ADA Requirement on a smaller office building?

Question

All:

I have a potential tenant who is looking to sign a 3 year lease for my first commercial property , a ~2500 SF office building that is over 100 years old. I've done ~50k in renovations and it's in great shape. But it's still a hundred year old  building. It doesn't have a ramp, handicap accessible bathrooms, or other new commercial building requirements that are typical.

The lease that I've offered them says that they are responsible with complying with any ADA requirements, but they want me to be responsible. I own ~50 residential units and have very little commercial experience so I have no idea what that might be.

Is there a minimum building square footage that requires ADA upfits? Is there anything that I should be aware of? I do not want to get a phone call a month after they move in saying that they have to have 20k worth of ADA compliance work.

FWIW the tenant and their lease offer seems to be a solid one. They have 5 offices in 5 different states in the Southeast and do archaeological services. The building they would be renting from me would be mostly office work, not a lot of outside traffic that I'm aware of.

Patrick Liska · Answer

Any commercial space that is open to the public must meet ADA requirements, from the door threshold height, ramps, bathrooms, bath sinks even counters that may be put in for checkout ( that's tenants responsibility when they outfit the space). The ramp can be no more that 1" rise over 1' length of travel. The bathroom must have a 5' turning radius, the sink must be wall hung or open cabinet( 34" to top rim), the toilet must have the proper grab bars installed and at certain heights, the flush handle on the toilet must face the side that has the 5' turning radius not the opposite side. The toilet must be ada height, light switches and bath mirror must be a certain height.

Brian Schmelzlen · Answer

This is not exactly an answer to your question, but might be useful information for you to have if you are forced to make improvements to the building to comply with ADA requirements.

There is a tax credit worth up to $5,000 for making "eligible access expenditures" to comply with ADA.  If you are forced to make ADA improvements, talk to your CPA about this.

Ronald Rohde · Answer

What is the use? Do they provide goods or services to the public?

Commercial facilities, such as office buildings, factories, warehouses, or other facilities that do not provide goods or services directly to the public are only subject to the ADA's requirements for new construction and alterations.

Patrick Liska · Answer

Will,

That's good to hear, will save you some money. that is also the first thing that is required, the ramp, if you do renovations ( the article mentions that) so the town is keeping it at a minimum for you. yes with no interior work you would not be required to change the bathroom, keep that in mind if you ever renovate the inside though, you will be required to bring that up to standards. good luck with the tenant, hope they work out for you.

Michael Lee · Answer

No specific knowledge/experience but based on my reading of Title III of the ADA, a couple things jump out to me that I'd consider: 1) the standard for 'removing barriers' in order to be ADA-compliant is whether doing so is 'readily achievable'. So maybe adding a ramp access outside is readily achievable so you'd want to do that, but completely tearing apart an existing bathroom to create the necessary space is not readily achievable; 2) is the property in a historic district? If so, the law states that it must be ADA-compliant to the 'maximum extent possible' but if alterations would destroy the historic aspect of it, a lesser standard should be applied.

Patrick Liska · Answer

Will,

Part of the problem is you did renovation work, which triggers bringing items up to ADA standards, i'm surprised your code enforcement officer ( building inspector) did not pick up on that when you filed for the permit ( you did get a permit for the work didn't you? ) here is a link to a page that talks about the renovation part and how it triggers it, the site will also explain more if you search around, and i believe they show you all the standards that i talked about, i have not gone through the site and all the pages, just this article for you.

https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standa...

Ronald Rohde · Answer

I'd be happy to take a look if you email me, just want to be sure the Lease complies with actual use

Patrick Liska · Answer

Just to add for the ramp as an example, if the main door is 2' up from the parking lot, you would need a 24' ramp. It can switch back and forth but each turn must be level. The normal size of a ADA bath at min is usually 7' x 8'. You would need 3 grab bars by the toilet - 36" behind the toilet, 42" to the side of the toilet ( usually at around 34" from the floor- horizontal) and one 18" that is vertical on the side of the toilet just above the 42" one.

Will Gaston · Answer

Thanks @Ronald Rohde. Just sent you a PM.

Will Gaston · Answer

Patrick,

I should've been more clear on the renovations. Other than interior paint, all of the work done was to the exterior of the building (new roof, new driveway, parking lot) or the HVAC system. I did speak to an employee at the city today and she told me that they would not require anything done to the property other than a handicap ramp. They said that they would not require any bathroom work since it was not altered.

ADA Requirement on a smaller office building?

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