2016 California Standards for Accessible Design Pocket Guide - Eff. Jan. 1, 2017

ETA Editor's Note

The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), which has jurisdiction over hospitals and long-term care facilities in California, has issued Code Application Notice CAN 2-11B, dated 9/9/14, which includes the following interpretation of Subsection 11B-206.4.10:

Section 11B-206.4.10 requires a minimum of one accessible entrance to be provided with weather protection, passenger loading zone, and vehicle pull-up space.  The code does not require more than one entrance with these features.

1.      The protected accessible entrance is not required to be the primary entrance to the facility.

2.      Only the passenger loading zone is required to be protected from the weather.  The vehicle pull-up space is not required to be protected from the weather.

3.      For existing buildings that do not have a protected accessible entrance, projects subject to Section 11B-202 are not required to provide one.  A protected accessible entrance is required when an addition is proposed for a facility that does not have an existing accessible entrance.  The protected accessible entrance may be provided at the addition or at an appropriate location in the existing building.

At hospitals and long-term care facilities, 1991 ADAAG required an accessible entrance protected from the weather, incorporating a passenger loading zone.  This requirement is no longer present in 2010 ADAS.  Neither ADA nor CBC provide a definition for passenger loading zone.  It seems evident that, where OSHPD uses the term "passenger loading zone" at Item 2 of its interpretation, it is referring to the access aisle, as described at Section 11B-503.3.

As of the initial publication of this Pocket Guide, OSHPD has not updated CAN 2-11B for applicability to 2016 CBC.  Since there is no change to the wording of Subsection 11B-206.4.10 from 2013 CBC to 2016 CBC, there is no reason to expect that OSHPD will change its interpretation.