Wheelchair Ramps: Legal Requirements of Commercial Property Owners

Many people have mobility limitations that make them unable to climb steps or stairs. You might have difficulty using stairs for a variety of reasons, such as the folllowing:

• You use a wheelchair or other motorized mobility device.
• You use crutches, a walker, or other mobility aid (especially if the steps are steep or numerous).
• You have heart or breathing disabilities.

If you can't take the stairs but need to access a business or facility on another floor, are you just out of luck? No. Fortunately, most buildings have ramps that allow the mobility impaired to get where they need to go. Federal, state, and local laws often require them.

Here's what you need to know about wheelchair ramp regulations for government facilities and commercial properties, including residential buildings.

Legal Protections for the Mobility Impaired

Laws such as the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), and similar state and local laws ensure people with disabilities, including mobility impairments, can access goods, services, programs, and housing. These laws aim to ensure that, even if you have a mobility disability, you can still participate in community life the same as everyone else.

Under the ADA, it's illegal for commercial property owners and transportation providers to fail to remove physical barriers that limit access to goods, services, and programs because of disability. (42 U.S.C. § 12182.) The ADA and other federal and state anti-discrimination laws require handicap-accessible ramps in most public places. In addition, many transportation providers, such as taxi and bus operators, are required to provide people with mobility disabilities access to their services. That often means providing a ramp or lift to enable entry to some vehicles in their fleet.

Wheelchair Ramp Regulations

A ramp is a sloped surface that connects two points of different levels so that people can move between them without using the stairs. To be useful, ramps must generally be built to certain specifications.

For example, many ramps have a 1:12 slope—meaning they're twelve inches long for every one inch of height. A 1:12 ramp that ascends 5 feet (about 8-10 steps) would be 60 feet long.

Unless one of a few limited exceptions applies, the ADA requires that commercial and government buildings built after January 26, 1992, and first occupied after January 26, 1993, be accessible to people with mobility disabilities using standards developed in 1991 or later. (28 C.F.R § 36.401-406 and 28 C.F.R. § 35.149-152.)

That means those buildings must have accessible entrances that are either level with the street or reachable by a ramp instead of by climbing stairs. Ramps should be built with the least possible running slope. And all but very short ramps must have handrails to increase their usability by people with disabilities.

The FHA has similar requirements for the entrances of "covered multi-family dwellings" designed and constructed for first occupancy after March 13, 1991. (More on this below.)

Do Older Commercial Buildings Have to Add Ramps?

Owners and operators of buildings constructed after the ADA and FHA new construction dates discussed above might still have to provide ramps if it's feasible for them to do so. The ADA requires ramps in preexisting buildings (those constructed before the dates above) if it's "readily achievable" for the owner to install them.

As of March 15, 2012, all new construction or modified areas of commercial and government structures must comply with the revised 2010 ADA standards. The newer standards provide more detail on aspects like ramp width and handrail placement.

Unlike commercial buildings, which must follow the 1991 or 2010 standards, some government facilities can use a third set of standards: the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS). The UFAS created uniform standards for buildings constructed using federal funds starting in 1984.

The following table explains which standards buildings constructed by or for the use of state, local, or federal governments must adhere to.

When Do Curb Cuts Have to Be Installed?

In addition to building access rules, the ADA requires local governments, such as cities or counties, to provide small ramps called curb cuts that allow people with disabilities to access sidewalks and other pedestrian routes. (28 C.F.R. § 35.151(i).) The rule applies when a local government builds a new road and sidewalk or alters an exiting road or pedestrian route through:

• reconstruction
• rehabilitation
• resurfacing
• widening, and
• projects of similar scale and effect.

Do Landlords Have to Provide Wheelchair Ramps?

In certain situations, if someone with a disability needs a ramp to be able to use and enjoy their housing, the FHA requires housing providers to install ramps. In others, the FHA requires housing providers to allow a tenant with a disability to install a ramp at the occupant's expense. (42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3).)

For example, the FHA requires covered multi-family dwellings built for first occupancy after March 13, 1991 to have accessible building entrances. So, if a new apartment building doesn't have at least one entry door level with the ground (no step up or down), it would need a ramp to comply with the law.

Although the law generally gives you the right to make accessibility modifications to your rental unit at your expense, your landlord has the right to require you to remove the modifications when you move out. So, if your apartment has a step down from the kitchen into the living room, you can add a wheelchair ramp, but you might have to remove it and repair the area at the end of your lease.

Learn more about your housing rights as a tenant with a disability.

Other Accessibility Requirements

Even when businesses, government programs, housing providers, or transportation entities aren't required to provide a wheelchair ramp, they're generally required to provide a way for people with mobility disabilities to access their services. (42 U.S.C. § 12182(b)(2)(A)(v).) In some instances, this might mean offering the service in a different way or a different location.

For example, a restaurant located on the 2nd floor of a preexisting building that only has stairs might decide to offer curbside takeout service to people with mobility impairments, even if it doesn't offer that service to others.

Why Disabled Accessible Features Like Ramps Matter

Wheelchair ramps and similar infrastructure allow people with disabilities to participate fully in community life. It's important for people with disabilities to understand their accessibility rights under the ADA, FHA, and other laws. Knowing the rules can help you educate businesses, housing providers, governments, and transportation services about the access you're entitled to.

Learn how the ADA protects your accessibility rights at work in our article on reasonable accommodations on the job.