24 CFR Part 100—Supplement to Notice of Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines: Questions and Answers about the Guidelines

12. Second Ground Floors

12.1 Q...How is the individual building test performed for additional stories, to determine if those stories must also be treated as ground floors?

A. For purposes of determining whether a non-elevator building has more than one ground floor, the point of measurement for additional ground floors, after the first ground floor has been established, is at the center of the entrance (building entrance for buildings with one or more common entrance and each dwelling unit entrance for buildings with separate ground floor unit entrances) at floor level for that story.

12.2 Q. What happens if a builder deliberately manipulates the grade so that a second story, which also might have been treated as a ground floor, requires steps?

A. Deliberate manipulation of the height of the finished floor level to avoid the requirements of the Fair Housing Act would serve as a basis for the Department to determine that there is reasonable cause to believe that a discriminatory housing practice has occurred.