Say Goodbye To "Grandfa ering" Under The Ada | By Jim Butler

ADA Defense Lawyers. Is your pool, spa and fitness facility compliant with the ADA 2010 Regulations? If you think your property is grandfathered, then you are wrong! There is no grandfathering.

As we mentioned in our recent posted article "Updating Service Animal Policies of Your Hotel," the Department of Justice published revised final regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for title III (public accommodations and commercial facilities) on September 15, 2010 (the "2010 Regulations").

Based on the 2010 Regulations, all "Public Accommodations," including "Places of Lodging" (hotels, resorts, most timeshares, restaurants, etc.) must bring certain elements of the facilities described below into compliance with the 2010 ADA Standards as of March 15, 2012.

• No one is exempt.
• There is no safe harbor.
• The ADA's "readily achievable" standard will apply.

If you are not already working on bringing your property into compliance, then you should call us to assist you with the creation of a compliance policy.

ADA Alert: Attention all Owners and Operators of hotels, restaurants, timeshares and other places of "public accomodation" by Martin Orlick and David Sudeck | Hospitality Lawyers

Hopefully, you are already working on bringing your swimming pools, wading pools and spas, golf facilities, fitness facilities, steam rooms, and saunas (and more -- see below) into compliance with the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design (specifically the 2010 Standards for Public Accommodations and Commercial Facilities: Title III), which were adopted by the Department of Justice on September 15, 2010 as part of the revised Regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). Compliance with the 2010 Standards become mandatory for certain properties and certain elements of all properties as of March 15, 2012.

What is the standard and what facilities are affected? Title III of the ADA requires that each "public accommodation" remove architectural barriers where "readily achievable." No property will be "grandfathered" (even if built prior to 1990; i.e., the implementation of the ADA). There is no "safe harbor" applicable with respect to those elements in existing facilities that are subject to supplemental requirements (i.e., elements for which there are neither technical nor scoping specifications in the prior 1991 Standards). By way of example only, the following elements of a public accommodation must be modified to the extent "readily achievable" to comply with the 2010 Standards:

1. Exercise machines and equipment.
2. Golf facilities.
3. Miniature golf facilities.
4. Play areas.
5. Saunas and steam rooms.
6. Swimming pools, wading pools, and spas.
7. Shooting facilities with firing positions.

This is not an exhaustive list, and compliance requires expertise. Under the ADA, all businesses have an on-going obligation to evaluate their properties to bring them into ADA compliance to the extent "readily achievable."

If you're not underway now, you may have some serious compliance challenges soon! By now, you should be well underway on your system wide ADA compliance program to meet the March 15, 2012 compliance deadline. You should be conducting professional, privileged accessibility surveys of your facilities and developing strategies to prioritize your compliance.

If you are not working with an experienced attorney on your properties' compliance issues, please call us. We have nearly two decades of experience and have defended more than 400 ADA and accessibility-related matters.

ADA Defense Resources
You can access the full library of ADA materials on Hotel Law Blog by going to the home page, selecting the tab at the top that says "HOTEL LAW TOPICS", and then clicking on "ADA Defense" in the drop down menu... or by clicking here.

My colleagues and fellow members of the Global Hospitality Group®, Marty Orlick and David Sudeck recently led a Lorman webinar on the 2010 amendments to the Americans With Disabilities Act. You can access it on demand at:
The Changing Landscape of ADA Litigation and Compliance Practice in the Hospitality Industry

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