Revised Accessibility Standard Approved
April 1998
Culminating more than three years of intensive review by Accredited
Standards Committee A117 of the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI), the revision of the nation's private sector accessibility
standard has been completed. On February 13, 1998, ANSI's Board
of Standards Review (BSR) approved the 1998 edition of CABO/ANSI
A117.1, Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities, as an
American National Standard. CABO serves as Secretariat for the
A117 Committee.
The A117 Committee began the process of revising the 1992
edition of the A117.1 standard in early 1995. Drafts of the proposed
standard were subjected to three public reviews, and the committee
processed more than 1000 proposed changes and comments during
23 days of meetings between June 1995 and October 1997.
Federal Coordination
The CABO/ANSI A117.1-1998 standard has been developed to work
in harmony with Federal accessibility laws, including the current
Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines and the proposed Americans
with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG).
New provisions for Type B dwelling units are intended to provide
technical requirements consistent with the Fair Housing Accessibility
Guidelines of the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD is currently in the process of reviewing the 1998 standard
to determine equivalency with the Guidelines.
In addition, the A117 committee worked closely with the ADAAG
Review Federal Advisory Committee to harmonize the 1998 edition
with proposed revisions to ADAAG. The U. S. Architectural and
Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) is expected
to publish a Notice of Proposed Rule Making later this year.
Expanded Technical Requirements
Other highlights of the new standard include expanded sections
on elevators, signs, alarms, and automatic teller machines, a
revised unobstructed high side reach requirement, and new criteria
for detectable warnings for platform edges.
CABO anticipates that the new standard will be available later
this year.
©1998 Council of American Building
Officials
The CABO Newsletter
Volume 5 Number 1
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