Jackson Heights, NY—The 2007 Supplement of the International Building Code (IBC) will no longer require apartments undergoing alterations to provide adaptability features to accommodate people with disabilities.
Under previous editions of the IBC, an alteration to more than 20 units in an existing building would trigger a requirement for two percent of the units to be provided with basic adaptability features.
A proposal, G-206, submitted during the International Code Council’s (ICC) fall hearings in Orlando, Florida led to the elimination of the IBC’s requirement to provide important adaptability features in existing apartments undergoing alterations.
Staff from the U.S. Access Board, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and the United Spinal Association, were unsuccessful in a bid to have an alternative proposal requiring minimal adaptability requirements in existing apartments revisited during the ICC’s hearings in Rochester, NY on May 24, 2007.
The National Association of Home Builders and The National Multi-Housing Council provided testimony against the proposal asking for minimal adaptability requirements, citing the additional costs and space that would be necessary to comply.
“If 21 units were being renovated, the code would only require one to be adaptable—they even took that away from us,” said Joe Reich from the NYS Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities who also provided testimony on an alternate proposal designed to introduce the minimum requirements of the Fair Housing Amendments Act to existing buildings.
“It is unconscionable that this insignificant number of dwelling units required to accommodate people with disabilities was eliminated,” United Spinal Association’s President Paul Tobin said. “The very difficult task of finding usable housing for our members, who are veterans and other individuals with spinal-cord injury and disease, just became that much harder.”
Accessibility Services is a vital part of United Spinal’s commitment to guaranteeing the civil rights of individuals living with spinal cord injuries and disorders. United Spinal helped write the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 and the Fair Housing Amendments Act; and are consistently active in writing building codes at the local, state and federal level. It is also credited for helping to make New York City, the largest city in the country, provide fully accessible buses and subways and cut every curb in all five boroughs to allow wheelchair access—an achievement that inspired dozens of other municipalities to follow suit.
ABOUT UNITED SPINAL ASSOCIATION:
United Spinal Association was created over 60 years ago by a group of paralyzed World War II veterans to assert their fundamental civil right to the same opportunities their fellow Americans enjoyed. Through their efforts to secure better health care, accessible public buildings and transportation, and equal opportunities in the workplace, their legacy lives on in United Spinal Association’s expanded mission to serve not just our brave veterans but all Americans living with paralysis or other mobility impairments. For more information on all of our programs and services, please visit www.unitedspinal.org or call 800-404-2898.
