to help small businesses understand the new and updated accessibility requirements.   In addition, the department is announcing the release of a new publication explaining when the various provisions of its amended regulations will take effect.   Both documents will be available tomorrow on the department’s ADA website, www.ada.gov .

 

“The new rules usher in a new day for the more than 50 million individuals with disabilities in this country,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.   “The rules will expand accessibility in a number of areas and, for the first time, provide detailed guidance on how to make recreation facilities, including parks and swimming pools, accessible.”

 

The new ADA rules adopt the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, which have been retooled to be more user-friendly for building code officials, builders, and architects, and have been harmonized with state and local accessibility codes.   The 2010 standards also include, for the first time, standards on making swimming pools, parks, golf courses, boating facilities, exercise clubs, and other recreation facilities accessible for individuals with disabilities. Entities covered by the ADA have until March 15, 2012 to comply with the 2010 Standards.   In addition to adopting the new ADA 2010 Standards, the amended regulations contain many new or expanded provisions on general nondiscrimination policies, including the use of service animals, the use of wheelchairs and other power-driven mobility devices, selling tickets for wheelchair-accessible seating at sports and performance venues, reserving and guaranteeing accessible rooms at hotels, providing interpreter services through video conferencing, and the effect of the new regulations on existing facilities.   The compliance date for the all the new nondiscrimination provisions, except for those on hotel reservations, is March 15, 2011.   Compliance with the hotel reservation provisions is not required until March 15, 2012.

 

“ADA Update” and “ADA 2010 Revised Requirements: Effective Date/Compliance Date” are the first of several planned publications aimed at helping businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and state and local governments understand their obligations under the amended Title II and Title III regulations.   Individual print copies of the Effective Date/Compliance Date publication can be ordered from the ADA Information Line (800-514-0301 voice or 800-514-0383 TTY).

 

For more information about the ADA , call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TTY), or access the department’s ADA website at www.ada.gov .

 

How it effects you:

This deadline basically means that the additional requirements for ADA compliance extend into areas that were previously unregulated.

The DOJ intends to publish a small business guide tomorrow, so we will be posting that.  Further information will be available as events unravel.

We keep abreast of this stuff so you don’t have to!

For more information pertinent to Accessibility and the new ADA requirements today, you can look at the resources below:

 

As always, call us if you have any questions or concerns about accessibility at 866 982 3212 x1 or email us at help@accesssolutionllc.com

Posted on

ADA Pricing Guide: How to put a Price Tag on your ADA Liability

One of the scariest things about ADA Compliance for business owners is the lack of a definitive price. If you ask an ADA Consultant about their services, they will give you a wide range of prices for just their service. If you are in California, such an ADA Consultant may mention CASp — the median price of which will be around $2400. CASp has a host of significant benefits, but also some responsibilities for the person getting the survey.

Benefits and Liabilities of CASp

But assuming that you, a small business owner, can even afford $2,400, you’d probably be scared stiff about the Pandora’s Box of cost an ADA Consultant could discover. CASp surveys only find issues, they don’t fix them. Any ADA survey is only the first phase of ADA compliance. No survey — not even CASp — can stop all lawsuits from happening. The only way to completely remove your liability is to become 100% ADA Compliant, which in many cases is prohibitively expensive for a small entity. However, knowledge is power, and a survey does give you the power to significantly reduce your liability. In order to ward off lawsuits, you’ll be able to fix many of the glaring problems.

But what if the survey turns out major problems and you’re suddenly were on the bill for some unknown huge amount of money? Getting your access advice from a contractor is especially scary in this regard because there is always the temptation for them to say you need more expensive fixes than are really necessary.

This is the fear.

But don’t worry too much. The majority of issues for ADA compliance can be quite inexpensive — or even free. Understand that the inexpensive fixes are the ones which serial litigants use to target businesses. Not fixing something which is “readily achievable” makes a business look negligent. Also, given the relative complexity of the both state building code and the different Federal standards, knowing exactly what to do (without making yourself more liable, should you fix the wrong thing) can be quite difficult.

But now you can stop worrying.
This guide is meant to explain the costs of ADA compliance to you, as a small business owner.

(We will cover some of the inexpensive fixes in different articles. You also can take a glance at some FREE ADA Access Tips.)

Case 1: The Mom and Pop Restaurant
So as a small business owner, let’s say you own a small restaurant in a strip mall. Your typical eatery will have around 20 seats. Your average cash flow will be, let’s say, $40,000. What is your liability going to cost?

First off, you’re a small entity. Your threshold for “unreasonable hardship” is low. You are still liable but what you are directly responsible for won’t be enormous.

You’re also renting in a strip mall, so your parking lot is shared. It’s true that you’re still liable for the parking — parking does need to be addressed — but you share this liability with the property management company and landlord. In order to get anything fixed you’re going to have to talk with them. The same is true for any truly expensive renovations. Moving restroom walls, enlarging spaces — all of these require some communication with the property manager. If this management company is huge — while you both share liability, their fiscal responsibility in this matter is greater than yours.

For you to afford CASp would be nearly an “unreasonable hardship” in itself. We wouldn’t recommend that you get a CASp survey. If anything, you should try and get the property management company to get a CASp survey of the entire strip mall, that way all the businesses, including yours, can be covered. If they refuse to get CASp then your best bet is to educate yourself with an access survey so you can at the very least fix the most dangerous problems.

So what can you expect to pay for?

Your biggest ADA costs will probably be

  • lowering a counter
  • installing grab bars…
  • maybe lowering a urinal and a mirror
  • or replacing a sink.
  • You might have to replace or modify some door hardware as well.

We would recommend that you get our recommendation letter. It lists the important issues even if it doesn’t carry the protection and liability that comes with a CASp survey. The cost of everything here, including the letter and the fixes is, broadly speaking, maybe $1,000. Also, don’t forget: As a small entity, you do get the tax credit of up to 50% on ADA compliance from IRS form 8826. Our recommendation letter is covered in that amount.

This doesn’t mean that after you’ve done this work that you’re off the hook for ADA compliance. You still need to comply with the other ADA violations in your parking and restrooms. Work with your property management company. Talk with your neighbors. If you can get them to hire a CASp surveyor to do all the stores, all the better. Get them to fix the parking the restrooms too. After all, they own the property. It will be good for all their future tenants.  For them, it’s a solid investment.

If your property manager is unresponsive or unwilling to do ADA work (they may incorrectly think that the facility is already compliant) then they are exposing you to a huge lawsuit risk. Armed with our recommendation letter or exposure report, you can make your property manager aware of the issues in a registered letter. This may significantly reduce your liability in itself by leaving a paper trail that you are exercising good faith, and attempting to do what is right to comply.

With the recommendation letter, you can and should fix the readily achievable items anyway, they don’t cost that much — and they reduce your liability up to 87%.

Your best long term ADA Compliance solution is to move to a location that IS ADA Compliant. How can you tell if they are ADA compliant? Make them get an exposure report to list everything, or ask to see their CASp report.

Case 2: You’re an attorney at a law firm
You work in an office building. You lease your office suite. Your private practice makes somewhere between $250,000 and $500,000. You’re still not alone in your responsibility for the parking lot, because it’s shared. Additionally, the restrooms you have are private. You don’t allow any public access to them. Any of your clients looking to use the restroom would borrow your key and use the restrooms in the hallway. The lobby, elevator and restrooms are all shared between you and the other office tenants.

What are your liabilities?

Even though the liability is shared, you are still liable for everyone coming from the public right of way, or parking, traveling through the lobby and the elevators and using all the public areas and talking through your office door into any conference room. If you are named in a lawsuit, you will have to deal with it, which probably does mean settling for damages even if you are not the only entity responsible.

You can afford to make readily achievable fixes. We would make the same recommendation as case 1. Your property management company should get a CASp inspection to protect all the businesses inside the office building. Barring that, if they are unresponsive you can get a recommendation letter for everything affecting your office. You should then fix the items you are directly responsible for and forward everything else in a registered letter to your property management company. This way, their responsibility is made clear. If they are still unresponsive, your best long term option is to move to a location that is accessible.

Case 3: A Small Franchisee
Imagine you own a small successful franchisee store, maybe two of them. They could be McDonald’s, or Long John Silver — it doesn’t matter. Your cash flow is close to $1,000,000. You can afford much more, in terms of fixing things. So your threshold for unreasonable hardship is much higher. You can do all the “readily achievable” fixes. You can also afford CASp. We would recommend that you get it. The advantages are many, including a 90 day stay (meaning the opposing attorney can’t rack up fees during those 90 days) and expedited arbitration (also lowering your court fees). These things, of course, won’t deter someone who really wants to sue you because they are trapped in your restroom over night. CASp will deter a serial litigant who wants a quick and easy ADA lawsuit threat and a fast no-hassle settlement. (No hassle for them).

So, if you own the store, or not, you are in a stand-alone store.  You have parking that is unique to your store.  This means that even if you are leasing, you are even more responsible for the parking.  Not only that, you can still afford to get the parking that services your store re-striped.

You might qualify for IRS Form 8826 if you make less than $1,000.000.00 in gross receipts and have no more than 30 full time employees. The restrooms could be a little more difficult, if they are older. If the restroom walls are load bearing you might not be able to afford moving them right away. So that item would have to be deferred, so the cost of ADA compliance is spread over two or three years. If you qualify for IRS Form 8826, you can get a tax credit so your cost will be much lower.
After getting a FULL ADA inspection of everything you can then start to repair everything. You will spend, maybe $10,000 on accessibility and over the course of two or three years fix everything. At the end of three years, you will have a brand new looking restroom, doors and counter to show off to your customers.

 

Case 4: A Mid-sized Property Management Firm
You manage many properties, maybe 50 or 200. You have several offices all over the place. Your financial resources are deeper. You don’t qualify for IRS Form 8826, although if you have subsidiaries, they might. You’ll have to check with your accountants.Your tenants have been probably been hit with ADA Lawsuits before. Your tenants may or may not have notified you, simply because they were unaware of your shared responsibility. Nonetheless, responsible property managers want to do the right thing. You’ve probably had some ADA surveys performed, but they were not full ADA inspections.  You haven’t gotten a CASp Report because you haven’t heard of it.

You should get CASp for all your properties. Since CASp determines a timeline, you should fix as much as you can according to a timeline, deferred over a few years (I can’t really estimate in general how much you should spend but you should fix the issues) and then advertise your sites as being ADA compliant. Post the CASp certificate on all your storefront windows. If you don’t, you are bound to start losing tenants as they become aware that they are leasing properties not in compliance with the law.

But what about the long-term ramifications? Smart real estate agents will get an ADA survey for all the properties they have an interest in. ADA Compliance is a great fear among many current leasees. Not only that, but there is some interest in the state assembly to forward some ADA liability to Real Estate Agents who lease or sell property that isn’t ADA compliant without full disclosure.

Better get a jump on compliance.

For every property a real estate agent deals with, your agents should order Exposure Reports of property they are looking to broker or CASp surveys on property they manage, so they can leverage the cost of ADA compliance into the leasing, selling (or buying) price.

Now, wouldn’t that be the savvy thing to do? After all, I’m sure the other agents have no idea what the enormous cost of ADA compliance could possibly be…

Conclusion: ADA Compliance is not Fiscally Impossible
So now that you’ve read this, you can begin to put a price tag on accessibility. No one is responsible for fixing all the ADA violations in the world, just your corner of it. And if you are a tiny shop struggling to keep your doors open, you should get together with your neighbors. Get together and bug your property management company. Tell them they are putting you all at risk by ignoring these issues.

After all, fixing a few hundred dollars worth of issues is better than getting a lawsuit. After you’ve got the lawsuit, you have to deal with it on their terms, which won’t be to your favor. You’ll be court ordered to fix this stuff anyway — on top of throwing money away on a settlement.

We’ll even give you a discount for not making us drive out there separately. You can forward your parking issues and your major liability issues to your property manager. If you decide to upgrade your survey to CASp you may get a significant discount.

If your property manager decides not to do anything at least get us to look at your stores collectively. That way you can protect yourself before you move to a property manager who actually wants tenants.

What are you waiting for? Find out how inexpensive ADA compliance can be! You already have an idea now.

CASp Architects are waiting!  We have a variety of ADA compliance products to fit your needs.

 

Call us at 866 982 3212, extension 1! Or email us at help@accesssolutionllc.com. We will be happy to assist you. Our advice is always free.
Posted on

ADA Compliance Options: Why CASp?

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@accesssolutionllc.com.  Our advice is always free.

Posted on

ADA Regulations: Service Animals Part 2

 

So, to follow up on the complex ADA regulations and interpretations of service animals…

The New York Post has posted this article going a little overboard on what is or is not a service animal.  Nonetheless, it does present an interesting point of view.  If business owners were to take this article literally it could get them in trouble with ADA requirements as the scoping is too broad.

For the service goat, assistance monkey and emotional-support iguana, it could be the end of an era. Under new federal rules taking effect Tuesday, the Americans with Disabilities Act will no longer compel shops, restaurants and other businesses to accommodate a menagerie of supposed service animals brought in by the public. Only dogs and some miniature horses will qualify. Moreover, dogs will qualify as service animals only if they’ve been individually trained to assist with a disabled human’s needs.

“The provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort or companionship do not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this new definition.” And they’ll need to be on-leash unless their work requires otherwise.

Finally. You’d think the Obama administration had, in a fit of common sense, for once chosen to heed a public outcry about zany regulations-gone-mad.
But as usual, the politics are more complicated than that.

(Continue…)

Understandably, this is a complex and not well understood area of law. But this, like issues in HR and employee procedures, is something all businesses and institutions should be aware of.

If you want further information on the topic, you can go to these official ADA sites. Or you can look directly at what our services cost.

Have any questions? Call us at 866 982 3212 x2 or email us at help@accesssolutionllc.com

Posted on

ADA Expert: Yung Kao, CASp and AIA

 

 

Access Solution Logo

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

(For more information about ADA Pricing)

 

Yung Kaos Picture
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@accesssolutionllc.com

Posted on

ADA Foibles 7: Policy is Important

Park Rules
ADA Compliance Means Policy Needs to be Compliant too!

Take a look at Rule 6. It includes the text “SELF-PROPELLED VEHICLES PROHIBITED.” Does that include powered wheelchairs? It’s important to be careful with your signs, printed materials, and policies. Discriminiatory verbage hurts your loyal customers — even if they’re too polite or shy to say anything — and can make you look very bad should you ever get sued.

Anyone who does an ADA inspection, especially for Facilities under Title 2 (government) for a full ADA transition plan needs to have their policy looked at! Remember, the ADA also has Title 1 which covers employees. (Any good HR firm, or consultant can advise you on this.) But in terms of access to goods and services you need an experienced ADA consultant to look through your policies. If your consultant thinks that walking through a court house or police station with a tape measure is all it takes, then you need a better ADA consultant, one that won’t get you into a lawsuit.

Have any questions? Call us at 866 982 3212 x2 or email us at help@accesssolutionllc.com

If you want to look directly at what our services cost, or for further information on the topic, you can go to these official ADA sites.