Readily achievable barrier removal

Definition

The ADA's duty to remove access barriers from an existing building.

Why It Matters

It is the building obligation that does not grandfather. New construction has to meet the design standards outright; an older building has to remove barriers wherever doing so is easy and inexpensive, measured against the business as it stands, so a buyer inherits the duty on the day they close, and the size the test is applied against becomes the buyer's own. Two things follow in diligence. Price the obvious items, a parking space, a door width, a ramp, a restroom stall, before somebody else prices them in a demand letter. And ask whether the premises have ever drawn a complaint, because the duty attaches to whoever operates the premises, so a change of owner does not reset it, and a plaintiff who has written once about a property commonly writes again.

In numbers: The 2010 Standards cap a ramp at a 1:12 slope, which is 8.33%, so a 6 inch rise needs 6 feet of run and a 32 inch clear door width is the floor.