ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act

ADA compliance, just hearing the term can be scary. It can be a frustrating and expensive issue for property managers and owners to have to deal with. The standards, regulations, and interpretations can vary among local, state, and federal agencies. It takes knowledge and experience in this area to truly understand what the needs are to ensure that your property is ADA compliant. 

Fortunately, we are here for you. Don’t have a CASP Report? We can prepare one for you. Whatever your needs we bring our decades of collective experience to each project. We have the knowledge and experience for almost any project and when needed we can provide the engineers, architects and ADA Compliance Specialists that can guide you through both the technical and the legal issues you face and can design solutions that are both compliant and cost effective. 

Step 1 - ADA Survey

An ADA survey is the first step towards identifying where the non-compliant areas are and how best to address them. Being an experienced contractor, we can complete this step or our clients. We can bring in our team of engineers, architects, and ADA specialists. This is especially true when considering that some communities & centers have their own set of parameters that affect ADA compliance. The age, layout, and construction history of the property can all factor in to what the legal requirements may be.

Survey Steps

Step one of the survey will be to determine how many and what type of handicap stalls are required. We ensure that the correct number of stalls are installed for local, state, and federal requirements. This varies depending on the use and the size. 

Step two is to make sure that the existing stalls have the correct signage, paint markings and access aisles for local, state, and federal requirements. 

Step three is to check the slope of the pavement in both the handicap stalls, access aisles and the associated paths of travel. 

Step four is to make sure that the sidewalk ramps and paths of travel are compliant. 

Step five is to ensure that the entry signs to the lot are of the correct type and the information on the sign is current.

Step 2 - Corrective Action

This is where you can have a CASP report created that will plan specifically and identify the areas for correction. It may also be necessary to have detailed drawings made for construction and permitting. Not all ADA projects require drawings, but it is very common for permitting through government agencies to require ADA improvements if major renovations or tenant improvements are being performed. If necessary, we will prepare all drawings & plans, and pull all necessary permits on your behalf. 

Step 3 - Construction

In this step, as your contractor we perform the work per plan. It is very important to select someone with our extensive experience in ADA compliance. Not all contractors specialize in ADA work as we do. A mistake in this phase can be very costly. 

Summary

This is a brief overview of the complicated term ADA and the regulations surrounding ADA changes almost every year. To ensure that your property is compliant, look to us and our team of ADA experts that can not only identify the areas for correction, but can also perform the work to ADA standards. 

Please contact Firestone Builders to start planning for your ADA compliance project.
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