The new Illinois Accessibility Code (IAC) was accepted at the October 16th, 2018 Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and as of October 23rd, 2018, the changes are now in effect. The Capital Development Board (CDB) will be releasing a searchable, user-friendly version of the Code in the future, but the new rules are available for review via the State of Illinois website at this time. 
image by Tevin Trinh
About the Illinois Accessibility Code
The Illinois Accessibility Code is a set of regulations that implement the Illinois Environmental Barriers Act, and applicable entities in Illinois must comply with both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Environmental Barriers Act.
In Illinois, the IAC implements the Environmental Barriers Act (EBA), the state statute pertaining to accessibility for people with disabilities. Previous amendments to the EBA were adopted in July 2016 and became effective on January 1, 2017. The state statute was amended, in part, to better align with the ADA. The IAC now more closely resembles the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, but does have a number of different and more restrictive requirements. The new rules are designed to eliminate inconsistencies between codes.
Impact on Current Projects
Although the new edition can be used immediately, projects currently in progress where a specific contract for planning has already been awarded prior to the effective date of the new IAC are exempt from compliance if construction begins within 12 months. Plans must comply with the version of the Code applicable at time of contract which would be the 1997 edition.
Additional information on the new IAC will be released in the future, and we will be updating this space as well as previous posts with any additional information as it is released.
