I've been added to Blue's blogroll. Neat - I hadn't intended for this blog to have so much about disability on it, but I'd noticed recently that that was where it was going.
And nice timing, too, as I have a question about the ADA that maybe now someone will stumble across and be able to answer.
I'm in the process of talking to my university about their compliance with the ADA in new construction and large renovation projects. One of the statements that I keep hearing is that power operated doors aren't required by the ADA. True enough, as it goes - there is no mention (as far as I've found) of these in the ADA itself or in the ADAAG. There are requirements for automatic or power-assist doors that are included (namely, that it cant take more than 15 pounds of force to stop the door from moving), but I'm more interested in what requires them to be present. However, there *are* requirements for doors - the width of the door itself, clearances around the door for maneuvering, and the force needed to open the door.
So, from a hypothetical standpoint, is an automatic door considered a workaround? That is, if the design of a building "requires" a heavier door (supposedly for external doors in some places, or for security or fire doors), and so the door isn't up to code, is making it automatic or button-operated considered a way of bringing it into compliance? I'm hoping that someone can confirm for me that this is the case; it will make it a lot easier for me to argue that it isn't just a given subset of doors ("external doors") that needs to be outfitted with automatic operators, but rather, any door that has a certain amount of resistance.
Please leave a comment if you can confirm this one way or another - bonus points if you can cite an official publication or precedence here.
And nice timing, too, as I have a question about the ADA that maybe now someone will stumble across and be able to answer.
I'm in the process of talking to my university about their compliance with the ADA in new construction and large renovation projects. One of the statements that I keep hearing is that power operated doors aren't required by the ADA. True enough, as it goes - there is no mention (as far as I've found) of these in the ADA itself or in the ADAAG. There are requirements for automatic or power-assist doors that are included (namely, that it cant take more than 15 pounds of force to stop the door from moving), but I'm more interested in what requires them to be present. However, there *are* requirements for doors - the width of the door itself, clearances around the door for maneuvering, and the force needed to open the door.
So, from a hypothetical standpoint, is an automatic door considered a workaround? That is, if the design of a building "requires" a heavier door (supposedly for external doors in some places, or for security or fire doors), and so the door isn't up to code, is making it automatic or button-operated considered a way of bringing it into compliance? I'm hoping that someone can confirm for me that this is the case; it will make it a lot easier for me to argue that it isn't just a given subset of doors ("external doors") that needs to be outfitted with automatic operators, but rather, any door that has a certain amount of resistance.
Please leave a comment if you can confirm this one way or another - bonus points if you can cite an official publication or precedence here.
posted by ismith at 11:55 PM
2 Comments:
Unfortunately I have no specifics....but if you can prove that you cannot manage the force necessary for that door to open or that the door is simply not wide enough...then I would think a power door would be a necessity in some areas....
Imfunnytoo: right. And they're perfectly willing to retrofit. I'm just trying to get this to be an established part of policy, so things are Built Right from the start.
No sense running around every time a new building goes up saying, "uh, by the way ...", I figure.
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