[rancho_gordo]

I'm told my bathrooms at the new place need a 5 foot circular free area and the toilet needs to be repositioned to be at the edge of the circle. Do any of you smart people know if this is a Federal law or is this local? Why didn't I have to do it in my current place? Just the fact that I signed a lease makes me responsible? The entire bathroom is 4.5 x 5 so there's no way to reconfigure it so I think this means a major reconstruction. I made it clear the restroom was for employees, not customers.
Aren't there exemptions for small business?
This is going to do me in.

[Daisy]

I'm told my bathrooms at the new place need a 5 foot circular free area and the toilet needs to be repositioned to be at the edge of the circle. Do any of you smart people know if this is a Federal law or is this local? Why didn't I have to do it in my current place? Just the fact that I signed a lease makes me responsible? The entire bathroom is 4.5 x 5 so there's no way to reconfigure it so I think this means a major reconstruction. I made it clear the restroom was for employees, not customers.
Aren't there exemptions for small business?
This is going to do me in.

I think it's federal, an ADA thing would be federal.

[Rail Paul]

The laws (state and federal) generally grandfather existing accommodations, but require new construction or leases to meet the codes. There's usually gray space in remodeling older space (NY theaters for example) and creating more seats out of thin air or fat seats, but the law generally requires new occupants to meet the codes.

[tsquare]

Federal. Big deal. Must bring up to current code requirements for major renovations or first tenant improvement. Can you get the landlord (if it isn't you) to help with the costs to bring it into compliance? It's their space.

You need more than that 5' diameter circle - did they give you a basic plan for locating the toilet and lav, and the grab bars? Max height for bottom of the mirror, toilet paper, tp, and soap? There are requirements for all - oh, and plan on a 3' wide door that may have to open out, if you don't want a really big restroom. It's all per ANSI code - not that the book is easy to interpret.

Exemptions if the cost of the renovation exceeds a percentage of the work to be done overall (not sure what that number is.) If all you are doing is moving in and painting and putting in furnishing, you might qualify. They might still require some modifications, but not full compliance.

[splinky]

Federal. Big deal. Must bring up to current code requirements for major renovations or first tenant improvement. Can you get the landlord (if it isn't you) to help with the costs to bring it into compliance? It's their space.

You need more than that 5' diameter circle - did they give you a basic plan for locating the toilet and lav, and the grab bars? Max height for bottom of the mirror, toilet paper, tp, and soap? There are requirements for all - oh, and plan on a 3' wide door that may have to open out, if you don't want a really big restroom. It's all per ANSI code - not that the book is easy to interpret.

Exemptions if the cost of the renovation exceeds a percentage of the work to be done overall (not sure what that number is.) If all you are doing is moving in and painting and putting in furnishing, you might qualify. They might still require some modifications, but not full compliance.

nice summary! it's common when negotiating a lease for space that may be subject to requirements of being brought up to current code, to ask the landlord to cover or contribute to the cost of upgrades or changes required in order to be compliant with code. Generally that sort of discussion has to happen before the lease is signed. it may be time to consult a professional who can best advise what your responsibilities may be.

[Orik]

Move to New York while you can. Our bathrooms are barely compliant with Sierra Leone sanitation dept. regulations.

[splinky]

Move to New York while you can. Our bathrooms are barely compliant with Sierra Leone sanitation dept. regulations.

that's what makes this town so great! our bathrooms are not for wimps

[Evelyn]

A (not so) funny (at the time) story from the build out of my restaurant in FL. Our architect copied the county specs regarding handicap bathrooms directly onto our plans. The builder followed them to a tee. The county inspector comes in and tags us, saying the men's (but, not the women's) bathroom needs to be reworked, even though we'd used their exact specifications. The toilet was too close to the sink and the urinal. Normally, I would've fought the tag suspecting that he wanted 'compensation' more than change. But, the inspector was wheelchair-bound. Figuring the county could find other ways to hold us up from passing inspection, we reworked the space, and opened lighter in the bank account and only 2 days late.

[SRD]

As the carer of a wheelchair user I realise how important that space is. The number of times MrsSRD has to negotiate loose placed bins, babychanger shelves tacked onto the wall, basins just that bit too close to allow a wheelchair between basin and wc, doors that open inwards so prevent the door closing when a wheelchair is inside etc. etc. It isn't helped by the fact that regs were designed with active manual wheelchair users in mind (you know, like those ones that enter the para-olympics) rather than those late middle aged people who use powered chairs.

I agree that I would have thought it was the landlord's (moral) duty to fund the work and would certainly request financial assistance from them.

[rancho_gordo]

The fat lady hasn't sung quite yet.
There are exemptions and there are percentages and whatnot.
I'm all for a nice ADA compliant restroom but I think it's unreasonable for someone with a 4 year lease to be responsible for the entire bill. And it looks like they're agreeing.

[rancho_gordo]

I wanted to follow up on this as it looks like I may be going through it all again.
The real answer is there are exceptions to all the rules, if you keep asking.
I chose the place because it was perfect as is for what we were trying to do. We didn't want to make any changes. But the health dept (who came through before the lease was signed) had different ideas. It turns out that a percentage of the improvements you make goes towards ADA compliance. So even though we didn't want to change a thing, we had to because the health dept had different ideas. It turns out the health dept was off base and the state of California told us not to take their requirements and in fact we'd be introducing bacteria into a clean space if we did. Oy. Then someone nice at city hall did a little more digging and it turns out you that if your improvements are all plumbing (as ours were), you are exempt from ADA compliance! In the end, I think you really need an advocate to get through the system in a town like this. It's set up for real estate developers to make strip malls, not for small biz and entrepreneurs to grow new business.