Commercial

Accessibility Considerations

• Path of Travel — Tenant Improvements
  ADA 28 CFR §36.403 / TAS §202.4
  16 TAC Chapter 68 (Texas)When a tenant alters a primary function area, the accessible path from parking through the building entrance to the altered space — including the restrooms, telephones, and drinking fountains serving it — must be made accessible up to 20 percent of the primary alteration cost. This obligation belongs to the tenant and applies to the path as it exists, not as the landlord should have built it. In Texas, the disproportionality determination is a formal TDLR regulatory process. In other jurisdictions with state plan review programs, comparable formal processes apply. Where no state plan review exists, the obligation remains under ADA and must be addressed in the project scope. This cost needs to be identified during lease negotiation and design programming, not after construction documents are complete.
• Landlord and Tenant Obligations
  ADA 28 CFR §36.201 / TAS Advisory 202.4
  ADA Advisory 202.4Landlord and tenant have separate and independent obligations under ADA Title III. The landlord is responsible for the base building: accessible parking, accessible site circulation, accessible building entrance, accessible common area restrooms, and accessible routes through lobbies and corridors to tenant spaces. These obligations exist continuously, not only when a tenant is improving a space. The tenant is responsible for the leased space interior and for the path of travel obligation triggered by their alterations. ADA Advisory 202.4 protects the landlord from additional obligations caused by a tenant's alteration — the tenant's project does not require the landlord to do more work in common areas the landlord controls, as long as those areas are not otherwise being altered. But this does not reduce the tenant's own path of travel obligation, and it does not eliminate the landlord's pre-existing baseline. Lease language purporting to assign ADA responsibility does not change what the law requires of each party.
• Readily Achievable Barrier Removal
  ADA 28 CFR §36.304
  ADA Title IIIExisting places of public accommodation have an ongoing obligation to remove architectural barriers where it is readily achievable to do so. This obligation does not require a construction project to activate it; it applies continuously to every existing commercial building subject to Title III. Readily achievable is a lower standard than full accessibility compliance — it means achievable without much difficulty or expense, given the resources of the business. Parking lot restriping, accessible door hardware, grab bar installation, and route improvements are common readily achievable measures. Many commercial building owners are unaware of this obligation or treat it as requiring no action because no construction is planned.
• Service Counters and Transaction Areas
  ADA §227, §904 / TAS §227, §904
  IBC §1108.4 / ICC A117.1 §904Reception desks, sales counters, service windows, checkout stations, and cash wrap counters require an accessible section at 28 to 34 inches above the finish floor with compliant clear floor space for approach. Where the counter serves a single purpose and a separate accessible section is not feasible, a portable surface may satisfy the requirement under certain conditions. Counter configurations are routinely driven by interior design and operational layout without coordinating the accessible section requirement. This is among the most common commercial plan review findings.
• Restaurants and Food Service
  ADA §226, §227 / TAS §226, §227
  IBC §1108.4 / ICC A117.1 §902, §904Dining surfaces require a 5 percent minimum of accessible seating at compliant heights (28 to 34 inches), dispersed throughout the dining area. Bar and counter seating at elevated heights requires an accessible section where the same type of seating is available at accessible height. Self-service areas including salad bars, beverage stations, and condiment areas require accessible reach ranges and approach clearances. Host stands, payment terminals, and order pickup stations require accessible configuration. Outdoor dining areas on accessible routes must meet the same accessible seating dispersion requirements as interior areas.
• Retail
  ADA §206, §225, §227 / TAS §206, §225, §227
  IBC §1108 / ICC A117.1 §302-305Accessible routes through merchandise areas must provide 36-inch minimum clear width, with 60-inch passing spaces or a 60-inch diameter turning space where routes narrow. Fitting rooms require accessible turning space, a bench, and a 32-inch minimum clear door opening. Checkout aisles require at least one accessible aisle with a clear width of 36 inches. Self-service merchandise racks and shelving must provide accessible reach ranges to at least one of each type of item. Customer service areas and product demonstration stations require accessible approach and counter heights.
• Vertical Access and the Elevator Exception
  ADA §206.2.3 / TAS §206.2.3
  IBC §1104Private commercial buildings with fewer than three stories or less than 3,000 square feet per story may qualify for the elevator exception and not be required to provide an accessible route between stories. The exception has important carve-outs: shopping centers and shopping malls, professional offices of health care providers, transportation terminals, and airport passenger terminals are excluded regardless of size. Whether the exception applies is a planning-phase determination that affects the entire vertical circulation design and must be made before a project scope is established. A private two-story office building may qualify; a two-story medical office building with physician tenants does not.
• Parking
  ADA §208 / TAS §208
  IBC §1106 / ICC A117.1 §502Required accessible space count is determined by Table 208.2 based on total parking provided. At least one space in every six accessible spaces must be van accessible. Any parking lot reconfiguration, expansion, or resurfacing project requires recalculation of the required accessible space count and access aisle configuration. Accessible spaces must be located on the shortest accessible route to the accessible building entrance. Slope in all directions within parking spaces and access aisles must not exceed 2 percent. Common findings include van accessible spaces without adequate aisle width and accessible spaces on routes that require travel behind other vehicles.
• Mixed-Use and Shopping Center Classification
  ADA §206.2.3 / TAS §206.2.3
  TDLR TM 2012-03 (Texas)When a commercial building houses five or more sales or rental establishments — meeting the definition of a shopping center or shopping mall under ADA and TAS — the elevator exception is eliminated regardless of building height or floor area. All floors must be connected by accessible route. The floor-level qualification also applies: only floors housing at least one sales or rental establishment are part of the shopping center facility, though non-retail floors must still meet all other accessibility requirements. This classification question must be evaluated at the time of leasing and design, not assumed.