Design & Construction for Multi-Family Housing
Links to sections of this page
Overview
Design and Construction Requirements
Resources
Overview
In 1988 Congress added design and construction requirements to the Fair Housing Law. (FHL). These changes dramatically changed the relationship between the FHL and the architectural and building communities. The requirements that Congress added mandated that "new multifamily housing" had to be designed and constructed with certain accessible features. "New" meant anything built after March 13, 1991. "Multifamily housing" meant any project with four or more units and includes condominiums, apartments and single-story townhouses.
Design and Construction Requirements
The design and construction requirements are: 1) units must have an accessible entrance and must be on an accessible route; 2) public and common-use areas must be accessible; 3) the doors within units must be usable doors;4) there must be an accessible route into and through the unit; 5) light switches, electrical outlets and environmental controls must be accessible; 6) bathrooms must have reinforced walls; and 7) kitchens and bathrooms must be usable. In buildings without elevators only first floor units need to comply. In buildings with elevators every unit must comply.
Congress added design and construction requirements to the FHL to provide anyone with a mobility-related disability a better chance of finding housing that works more for them than against them. For example, someone who uses a wheelchair or walker will find it easier to enter and exit rooms that have 32" doors versus doors that are only 28 inches wide.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was charged with developing guidelines that detailed and described how each of the requirements could be satisfied. On March 6, 1991 HUD published guidelines that provided guidance for each of the seven requirements. These guidelines define usable doors, usable kitchens and bathrooms, etc.
Several years ago the Virginia Fair Housing Office began investigating how well architects and builders were complying with the design and construction mandates. The results of our investigation indicated a certain degree of non-compliance with the law. Most of the projects that were inspected did not comply with all seven mandates.
Common problems included not making every door intended for user passage wide enough. Every door intended for user passage should be 32" wide. That includes both doors even if they provide access into the same room. For example, a hallway door going into a master bedroom and a door going into the master bedroom from an attached bathroom, both need to 32" wide because both doors are intended for user passage. Another problem is where bathroom doors swing into the bathroom encroaching on the clear floor space. Bathroom doors should either swing out or if they swing in there needs to be enough space to allow someone to enter the bathroom, close the door and use the facilities. Similar investigations in other states also discovered varying degrees of non-compliance.
In August of 1997, Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc., (BNI) a non-profit Fair Housing organization located in Baltimore, Maryland settled a lawsuit against The Falls Gable Condominium Residents' Association, Falls Gables Limited Partnership, and Gables Development Company. BNI's lawsuit alleged that the condominium units and several of the common areas were inaccessible to people who used wheelchairs. BNI said that Falls Gable has insufficiently and incorrectly designed curb cuts and handicapped parking places; inaccessible common use areas and facilities; and inaccessible decks, patio areas, and bathrooms in individual units. Without admitting liability, Falls Gable agreed to pay BNI $75,000, of which $7,500. went to the owners of ground floor units who wish to make them accessible. The remaining funds will be used to make common areas accessible and to pay damages, legal fees and costs.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has also gotten involved. In late 1996, DOJ sued the developers and architects of five Chicago-area housing developments. The suits, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, charged the developers and architects with violating the law by not including certain features that would make the units accessible. The DOJ also filed suit against a Nevada developer, construction company and architect. In this suit, DOJ alleged that the defendants failed to design and construct some 324 ground floor units in accordance with the law.
In a case of first impression, in June of 1998, HUD Chief Administrative Law Judge ordered the Perland Corporation to retrofit condominium units that it had improperly designed and constructed in Will County, Illinois. This is the first case where a judge ordered retrofitting of units that did not comply with the accessibility requirements under the Fair Housing Law. This case shows the serious consequences of failing to design or construct accessible units and it also shows how serious the federal government takes design and construction failures.
One way to satisfy Fair Housing's accessible requirements is to follow HUD's guidelines. The guidelines reflect the degree of accessibility that HUD believes is consistent with the degree of accessibility that Congress intended when it passed the Fair Housing Amendments Act in 1988. The guidelines are not requirements but they do create a safe harbor.
While you may deviate from the guidelines, you should always deviate in favor of providing more accessibility and not less than what's described in the guidelines. If you provide less accessibility and if you're sued you would have to prove that the accessibility that you provided was equal to the accessibility that Congress intended to provide. In making that argument consider that certain design features in the guidelines are based on ANSI 117.1 (1986). Therefore, attacking HUD's guidelines would also involve attacking ANSI 117.1. (1986). Given all of that makes following the guidelines sensible and cost effective. If the VFHO can be of further assistance to you please call us at (804) 367-8530.
Resourses
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has published two documents that explain how to meet the design and construction requirements under the fair housing law. The first is HUD's Final Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines published in the Federal Register on March 6, 1991. This is a 43-page document that includes comments, applications and drawings. The second publication is HUD's Fair Housing Design Manual. Designed and developed by Barrier Free Environments, Inc. of Raleigh, North Carolina, the Design Manual was published in 1996. It was subsequently edited and then released again in 1998. The Design Manual is an inch thick. It includes hundreds of pages of text as well as numerous definitions, drawings and diagrams. HUD has also produced a 27-minute Fair Housing Accessibility Guideline videotape. The videotape provides technical guidance on compliance with the construction accessibility requirements. To get a copy of that Design Manual or the videotape call HUD's Customer Service Office at (800) 343-3442.
