Code Matters
Codes do matter in the building and industrial plant world…A lot.
by Karen Griffin, Staff Architect
Question:
Is it a requirement to provide accessible toilet rooms and elements within the industrial plant?
Reference Code:
The International Building Code (IBC), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA 2010)
The following will hopefully clear up many misunderstandings about accessibility design which we often lump into one word – handicap.
Fact #1: The ADA (a law) is written as civil rights
legislation and not as a building code.
Fact #2: Enforcement of ADA is the responsibility of the
Department of Justice, not the fire marshal or
building code official.
Fact #3: Everything is required to be accessible by the
IBC (buildings and site) unless it is specifically
exempted.
Fact #4: Physical disabilities can be permanent or
temporary, can involve all levels of abilities and
can range from persons with minor visual,
hearing or mobility impairments to persons who
are blind, deaf or confined to a wheelchair.
So the designers’ job is at first a scoping job – to determine what and where accessibility is required or how many accessible elements are required and then determine the technical requirements needed. An industrial plant is usually classified as a commercial facility, so accessibility is required. Most plants have office type areas, separate from the factory, where a person with a disability may very well work or arrive as a visitor. This is pretty clear we must provide the required accessibility elements.
-
“In the tradition of a community coming together to raise a barn, Mid-South Engineering is committed to working with our friends and neighbors as partners, knowing we can accomplish more by working together, with the common goals of lifting each other’s burdens and side-by-side framing our future for the better.”
