Proposed changes to ADA regulations

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:56:00 GMT

The Justice Department recently completed a draft totaling 1,000 pages of proposed changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The sweeping changes would affect facilities of all kinds, including courthouses, drinking fountains, amusement park rides, stadium and theater seating, fishing piers, boat slips, and bowling lanes. The regulations would establish specific design requirements catered to each facility.

Business owners see the changes as a financial drain, leading to expensive construction costs and potential losses in revenue while construction is completed. Disability rights advocates praise the legislation as long overdue, but also view it as only one major step in a process to make public facilities more easily accessible to the disabled.

The Justice Department is estimating that more than 7 million businesses will be affected, with construction costs to bring those businesses into compliance totaling more than $23 billion over the next 40 years.

The rules would apply to new businesses and facilities and to alterations of existing ones. Businesses also would have to remove ‘readily achievable’ barriers — changes that don't require a lot of difficulty or expense. The proposal was published by the government last month. Final regulations could take effect next year, after a period for public comment.

While the costs to bring facilities into compliance may severely impact small businesses, the potential revenue stream from the roughly 51 million disabled Americans could prove to be a financial boon to those same companies.

Critics from both sides of this issue are already weighing in on the potential consequences of passage of this proposed legislation. Disabled rights advocates are concerned about a “safe harbor” provision that would let small businesses meet their obligation to remove barriers in a given year if, in the preceding year, they spent at least 1 percent of their gross revenues on barrier removal.

“We are worried about people claiming ‘we did this, this and this, we renovated the bathroom on the second floor’ but you still can't get in the three steps at the front door,” said Kleo King, senior vice president of accessibility services at United Spinal Association. “There’s too much room for abuse here.”

Business groups fear the changes will lead to a new round of lawsuits from “drive-by” ADA lawsuits that are attempts by lawyers to get quick cash settlements. Both sides have said that much uncertainty remains and are asking the Justice Department to clarify some points before releasing the final rules.

While waiting for the changes to be passed, design and construction professionals would be wise to familiarize themselves with some of the changes. This would give firms a head start on methods to bring facilities into compliance. To see the proposed changes, go to the ADA website at www.ada.gov/NPRM2008/ADAnprm08.htm.

Fatal Design Flaws

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:23:00 GMT

We admit: we’ve been more than slack with this risk management blog. Forgive us. We could make excuses, but that would just take up valuable space and time. Instead, let’s focus on 2008.

Big Dig

By now you’ve heard about concrete ceiling panels falling from one of the tunnels in Boston’s Big Dig project. The collapse (in July 2006) killed a 39-year old woman. The entire project also suffered from leaks, other design flaws, and significant cost overruns. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the wrong type of epoxy was used to hold the concrete ceiling panels in place.

On January 23, an announcement was made that a $450 million settlement had been reached in the state’s lawsuit. The consortium that oversaw design and construction for the project will contribute $407 million, and several smaller companies will contribute the remaining $51 million. The settlement also allows the consortium to avoid any criminal charges relating to the woman’s death.

This settlement does not affect a separate lawsuit filed by the victim’s family. The company that supplied the epoxy has reached a settlement of $6 million with the victim’s family. However that same company was indicted on an involuntary manslaughter charge.

Minnesota Bridge Collapse

In August of 2007, an interstate bridge in Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13 and injuring roughly 100 people. On January 15, a study by federal investigators revealed what they think was the design flaw that ultimately led to the bridge’s collapse. Investigators believe that the bridge’s gusset plates, which tie steel beams together, failed. As a result of the collapse, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters will urge states to check gusset plates whenever modifications are made to a bridge. When load-bearing calculations are made, they are generally done for the entire bridge, not individual components. The hope is that this incident will lead to more stringent calculations.

Claims Studies

At the risk of sounding a bit over-promotional, we have two claims studies that insured firms may find of value. Check out our bridge/highway and mass transit claims studies. These resources are password-protected for Schinnerer and CNA policyholders only. You can determine your firm's access code (ISN) here.

Schinnerer's RM Blog - design tag

Proposed changes to ADA regulations

Fatal Design Flaws