T. 5-14-93


DJ 202-PL-210

                                                       MAY 20 1996


Mr. Gary P. Langlais, AIA
Project Manager
The Mehlburger Firm, Inc.
P.O. Box 3837
Little Rock, Arkansas 72203-3837

Dear Mr. Langlais:

     I am responding to your letter requesting a determination
about the application of title III of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) to a project that you are
designing. I apologize for the delay in responding to your
inquiry. If you have already proceeded with the alteration that
was the subject of this inquiry, I hope that this information
will be helpful to you in future alterations.

     The ADA authorizes the Department of Justice to provide
technical assistance to individuals and entities that have rights
or responsibilities under the Act. This letter provides informal
guidance to assist you in understanding the ADA. However, this
technical assistance does not constitute a determination by the
Department of your rights or responsibilities under the ADA, and
it is not binding on the Department.

     You have asked for a determination that a ramp with a slope
of 1:9.5 complies with the ADA requirement to provide access to
an addition to a manufacturing plant. The Department of Justice
regulation implementing title III requires ramps that are part of
an accessible route to have a slope that does not exceed 1:12; to
have a level landing at the top and bottom of each ramp; and to
have handrails mounted between 34" and 38" above the ramp on each
side. In alterations and additions where existing site
constraints make it technically infeasible to provide a ramp with
a 1:12 slope, a ramp with a slope between 1:8 and 1:10 is
permitted for a maximum rise of 3 inches. The Department of
Justice cannot waive these requirements.

        If the addition that you are designing is an area that will
be used only by employees as a work area, it may be subject to

cc:  Records, Chrono, Wodatch, Bowen, Blizard, FOIA, Library
n:\udd\mercado\plcrtltr\langlais.jlb

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one of the limited exemptions to providing full access. This
Department's title III regulation provides that all public and
common use areas in a covered facility must be fully accessible;
but it permits areas used only by employees as work areas to be
designed so that employees can approach, enter, and exit the
area. A covered entity is not required to provide maneuvering
room in a work area or an accessible route through the area. If
the addition you are designing will be used exclusively as a work
area, you must ensure, at a minimum, that people with
disabilities may approach, enter, and exit the area. Thus, if
the ramp in question is part of the entrance to the work area or
is part of the accessible route to the work area, the ramp must
comply with the standards of the ADA Accessibility Guidelines.
If, however, the ramp in question is within a larger work area,
the ramp need not comply with the ADA accessibility requirements.

     Your letter states that the addition will not include toilet
facilities or parking. The ADA does not require you to provide
parking or restroom facilities for the addition, and the absence
of such elements does not affect the application of the ADA to
other elements of the addition that you are designing. You
should be aware, however, that if there are restrooms or parking
spaces at the existing facility that will serve the addition that
you are designing, the ADA may require you to alter those
facilities to provide access.

     Under the ADA, an addition is regarded as an alteration to
the existing facility. When a covered entity alters an area of
an existing facility that contains a primary function of the
facility, it must make the path of travel to the altered area,
and the restrooms, drinking fountains, and telephones serving the
altered area, accessible unless the cost of these additional
measures would exceed 20 per cent of the cost of the overall
alteration. Therefore, your planned addition should include
plans to spend up to 20 per cent of the cost of the addition to
make the path of travel (including accessible parking, if parking
is provided) to the addition and the restrooms, drinking
fountains, and telephones that serve the addition accessible.

     For your information, I am enclosing a copy of the
Department's regulation implementing title III, which was
published in the Federal Register on July 26, 1991, and our title
III technical assistance manual. The requirements that apply to
new construction and alterations are contained in subpart D (pp.
35599-35602); the standards for accessible design are contained
in the appendix (pp. 35605-35691). These requirements are also
addressed in the preamble to the rule (pp. 35574-35589), and in
sections III-5.000 to III-7.000 of the technical assistance
manual.

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       I hope that this information is helpful to you.


                                       Sincerely,



                                    John L. Wodatch
                                         Chief
                                 Public Access Section
Enclosures

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