24 CFR Part 8 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Federally Assisted Programs and Activities - Notice: Instructions for use of alternative accessibility standard

A. Section 504

Section 504 and HUD’s Section 504 regulation prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in any program or activity that receives Federal financial assistance from the Department.³ HUD’s Section 504 regulation specifically prohibits the denial of benefits of, exclusion from participation in, or other discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in Federally assisted programs or activities because a recipient’s facilities are inaccessible to or unusable by individuals with disabilities.⁴ Among other things, the regulation requires that the design, construction, and alteration of projects meet physical accessibility requirements.⁵

Currently, pursuant to HUD’s Section 504 regulation, the design, construction, or alteration of buildings in conformance with UFAS is deemed to be in compliance with the accessibility requirements of Section 504.⁶ UFAS is based on the minimum accessibility guidelines developed by the United States Access Board (Access Board) that were adopted as enforceable standards by the General Services Administration, the Department of Defense, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the United States Postal Service for purposes of compliance with the ABA. Subsequently, UFAS was also adopted as the referenced accessibility standard in HUD’s Section 504 regulation. HUD’s Section 504 regulation provides that departures from particular technical and scoping requirements of UFAS by the use of other methods are permitted where substantially equivalent or greater access to and usability of the building is provided (24 CFR 8.32).