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.
Meeting the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the federal law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, is essential to any construction project. During our compliance reviews, we encounter violations because the ADA’s accessible design requirements are misunderstood or overlooked. The following is a very general overview of some of the ADA’s requirements.
Kohl’s has been embroiled in Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) litigation over the accessibility of its department stores. These cases demonstrate that even though private parties cannot receive a financial award for ADA Title III claims, retailers are still at risk of costly and protracted private party ADA litigation seeking equitable relief. Additionally, the cases also illustrate that even if there is no specific ADA standard for a particular store element, the element could still fall under the ADA’s purview if it is found to be a barrier to accessibility and its removal is readily achievable.
Accessible means of egress are a critical component of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design (2010 ADA Standards), the rules implementing the portion of the ADA (Title III) prohibiting places of public accommodation and commercial facilities from discriminating against people with disabilities. To meet the ADA’s requirements for accessible means of egress, it is necessary to also be aware of the applicable standards of the International Building Code (IBC), the International Code Council’s model code that is adopted by many jurisdictions.
On February 14, 2018, the House of Representatives passed a bill amending some of the enforcement provisions of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the ADA title prohibiting discrimination against those with disabilities by private entities providing public accommodations. The legislation, H.R. 620, ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017 (Amendments), has been the subject of alarming headlines such as, “The GOP Wants to Gut the Americans With Disabilities Act.” We thought we would take a closer look at the Amendments’ provisions and why they are raising so much concern.