CCDA Accessibility Compliance for Businesses: "Myths and Misconceptions"

4. I understand that a waiver from accessibility requirements may be obtained?

It is possible that a particular degree of accessibility in an alteration might be found to be an "unreasonable hardship", "disproportionate", or "technically infeasible". Such findings have specific meaning and must be approved and recorded by the building department at the time an alteration is made. There is no such thing as a retroactive waiver. For facilities that were built prior to January 26, 1992, the federal requirement is to remove barriers to the extent that it is "readily achievable" and evaluations to determine if removing a barrier is readily achievable should follow the technical guidance provided by the United States Department of Justice. Such an evaluation is a decision that a business must make based on the cost of barrier removal and the resources of the business, and may require the expert assistance of a CASp, a design professional, an attorney, and/or an accountant.