Uniform Federal Accessibility Guidelines (UFAS)
These are the architectural standards originally developed for facilities covered by the Architectural Barriers Act, a law that applies to buildings designed, built, altered or leased by the federal government. They also are used to satisfy compliance in new or altered construction under Section 504. State and local governments have the option to use UFAS or the ADA Standards to meet their obligations under Title II of the ADA. However, if states and local governments choose to use the ADA Standards, the elevator exemption contained in the ADA Standards may not be used 3. Also, only one set of standards may be used for any particular building. In other words, you cannot pick and choose between UFAS and the ADA Standards as you design or alter a building. DOJ also uses UFAS for certain special-use facilities when the ADA Standards have no scoping or technical provisions, such as for prisons and jails. A downloadable copy of UFAS can be found at http://www.access-board.gov/ufas/ufas.pdf and a searchable copy can be found at http://www.access-board.gov/ufas/ufas-html/ufas.htm. Technical assistance on UFAS is available from the U.S. Access Board at 1-800-872-2253 (voice) or 1-800-993-2822 (TTY) or TA@access-board.gov.
Did You Know? When discussing architectural standards, two terms are often used: “scoping” and “technical provisions.”
“Scoping” tells you where and how many accessible elements or features are required under the ADA Standards. “Technical provisions” give you the components, dimensions and installation details of the accessible elements.
For Example. Section 4.1.3(7) of the ADA Standards tells you generally about doors in new construction. There are four different scoping requirements that tell you the percentage or absolute number of which of the following types of doors must be accessible: doors going into a building, doors within a building, doors that are part of an accessible route, and doors as part of egress (i.e., exits for fire and life-safety purposes). Section 4.13 of the ADA Standards tells you the technical provisions for doors that are specific requirements, such as the required clear passage width of a doorway.
3 The elevator exemption, which only applies to non-governmental entities, states that elevators are not required in certain specified facilities. 28 C.F.R. pt. 36 app. A § 4.1.3(5).
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