Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires all public accommodations and commercial facilities to be disability-friendly. If you’re unsure whether your business premises meet the ADA’s accessible specifications or not, you can speak to our ADA consultants at Apertum Access. We are specialists in business ADA compliance and we can visit your premises, conduct a thorough inspection, and advise you on the necessary changes you need to make.
Contact us for more information.
According to the ADA, businesses refer to any establishment conducting commercial affairs in the USA. These establishments include:
If you own one of the above businesses or are in charge of managing the business, you need to make sure that your premises are ADA-compliant.
Business premises built before 1992
If your premises were built before 1992, you are required to remove any architectural obstacles/barriers that can make your business property inaccessible for your differently-abled patrons. Here, changes must be done whenever they are “readily achievable”.
Business premises built after 1992
If your business premises were built after 1992, you are required by the ADA to fix all of your non-compliance issues and make the premises compliant with the ADA.
The ADA problem is that there are many confusing terms in the Act, which make it difficult for business owners to understand whether they’re compliant or not. For example, the terms “readily achievable” are very loosely defined in the law and depend on the size of the business, the type of customers it serves, and the nature of the accidents that are most likely to occur. You may often think you’re ADA-compliant, only to find that something has been left undone.
Additionally, there is the issue of grandfather clauses. These clauses remove a building’s necessity to comply with any safety/accessibility codes, which were passed after the building was built. Many business owners, whose properties were built before 1992, don’t know that grandfather clauses (which are acceptable in California building codes) are not allowed by the ADA. Not making your pre-1992 premises handicap-friendly is viewed as an ADA violation.
Violating Business ADA specifications can lead to massive fines as high as $75,000 on the first violation and $150,000 on all subsequent violations. This is excluding the legal fees and damages you’ll need to bear if the injured visitor sues you in Court.
You’ll need the assistance of experts who have extensive knowledge about federal ADA codes and requirements. We will visit your property, help you identify violations, and assist you with corrections.
At Apertum Access, our team can inspect and correct the following elements of your business premises:
In addition to these inspections and corrections, we can also train your staff on ADA compliance. We will communicate the specifications that they need to follow and the ADA products they need to install, to make the premises more handicap-friendly.
Renovating your business premises can be a huge drain on your business’s coffers. There’s no need to hesitate, as the IRS offers Disabled Access Credit to all small businesses that employ less than 30 full-time employees or who have made an annual revenue under $1 million in the previous financial year. If you qualify for the credit, you can claim certain expenses that you incur on your ADA compliance.
Speak to our experts for advice on filing for the credit.
