ADA Checklist for Existing Facilities

What are Public Accommodations?

Under the ADA public accommodations are private entities that own, lease, lease to or operate a place of public accommodation. This means that both a landlord who leases space in a building to a tenant and the tenant who operates a place of public accommodation have responsibilities to remove barriers.

A place of public accommodation is a facility whose operations affect commerce and fall within at least one of the following 12 categories:

1. Places of lodging (e.g., inns, hotels, motels, except for owner-occupied establishments renting fewer than six rooms)

2. Establishments serving food or drink (e.g. , restaurants and bars)

3. Places of exhibition or entertainment (e.g. , motion picture houses, theaters, concert halls, stadiums)

4. Places of public gathering (e.g. , auditoriums, convention centers, lecture halls)

5. Sales or rental establishments (e.g. , bakeries, grocery stores, hardware stores, shopping centers)

6. Service establishments (e.g. , laundromats, dry-cleaners, banks, barber shops, beauty shops, travel services, shoe repair services, funeral parlors, gas stations, offices of accountants or lawyers, pharmacies, insurance offices, professional offices of health care providers, hospitals)

7. Public transportation terminals, depots, or stations (not including facilities relating to air transportation)

8. Places of public display or collection (e.g. , museums, libraries, galleries)

9. Places of recreation (e.g. , parks, zoos, amusement parks)Places of education

10. Places of education (e.g. , nursery schools, elementary, secondary, undergraduate, or postgraduate private schools)

11. Social service center establishments (e.g. , day care centers, senior citizen centers, homeless shelters, food banks, adoption agencies)

12. Places of exercise or recreation (e.g. , gymnasiums, health spas, bowling alleys, golf courses)