Accessible Health Care Briefs: CHOOSING AND NEGOTIATING AN ACCESSIBLE FACILITY LOCATION

2. HOW TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES IN EVALUATING NEW MEDICAL OFFICE SPACE

Many facilities were built without features that accommodate people with disabilities, including people who use wheelchairs. This lack of accessibility makes it impossible for many people with disabilities to take part in everyday activities such as going to work, eating in a restaurant or shopping in a store. The ADA recognizes that for people with disabilities to participate in the everyday activities, they need to have access to the goods and services provided by businesses. It is important to know what to look when choosing new medical office space. The existence of an accessible parking space doesn't make a building … accessible.”

Here are some tips:

2. a. Leasing and ADA Compliance

2. a. i. Negotiability and Flexibility

Commercial leases are generally subject to a great deal of negotiation between owners and landlords, since businesses often need specific features in their spaces, and landlords are often eager for tenants and willing to extend special offers.^iv

2. a. ii. Responsibility

Both the proprietor who owns the building where the facility is located and the tenant who owns or operates the facility are responsible for compliance with Title III of the ADA. Allocations of responsibilities between landlord and tenant for removing barriers when readily achievable, and modifying policies, both in common areas as well as within places of public accommodations, may be determined by the lease or other contract between the parties.^v

Tenants are advised to review ADA obligations with their property owners. Alterations clauses in a lease often spell out what a tenant is allowed to do within leased space, while compliance clauses allocate responsibility to one party or another for compliance with federal, state, and local laws.^vi

Failure to determine, allocate, and execute ADA responsibility may result in either the tenant’s or landlord’s liability for noncompliance.^vii

2. a. iii. Costs

Leases should be reviewed to determine if the property owner or tenant is responsible for the cost of any ADA related changes.^viii

The existence of an accessible parking space doesn't make a building accessible.

The follow [sic] is a non-exhaustive list of disability access issues that should be evaluated in choosing a new business location:

• Adequate accessible parking,

• Accessible entrance,

• Doors at entrances,

• Accessible door hardware,

• Adequate wheelchair maneuvering space,

• Accessible fixed seating and tables, and

• Accessible sales and service counters.