By Kim Paarlberg

The Code Council is proud to continue its work toward the coordination of accessibility provisions in building codes with federal requirements. As part of this effort, ICC has prepared a comparison matrix between the 2010 ADA Standard for Accessible Design and the accessibility provisions in the 2012 International Building Code (IBC), 2012 International Existing Building Code (IEBC) and the 2009 ICC A117.1 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities (ICC A117.1). This matrix is being made available free of charge by ICC as a service to its Members and the communities they serve. Click here to access the comparison matrix.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) requires compliance with the 2010 ADA Standard for all new buildings constructed or renovated started after March 15, 2012. The Code Council's goal is to meet or exceed these requirements. There have been two committees working on developing code change proposals for the I-Codes and the referenced standard as part of this coordination effort.

The Code Technology Committee (CTC) was assigned an Area of Study by the ICC Board of Directors entitled IBC Coordination with the New ADAAG. As part of the review of the IBC and the 2010 Standard, the CTC proposed changes in 2012 to the IBC for coordination with the scoping (i.e., what, where and how many) provisions of the 2010 ADA Standard. This committee will continue its work with proposals for the IEBC during the 2013 code development cycle. Code changes can be found on the ICC website by clicking here and here.

The ICC A117.1 Consensus Committee is in the process of updating the 2009 edition of the ICC A117.1 standard to the 2014 edition. As part of the update process, a study group has been created entitled, Harmonization with the 2010 ADA Standard. This  study group has recommended a package of proposals to the Consensus Committee for its consideration in the 2014 edition of the standard in order to coordinate  the next edition of A117.1  with the technical (i.e. how) criteria in the 2010 ADA Standard. Additional information can be found on the ICC website by clicking here.

Both committees also worked to make sure that code change proposals would adhere with issues related to the Fair Housing Accessibility Guideline (FHAG) that are also found in the codes. While most of these FHAG provisions are related to Type B dwelling units, there is overlap in institutional and residential types such as assisted living, nursing homes, dormitories and group homes.

For questions on this matrix, or on similar matrix for earlier editions of the code and standard, please contact Kim Paarlberg, ICC Senior Staff Architect.