T.  5-3-94

DJ 202-PL-754

                                               May 4 1994


Mr. Curt Wiehle
Accessibility Specialist
Minnesota State Council on Disability
121 East Seventh Place, Suite 107
St. Paul, Minnesota  55101

Dear Mr. Wiehle:

     I am responding to your letter concerning the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA).

     The ADA authorizes the Department of Justice to provide
technical assistance to individuals and entities that have rights
or responsibilities under the Act.  Pursuant to that authority,
this letter provides informal guidance to assist you in 
understanding the ADA.  However, this technical assistance does
not constitute a legal interpretation of the statute and it is
not binding on the Department.

     Your letter asks whether the State of Minnesota's building
code complies with the ADA Standards for Accessible Design (28
C.F.R. part 36, Appendix A) regarding grab bars in toilet stalls.
The Minnesota code requires accessible toilet stalls to include
horizontal grab bars 27-29 inches above the floor and vertical
grab bars 3 inches above the horizontal bars.  The ADA Standards,
by contrast, require horizontal grab bars 33-36 inches above the
floor and do not address vertical bars.  See ADA Standards for
Accessible Design, section 4.17 and figure 30.2

     The ADA Standards are supported by substantial research
regarding the best placement for grab bars.  For example,
research conducted on behalf of the United States Department of
Housing and Urban Development indicates that both walking aid
users and wheelchair users preferred horizontal grab bars at
heights of 33-36 inches rather than lower bars.  See Steinfeld,
Schroeder, and Bishop, Accessible Buildings for People with
Walking and Reaching Limitations, HUD-PDR-397, prepared by
Syracuse University for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development, Office of Policy Development and Research (April
1979) (excerpt attached).  Therefore, it appears that Minnesota's
lower horizontal grab bars may provide less accessibility than
the ADA Standards.

cc: Records, chrono, Wodatch, Blizard, Hill, FOIA, Friedlander
n:\udd\hille\policylt\wiehle.ltr

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                             - 2 -
  
     The ADA Standards, however, provide only minimum guidelines
for achieving accessible building design.  Jurisdictions are, of
course, free to exceed these minimum standards, and I applaud
your desire to do so.  In addition, the Standards allow some
flexibility.  Section 2.2 provides: "Departures from particular
technical and scoping requirements of this guideline by the use
of other designs and technologies are permitted where the
alternative designs and technologies used will provide
substantially equivalent or greater access to and usability of
the facility." Therefore, the grab bar configuration proposed by
the Minnesota code will be acceptable only if it provides access
and usability substantially equivalent to or greater than that
provided by the configuration in the ADA Standards.

     The Department of Justice will not certify any specific
variation from the Standards as being equivalent, except in the
context of a formal request for code certification pursuant to 28
C.F.R.   36.602.  However, the use of alternate designs is not
prohibited if the available data shows that such alternate
designs are, in fact, substantially equivalent to the Standards.
In any ADA enforcement action, the covered entity would bear the
burden of proving the equivalency of any alternate design.

     I hope this information is helpful, and I hope this letter
fully responds to your questions.


                                       Sincerely,



                                     John L. Wodatch
                                          Chief                   
                                   Public Access Section

Enclosure

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