It is broken two places. We have FHA and ADA both address building accessibility. No where in this government program is there anything that will tell you that this requirement replaces a former requirement. Because this is all Civil Rights Law which requires a Federal Judge's decision, maybe the reason for this dilemma.
In the opinion of ACCESS, where there are FHA requirement that are different from ADA requirements, the ADA requirements trump the FHA requirements. The second place it is broken is really laughable. The ADA requirements for the "Safe Harbor" for design and construction are written by a government agency call the Access Board. That document is called the ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines; Final Rule with a federal Register date of July 23, 2004 and an effective date of September 21, 2004. ACCESS uses this document in all its Federal Court litigation. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is required to use its standard in all its Federal Court litigation.
So what is the big!?
Well, the DOJ needs to take that Access Board Guidelines with an effective date of September 2004 and make it their standard. This they have done and they will start using this standard in March of 2012. So what will they be using until 2012? They are required to use their old standard review as of July 1, 1994. I know, from 2004 to 2012 is 8 years. Now do you agree this government program is broken?
And, with ADA there is no Grandfathering.
Give us your questions or thoughts on the above article. You can post them here or on our FaceBook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Access-Technologies-Services-Inc/268659564730. You can also reach us at hfalstad@accessts.net or call us at (702) 649-7575. We look forward to hearing from you.
Hank
The above are opinions of
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