On July 26, 1990, President George Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); the first civil rights law to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities thereby outlining requirements for many situations that people encounter as part of everyday life. In addition to how public transportation and telecommunication companies provide service, ADA regulations forever changed access to businesses and commercial facilities that are open to the public. As a result, employers, state and local governments not only were faced with retrofitting their facilities, but were also required to implement a review and compliance mechanism for all new development.
Don’t Mess with Texas!
Where state building codes incorporated ADA standards within their adopted building code; the State of Texas, like no other in the United States, empowered the Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) to license professionals within the construction industry as Registered Accessibility Specialists (RAS) to ensure compliance with the State’s Accessibility Standards. All construction projects with a cost of construction greater than $50,000.00 must ensure an ADA plan review by a licensed RAS is completed to ensure compliance. The process is comprised of three steps: online project registration, a plan review, and a post-construction on-site inspection.
Today, the project registration process can be completed via the Texas Architectural Barriers System (TABS) by creating a user account and login. Project specifics, the selected RAS, and a fee of $175.00 are required to complete the process and once complete, the online user will receive the project registration confirmation form which includes the TABS number. Submittal of a building permit application to all jurisdictions within the state require the project registration form and TABS number be included at the time of initial submittal.
So, What Does This Mean for Your Architect?
Within twenty days of completing the project registration process and/or the signing and sealing of the plans, the Architect of Record (AOR) is required to submit the building permit plans along with the prescribed plan review fee to the RAS to complete the ADA compliant plan review. If the project also includes site work or horizontal construction, the AOR must coordinate with the Civil Engineer of Record (EOR) to incorporate the civil engineered plans for ADA review as well. Although plan review timeframes can vary amongst the various RAS operating within the state, the AOR can expect to receive the results of the review in approximately four to six weeks. Since a resubmittal and subsequent plan review addressing the plan review comments is not required, it is incumbent upon the AOR and the EOR to ensure the Construction Documents are revised to address all of the comments, as all conditions requiring revision to comply with the ADA and the Texas Accessibility Standards will be visually verified by the RAS during the post-construction on-site inspection.
How Does This Impact Your General Contractor?
The General Contractor is required to coordinate and request the post-construction on-site inspection with the RAS, at which time the inspection fee must be remitted. While the state allows up to one year from the completion of construction for the on-site inspection to be completed, the inspection should be completed once construction is finalized to alleviate issues which may arise from the demobilization of tradesmen and/or release of final payment of the contractor’s contract from the owner.
Experience Matters.
Although this process is a separate submittal over and above the standard building permit submittal completed for projects in all of the other states in the nation, and may appear to be somewhat daunting when first exposed to the requirements, state licensed AORs and permitting professionals are well versed in the procedures and can easily assist in guiding the first-timer. Therefore, I invite you to seek out industry leaders, like Interplan that offers in-house Architectural, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Civil Engineering, as well as Permitting services to complete these processes. Interplan is well equipped to ensure your project is ADA and State of Texas compliant, alleviating the worry of encountering unnecessary delays or additional costs as a result of not adhering to the proper procedure.