Survey Results: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a Federal civil rights law that prohibits the exclusion of people with disabilities from everyday activities, such as buying an item at a store, watching a movie in a theater, enjoying a meal at a restaurant, etc. To meet the goals of the ADA, the law established requirements for private businesses of all sizes that went into effect on January 26, 1992 and continue for both for-profit and non-profit organizations. If you own, operate, lease, or lease to a business that serves the public, then you are covered by the ADA and have obligations for existing facilities as well as for compliance when a facility is altered or a new facility is constructed. Existing facilities are not exempted by "grandfather provisions" that are often used by building code officials. CRA recently asked members to respond to a survey about their experience with ADA requirements. Here are their responses.
1. Is your business ADA compliant or does it have concerns about being ADA compliant?
Compliant: 44% (11 responses)
Have concerns: 48% (12 responses)
Other (please specify): 8% (2 responses)
a. Don't know of the new Federal ADA law.
b. Unknown
2. Did you make any upgrades to become ADA Compliant? (Check all that apply.)
New Parking Area & Signage: 71% (5 responses)
Lower Counter Area: 43% (3 responses)
Restroom Remodel: 43% (3 responses)
Door Access Issues: 43% (3 responses)
Other (please specify): 43% (3 responses)
a. Remodel showroom.
b. Aisles in office.
c. We had all those regulations put in when we built our building ... as if we had a choice.
3. How much did you spend to become ADA compliant?
$0-$999: 29% (2 responses)
$1,000-$2,999: 14% (1 response)
$3,000-$5,000: 43% (3 responses)
Other (please specify): 14% (1 response)
a. $20,000.00 including lawsuit and inspection.
4. Have you been sued for not being ADA compliant?
State compliance: Yes: 6% (1 response) No: 94% (17 responses)
Federal compliance: No: 100% (15 responses)
Additional comments:
a. Not sure, not involved in that aspect of the business.
b. I think we are compliant.
5. Did you hire legal counsel?
Yes: 13% (2 responses)
No: 87% (13 responses)
6. How much was your settlement? (2 responses)
a. Not sure. Somewhere in the low thousands. Eight, nine, ten thousand. Plus costs of labor and materials to upgrade.
b. $5,200.
Additional survey comment: What is the purpose of this survey?