Design and Construction Requirements

Here are some quick links:

• Types of housing covered by the requirements

• Units not covered by the requirements

• Other Key Issues

• Seven Design & Construction Requirements

• Fair Housing Act - Safe Harbor Compliance

The Fair Housing Act establishes Seven Design and Construction Requirements for all covered multifamily dwellings. Covered multifamily dwellings are buildings with four or more units built for for first occupancy after March 13, 1991.

A building was not designed or constructed for first occupancy if:

Buildings where the last building permit was issued on or before June 15, 1990 are not covered by the design and construction requirements. Even if the last building permit was issued after June 15, 1990, if the building was occupied before March 13, 1991, it is not covered. HUD adopted these dates to allow time for the requirements to be considered during the design and construction phase of new properties.

The "first occupancy" language in the statute has been defined in HUD's Fair Housing Act regulations as "a building that has never before been used for any purpose." This means buildings that are rehabilitated are not covered by the design and construction requirements even if rehabilitation occurs after March 13, 1991 and even if it is substantial rehabilitation.

A dwelling unit includes:

		A single-family unit in buildings with four or more units
		An apartment
		A room in which people sleep even if they share kitchens or
		bathrooms, like transitional housing

The design and construction requirements apply to "covered multifamily dwelling." Covered multifamily dwellings are:

This includes housing that is for rental or for sale and applies whether the housing is privately or publicly funded.

Types of housing covered:

		Condominiums
		Apartment buildings
		Time-shares
		Dormitories
		Transitional housing
		Homeless shelters that are used as a residence
		Student housing
		Assisted living
		Housing in buildings with four or more units
		In elevator buildings, all units are covered
		In buildings without elevators, ground floor units are covered

Units not covered:

		Buildings that were designed and constructed for first occupancy
		before March 13, 1991
		Buildings with three or fewer units are also not covered by the
		design and construction requirements
		Detached single family houses
		Duplexes and triplexes
		Multistory townhouses
		Townhouses with finished living space on more than one level are
		not covered, unless there is an elevator in the building. If none of
		the covered units are required to be accessible because they are
		all multistory townhouses, the FHAct does not require that the
		public and common-use areas be accessible

But remember that other federal laws, such as Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, covers rental and sales offices and requires them to be accessible in most instances.

The Act does not require any specific number of accessible dwelling units in a project, such as 5%. Rather, all units in buildings with elevators and all ground floor units in buildings without elevators are covered.

Other Key Issues:

There are a few other technical considerations about the general application of the design and construction requirements:

		Units that are connected by a breezeway or stairway are still
		considered to be in "a building with four or more units."
		Dwelling units within a single structure that are separated by
		firewalls do not constitute separate buildings. So buildings with
		four or more units that are separated by firewalls are still covered
		multifamily dwellings.
		If additions of four or more units are added to existing buildings,
		they are covered by the design and construction requirements.
		If this happens, existing public and common-use areas do not
		have to be made accessible simply because newly constructed
		dwellings are added. (However, if the entrance to an addition is
		through an existing building, that entrance and the route to it,
		must be made accessible.)
		The FHAct does not cover properties that existed before March 13,
		1991 even if they are renovated since March 13, 1991. It also does
		not cover buildings that were used previously for purposes other
		than housing, that have been renovated since March 13, 1991, to
		include dwelling units. However, renovations of covered multi-
		family dwellings built in compliance cannot be altered in a way
		that makes them non-compliant.

Fair Housing Act - Seven Design and Construction Requirements

The FHAct's design and construction requirements are broken down into seven basic requirements.

1. Accessible building entrance on an accessible route
2. Accessible and usable public and common areas
3. Usable doors
4. Accessible routes into and through covered unit
5. Light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other environmental controls in accessible locations
6. Reinforced walls in bathrooms for later installation of grab bars
7. Usable kitchens and bathrooms

There are Seven Design and Construction Requirements to which new buildings and dwelling units must comply to:

1. The first is that all covered multifamily dwellings must have at least one building entrance on an accessible route unless it is impractical to do so because of the terrain or unusual characteristics of the site. Obviously, there is little point in having an accessible unit in buildings that people cannot enter.

2. The second requirement is that covered housing must have accessible and usable public and common-use area.  Public and common-use areas cover all parts of the housing outside individual units. They include, for example: building-wide fire alarms, parking lots, storage areas, indoor and outdoor recreational areas, lobbies, mailrooms and mailboxes, and laundry areas.

3. The third requirement is that all doors that allow passage into and within all premises must be wide enough to allow passage by persons using wheelchairs.

4. The fourth requirement is that there must be an accessible route into and through each covered unit.

5. The fifth requirement is that light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other environmental controls must be in accessible locations.

6. The sixth requirement is reinforcements in bathrooms so that grab bars can be added when needed. The law does not require installation of grab bars in bathrooms.

7. The seventh requirement is that kitchens and bathrooms must be usable - that is, designed and constructed so an individual in a wheelchair can maneuver in the space provided.

Fair Housing Act - Safe Harbors for Compliance

These are the seven access standards that HUD has identified:

1. The Fair Housing Act Accessibility Guidelines (issued on March 6, 1991), and the Supplemental Notice to Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines: Questions and Answers about the Guidelines (issued June 28, 1994).

2. ANSI A117.1 (1986), used with FHAct, HUD's FHAct regulations and the Guidelines.

3. CABO/ANSI A117.1 (1992), used with FHAct, HUD's FHAct regulations and the Guidelines.

4. ICC/ANSI A117.1 (1998), used with FHAct, HUD's FHAct regulations and the Guidelines.

5. The Fair Housing Act Design Manual

6. Code Requirements for Housing Accessibility 2000 (CRHA) published by the International Code Council in October, 2000.

7. International Building Code 2000, as amended by the IBC's 2001 Supplement to the International Codes.

It is important to note that the ANSI A117.1 standard contains only technical criteria, whereas the Fair Housing Act, the regulations and the Guidelines contain both scoping and technical criteria. Therefore, in using any of the ANSI standards it is necessary to also consult the Act, HUD's regulations, and the Guidelines.

Other means of providing access that provide an equal or greater degree of accessibility may also be used to comply with the Fair Housing Act's access requirements, but they are not a safe harbor.

Information provided relies on the provisions of the Fair Housing Act and its regulations, the Accessibility Guidelines and the Supplemental Questions and Answers, ANSI A117.1 (1986) and the Design Manual for the guidance that it provides about compliance with the technical design and construction requirements in the Act.

For more information on design and construction requirements, please visit Fair Housing Accessibility FIRST at: www.fairhousingfirst.org