Issue: DCA10-DEC-286 Larry Schneider, is requesting clarification regarding the use of federal Standards for Accessible Design in lieu of Chapter 11, Florida Building Code, Building.

Petition asks the question, “Is it is acceptable to use the 2010 federal Standards for Accessible design in the alteration of a hospital as equivalent to the provisions of Chapter 11, Florida Building Code, Building?”

Background:

1. Alterations are being done to North Broward Hospital District in Broward County as a result of Case Number 02-60856-CIV-Cohen/Snow. The scope of the alterations are defined in the case settlement agreement.

2. The federal Department of Justice adopted new Standards for Accessible Design on September 15, 2010 which represents the new Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). The implementation date for alterations and new construction in the updated standards is March 15, 2012; however the Department of justice specifically allows the use of the updated standards immediately.

3. Chapter 11, Florida Building Code, Building uses the 1991 ADAAG as the base for the state code, with certain Florida-specific modifications.

4. The Florida Building Commission established a Laws and Codes Workgroup to use the Standards for Accessible Design as the base for proposed changes to Chapter 11, Florida Building Code, Building, incorporating the more restrictive Florida-specific standards adopted by the Legislature.

5. The project alterations are projected until June 30, 2017, and will commence prior to March 15, 2011.

6. The petitioner wishes to use the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design prior to the March 15, 2011 implementation date as being equivalent to Chapter 11, Florida Building Code, Building, and for the duration of the project, regardless of when Chapter 11 may change to incorporate the new standards.,

7. Section 11-2.2, Florida Building Code, Building, defines equivalent facilitation as, “Departures from particular technical and scoping requirements of this code by the use of other designs and technologies permitted where the alternative designs and technologies used will provide substantially equivalent or greater access to and usability of the code for any element voids any other applicable presumptions or rebuttable evidence that the element has been constructed or altered in accordance with the minimum accessibility requirements of the ADA.

Staff Recommendation:

Question: Is the use of the 2010 federal Standards for Accessible Design acceptable as equivalent to Chapter 11, Florida Building Code, Building?

Answer: Acceptable means, “Acceptable to the code official or authority having jurisdiction. The code official charged with the administration and enforcement of this code is the local building official or his/her authorized representative.”