Offer Accessibility Inspection Services for existing commercial buildings.

Accessibility inspections to certify compliance to ADA laws are COMPLETELY regulated in Texas. The US DOJ controls the ADA program (www.ada.gov ) and has specified all of the requirements that states must follow to ensure accessibility is met. States may either follow federal regulations and codes or the state can create their own “Model Code” for accessibility that is no less stringent than federal guidelines ( http://www.ada.gov/taman3.html#III-9.0000 ). If a state chooses to create their own model code they must have the code approved by the ADA program administrators. The federal government leaves administration and enforcement of the ADA requirements up to each state governmental agency assigned the duty.

Texas has chosen to create their own model code which is administered by the Texas Department Of Licensing And Regulation. Texas has titled their ADA compliance efforts Architectural Barriers Texas Accessibility Standards (TAS) ( http://www.license.state.tx.us/ab/abtas.htm ).

Among the various laws and requirements (which you are free to research at the TDLR site) is the requirement that any new construction, **alterations or additions **to meet the ADA (Texas TAS) requirements will fall under the control of the TAS rules ( http://www.license.state.tx.us/ab/abtas4.htm#4.1.6 ). These rules do include inspecting the the new construction, alterations or additions for compliance. The actual Texas code for these inspections is:

To become a Registered Accessibility Specialist (RAS) these are the
requirements:

[FONT=Verdana]As you can see you must be certified in these inspections to verify/certify compliance with ADA (Texas TAS) requirements.
[/FONT]

ADA regulations require a building to be certified and a certificate of compliance issued. It was already shown above that accessibility inspections are required by certified individuals (at least in Texas) for any new construction, alterations, additions and modifications. The accessibility certification is on file for that structure and the current building owner (the seller) can provide a copy to the buyer.

With that being said then why would a buyer need an accessibility inspection performed? If a certificate is not available and the building needed to be recertified to obtain a certificate then it must be inspected per ADA rules. In Texas that means using a RAS Inspector.

The qualifications required are only for becoming a “registered accessibility specialist” is ONLY required in a very particular instance: that being for performing ADA compliance inspections on new construction or remodeling.

An inspector offering an accessibility survey to a buyer of a commercial property is NOT required to be a registered accessibility specialist or anything else for that matter.

Manny writes

Incorrect. ADA only requires compliance on new construction and major remodeling.

In the very, very rare instance where a buyer is looking at a commercial property where…

  1. The building was built or had a major remodel since the enactment of the ADA (99% of all buildings in the U.S. where built prior to ADA)…

and…

  1. Some ADA inspection and documentation showing the building complied with ADA at that time exists…

and…

  1. That documentation can be found…

and…

  1. The buyer is sure that no new accessibility barriers have been created since then…

Then… in that very rare instance, an accessibility inspection is probably not needed by the buyer.

However, safely assuming this rare instance is not the case, the commercial inspector working for the buyer of a commercial property need NOT be licensed and is not regulated by any state in the U.S.

Nick,

Read my post, #21 above. What do you interpret that to read?? I certainly interpret that to read what you just said.

posted by escanlan:

Nick,

Not entirely true! Go to the ADA.gov WEB site and read the documentation regarding accessibility. The Feds have already dictated many instances where existing buildings must be brought into compliance with accessibility rules. The Feds are allowing time for these changes to take affect. I will not cut and paste all day here to provide this information as it is available not only on their site but also the many Federal, state and local agency WEB sites that deal with this.

Manny,

I read it as Nick being correct.

ADA and Texas require inspection and compliance in new construction or major renovation. Where it is required, a licensed Texas accessibility specialist must perform the inspection to comply with this rule.

But, if someone wants an ADA audit as part of a purchase, where no alterations or construction has been performed, and a certificate already exists, the rule doesnt apply.

Regardless, it does NOT release the inspector from needing to have a clue as to what he/she is looking at!

Thanks Joe, let me try it this way for Manny:

A new construction commercial property project probably needs (by law) a final plumbing inspection performed by a licensed plumber. Yes? Does this mean that you need a plumber’s license to report on plumbing issues when doing a commercial inspection for a buyer of an existing commercial property? NO, you do not need such a license.

A new construction commercial property project probably needs (by law) a rough electrical inspection performed by a licensed electrician. Yes? Does this mean that you need an electrician’s license to report on electrical issues when doing a commercial inspection for the buyer of an existing commercial property? No, you do not need such a license.

In Texas, a new construction commercial property project probably needs (by law) an ADA compliance inspection performed by a licensed accessibility specialist. Yes? Does this mean that you need such a license to report on the building’s accessibility issues when doing a commercial inspection for the buyer of an existing commercial property? No, you do not need such a license.

I think we are looking at another example of the phenomena of licensing of home inspectors.

Most home inspectors in licensed or regulated states have been trained to feel the need for the state’s permission to operate their businesses in a new way.

Nick’s argument is showing where Texas does not prohibit it but this does not help. They need their state to go farther than that…and tell them that it is “okay”.

Truly a victory for the real estate salesmen who control home inspectors through such legislation, indeed.

Good post Jim. Especially when every inspector already knows that there are of course all sorts of licensed professionals (starting with the architect) needed to constructuct a new commercial building. Of course! This goes without saying.

What the requirement for licensed professionals to be involved in new construction has to do with an inspector including accessibility comments (via InterNACHI’s accessibility report form or otherwise) within a commercial inspection for a buyer of an existing commercial property is beyond me. I don’t see any connection at all.

Furthermore, InterNACHI’s accessibility form isn’t an ADA compliance checklist (if such a thing even exists). It’s much better. ADA isn’t even mentioned in www.nachi.org/accessibility.htm in part because so many state and local governments have their own requirements which take precedence over ADA.

For instance, InterNACHI didn’t include stuff that a buyer of a commercial property is unlikely to want to pay the inspector to inspect, such as the knee space under the drinking fountain. Although many drinking fountains are not compliant with ADA, ADA does not require the building owner to change them immediately and an upgrade to an accessible water fountain is not an outrageous future expense anyway (in comparison to the cost of the building and/or remodel). Furhermore, the drinking fountain barrier does not prevent the disabled from accessing critical services. Elevator size and rest room barriers are of course much more critical (to both business owner and disabled persons) and so much is made of these in the InterNACHI report.

InterNACHI’s report exceeds ADA in some areas:

InterNACHI’s amount of clear wall space on the pull side of the entrance door, next to the handle required on the accessible entrance door is greater than ADAs (24" for InterNACHI, only 18" for ADA). See www.nachi.org/accessibility.htm 4.4:

Anyway, ADA is incorrect on this one. I had a woman without legs work for me for 10 years. I went to high school with her. Trust me, 18" isn’t enough room. Ask anyone in wheelchair.

Now from a building owner’s perspective, finding room next the entrance door and/or increasing that room might be very expensive (if there is an exterior wall in the way) and in some cases impossible (if that space is owned by someone else!) and so we viewed building entrance as critical and so made much of it in the InterNACHI accessibility report.

Likewise, from the handicapped person’s perspective, getting into the building is much more critical than getting a drink of water.

Like ASTM, for instance, points out… buyers of commercial buildings may be unlikely to want to pay an inspector to perform a full blown ADA compliance inspection. This from ASTM Commercial Standards 2018

InterNACHI’s accessibility inspection is what they really want and need. And no, there is no licensing required to offer it.

Do you ever check the speed limit in the area where you drive?
Is that a phenomena of some kind of trained phobia or is it common sense?

Licensed inspectors don’t really need a psychology lesson, just the facts :slight_smile:

I wouldn’t even consider doing a commercial inspection without addressing accessibility in my report.

Nick,

Would it cover all the bases… if an inspector did the commercial inspection
and then advised the client to verify with the local authorities for the most
current standards for handicap accessibility requirements in that area.?

I cover so many cities in Texas, it would be hard to keep up with each one.

Typically a buyer of a commercial building is typically not interested in formally complying with ADA… because he doesn’t have to by law (just because the ownership is changing hands). And if he plans on remodeling, its all going to be ADA and local rule compliant anyway. No one can force a building owner to spend money. The only time ADA or a local rule would come up is when applying for a remodel permit and that is not a situation where we as inspectors would likely be used anyway.

Buyers, however, are interested in knowing if there are real accessibility barriers that currently exist that might embarrass a business owner trying to accomodate a disabled customer. Things like rest rooms, elevator size, pathways from hadicapped parking spaces, etc.

These are issues that an inspector should point out during a commercial inspection, hence the checklist at the bottom of www.nachi.org/accessibility.htm

I know there is a big temptation to start quoting ADA to your client and start checking local regulations on accessibility when doing a commercial inspection, but I caution all inspectors… don’t do it.

Stick to InterNACHI’s accessibility form. It is what it is: A form which alerts buyers of commercial properties to common and critical accessibility issues.

OK… I can see where it would be wise to at least include this list with
a commerical inspection so that all the bases are covered, if it becomes
an issue.

Some look at accessibility is a part of any commercial inspection IMHO, just like some look at the heating system is.

Not totally true. the federal laws do cover the basis of “if the ADA is done incorrectly to begin with then, the new owner still has to come into compliance.” I will get you the section on this.