T.   12-3-93


DJ 202-PL-00056
                                                    DEC 3

Mr. Scott R. Edwards
Director of Marketing
Fire Protection Products
Gentex Corporation
10985 Chicago Drive
Zeeland, Michigan 49464

Dear Mr. Edwards:

     This letter responds to your correspondence regarding the
application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to
the placement of visual alarms. I apologize for our delay in
responding to you.

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

     Section 4.28.3(6) of the ADA standards for Accessible
Design, 28 C.F.R. pt. 36, Appendix A, requires that visual alarm
signal appliances in new construction be placed 80 inches above
the highest floor level or 6 inches below the ceiling whichever
is lower. This location is required because smoke can collect
near the ceiling and thereby obscure a signal if the alarm is
mounted on the ceiling. The regulation was-developed based on
consideration of established data and is supported by the
advisory guidance issued by the National Fire Protection
Association. In certain situations a stem-pendant ceiling
mounted signal appliance might satisfy this requirement
appropriately. However, we have not made a determination that.
any particular alternative to strict compliance with this section
of the Standards would be equivalent facilitation.

Determinations of equivalent facilitation must be made on a
case-by-case basis taking into consideration whether the building
element in question, as installed in a specific site, actually
provides equal or greater accessibility. Neither the Department
of Justice nor any other entity will certify that a specific


cc:  Records, Chrono, Wodatch, Blizard, FOIA, Friedlander
n:\udd\blizard\gentex.eh

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product or design alternative that varies from the technical
requirements of the ADA regulation will be "equivalent" in all
circumstances.

     You have also asked if any summary exists of the comment
sent to the Department by an organization representing people
with hearing impairments. That comment consisted of 479
responses to a two page survey. No tabulation of that survey
exists. Because the-responses to the survey were submitted to
the Department as a comment on the then-proposed regulation, they
are available for public inspection at the office of the Public
Access Section. A copy of the survey responses (approximately
1000 pages) may also be requested from the Civil Rights
Division's Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts Branch..

     For your information, I have enclosed a copy of this
Department's Title III Technical Assistance Manual and a
technical assistance bulletin on visual alarms issued by the
Architectural and Transportation Barriers compliance Board. I
hope this information is helpful to you in understanding and
complying with the ADA.

                         Sincerely,



                         Janet L. Blizard
                         Supervisory Attorney

Enclosures



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