2024 CASI Summit - Presentations

Multi-Family Housing - A Photo Overview of Lessons Learned from Litigation - presented by Bill Hecker, Architect

Overview of common and not-so-common accessibility mistakes in multi-family housing that have ended in litigation whether under FHA or ADA Title II, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act with some CBC 11B thrown in. See photographic case studies of issues found in construction and review what possible solutions might apply for mitigating the non-compliance issue. Review both the interior and exterior of dwelling units to be able to recognize early in the process what items can lead to non-compliance when constructed so they can be avoided.

Learning Objectives
• Review common accessibility mistakes in existing multi-family housing.
• Understand typical issues in Design Development that lead to non-compliance during construction.
• Learn about accessibility issues that have been litigated and what were/are the possible solutions for various accessibility barriers.
• Overview of typical issues on the interior of dwelling units and the exterior and building site.

Non-Standard Short-Term Transient Lodging – What Are They and What Are the Requirements - presented by Josh Schorr

We will address and clarify requirements in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for transient lodging facilities other than typical hotels and motels. The presenter will clarify what is considered a non-standard short-term transient lodging, which types have specific ADA requirements, and the requirements for associated amenities. This can include bread & breakfast facilities, short-term and long-term home stays, housing at a place of education, and Access issues that might come up if rented by an individual owner vs an agency The presenter will also review the accessibility requirements for guest accommodations such as sleeping areas, bathrooms, kitchens and kitchenettes, storage, signage, and fire alarms.

Learning Objectives
• Learn about what types of facilities are considered transient lodging beyond the typical hotel and motel
• Overview how compliance with the ADA is enforced for these types of facilities
• Review the accessibility requirements for mobility and communication units and how they are implemented in non-typical facilities
• Understand other accessibility requirements for associated amenities (e.g. common areas, pools)

KEYNOTE: Designing for People Who are Neurodiverse - presented by Valerie Fletcher

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act required parity between mental and physical reasons for impairment. That parity was integrated into the ADA. The ADA Amendment Act of 2008, clarified coverage for people with mental or brain-based reasons for disability. In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that “cognitive” limitations (serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions) have grown to be the primary reason for disability in California and the nation.
It’s more important than ever to consider how to extend the commitment of non-discrimination to this rising population within the protected class of people with disabilities. There are no specific standards or codes – though there are parameters provided elsewhere. What are the implications in the built environment? Fletcher will share the impact of this change among clients, US and global precedents, and areas that need collective creativity for design solutions that work.

Learning Objectives
• Understand the neurodiversity prevalence issues for children and adults.
• Apply Inclusive Design in the environment as a framework for identifying needs, preferences, and responses.
• Summarize methods of participatory design with neurodiverse people for tailoring place-specific solutions.
• Acquire tools and precedents for understanding the current state of the art

Federal Mandates for Accessible Alterations to Multi-family Housing [FHA, ADA, Section 504] - presented by Rex Pace

Over the past 50 years, multiple Federal Laws have been established that address access to housing, including the Architectural Barriers Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Fair Housing Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.  As such, an existing multifamily housing project may have multiple overlapping design requirements to these Acts.  At first this can seem confusing and intimidating but there is a logical order and application of these Laws.  In this session, we will give an overview of the design requirements affecting alterations of each of the pertinent laws and how these fit together to ensure that a variety of housing is accessible to people with disabilities.  Key scope and design requirements will be highlighted, and critical differences addressed.  In addition to the 2010 ADA Standards, the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards, and the Fair Housing Act’s design and construction requirements, emphasis will also be placed on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) section 504 requirements under the Rehabilitation Act that affect many Federally funded multifamily housing projects.  We will also review HUD’s “deeming notice” that permits state and local governments to more closely align their housing efforts with requirements of the ADA Standards if select more stringent alteration provisions of the 504 regulation are maintained.

Learning Objectives
•  Gain an overview of the overlapping mandates of the FHA, ADA, and the Rehabilitation Act for accessible multifamily housing.
•  Understand key similarities and differences between the Federal accessibility standards as applied to alterations in housing (UFAS, ADA 2010 Standards, and FHA Accessibility Guidelines).
•  Understand HUD’s “deeming notice” and how this permits state and local governments to align their alterations efforts more closely with requirements of the 2010 ADA Standards while also fulfilling section 504 obligations under the Rehabilitation Act
• Gain a basic understanding of key concepts for alterations in multifamily housing under the Federal mandates.

Look Both Ways: Case Studies of Disabled Access Litigation - presented by Richard Prager, Esq.

Employing actual individual legal cases and personal outcomes demonstrating the importance of disabled access compliance in real world design in our environment.

Learning Objectives
• Gaining an appreciation of how inaccessible built or happenstance barriers to disabled access impact real people.
• The legal consequences and ramifications of failing to comply with state and federal disabled access guidelines in the built environment.
• Contemporary legal Issues in disabled access civil litigation 
• Disabled access as a civil right 

Let's Make the Pedestrian-to-Vehicular Parking Interface Safer for All - presented by Rob Reiter

Vehicle accidents occur in parking lots, at storefronts and building entries, and at pedestrian walkways more than 100 times per day.  These incidents can occur for all sorts of reasons and involve drivers of all ages and physical abilities. Since 2011, the Storefront Safety Council has collected data on these vehicle-type crashes and assembled what we think is the largest database of private property accidents available.  Most of these incidents involve the interface between vehicles and pedestrians, at locations where we all work, play, and shop.

Our published figures show that such incidents occur more than 100 times per day, injuring more than 2600 pedestrians, patrons, and employees each year:  As many as 1600 are killed each year, in mostly preventable accidents.

We have all learned that we cannot change driver behavior.  The causes of accidents have not changed much in the last 20 years, despite efforts by state and local enforcement, federal government policies, and constant media reminders to drivers to slow down and be more careful.  If we are going to have the same drivers making the same mistakes in these same high risk perpendicular parking spaces, the one thing that we can control is reduction of the threat of harm to customers, employees and pedestrians by preventing vehicles from leaving the mixed-use parking lot  and crashing onto the pedestrian-only sidewalks or walkways.   

Prevention is affordable, effective, and available.  Solutions to this hazard are well known and have been deployed at commercial locations and government facilities for decades.  We will be examining the risks and hazards and foreseeability of these incidents, and reviewing existing solutions.  We will discuss fully compliant layouts that protect pedestrians and improve safety for the public.  Attendees will learn how to conduct a simple risk assessment that looks at parking lot speeds, paths of vehicle travel, and how specific locations present risks to pedestrians and buildings.  From this an assessment attendees will be able to determine risk levels and weigh preventive measures which can be instituted effectively and affordably in the built environment.

Learning Objectives
• Review statistics, photos, and field tests to understand the limitations of raised concrete curbs and wheel stops  as useful vehicle barriers
* Review common failings of unimproved parking lots and learn simple safety improvements to the pedestrian and vehicular interface safe
• Overview of fully compliant locations that include simple measures that can be implemented and installed to separate vehicles from people and storefronts
• Re-consider the specification and installation of current separation methods, and incorporate win-win improvements for greater safety in the built environment for both pedestrians, buildings, and drivers

Digital Inclusion and Accessibility - presented by Sheldon Lewis

This presentation is an overview of digital accessibility. Mr Lewis will share his personal journey of losing his vision and how he uses the internet as a tool to interface and navigate the built environment. He will also share how he got involved with AccessiBe, which provides an ecosystem of solutions for any business that aims to make the internet inclusive and raise awareness of the digital inclusion of people with differing disabilities. During this presentation, Mr Lewis will review the elements needed to make a website accessible to diverse needs and how that relates to the physical space. He will share how he uses JAWS, his screen reader software that reads text out loud while he navigates his computer. He will also discuss how this can help building designers and architects gain a better understanding of the implementation of color and focus within the built environment and how a facility and its services can be made more accessible with the use of the internet and its corresponding websites.

Learning Objectives
• Learn about the importance of accessibility in both physical and digital spaces
• Overview of accessibility needs for different types of disabilities, including the neuro-diverse
• Understand how websites could be used as a tool in making buildings and facilities more accessible
• Learn from website modifications how color and focus also have an impact and how this can be synthesized into the built environment

Accessibility Requirements for Assisted Living and Memory Care Facilities - A Federal Case Study of Stiner v Brookdale Senior Living, Inc.
- presented by Guy Wallace, Esq. & Gary Waters, Architect & CASp

What are the accessibility standards that apply to assisted living and memory care facilities? Are they simply multifamily housing or senior housing developments?  Are they social service centers or long term care facilities? In California, do only HUD and CBC 11A requirements apply? Are they subject to Title III of the ADA and CBC 11B requirements?  What legal standards apply? In this session, Guy Wallace, attorney, and Gary Waters, access expert & CASp, will be looking at Stiner v Brookdale Senior Living, Inc,  an on-going federal case, that will hopefully answer these questions.  We will discuss the legal basis for the case including the Americans with Disabilities Act and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, give an overview of the progression of the case to date, and look at how the case may move forward from here.  We will discuss the role of the access expert in the litigation process including facility surveys, preparation of expert reports, and providing declarations and deposition.  We will also discuss in depth the complex accessibility issues in this case. 

Learning Objectives
•Discussion of the legal basis for the case including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the California Unruh Act.
• Review the applicable accessibility standards for Assisted Living and Memory Care facilities and the complexities of analyzing a facility when more than one standard applies.
• Over-view how the applicable ADA and CBC standards were determined through a review of the construction history for each facility and the preparation of the expert reports.
• Learn the role of access litigation in our collective understanding of what constitutes accessibility in the built environment, specifically as it applies to assisted living and memory care facilities.

Accessibility, Compliance and Pedestrian Vertical Transportation - presented by Edwin Essary, IAEC, CSI, CDT & John Sellen

Where to begin: Whether reviewing drawings, new construction, or existing buildings, vertical pedestrian transportation can have its challenges. We will be reviewing the appropriate mechanical solution for specific uses for pedestrian Access. Each has their own requirements for controls, signage, and spatial needs both inside and outside of the mechanism. We will over-view the applicable codes and federal regulations that are applicable to Access in California whether we are talking about existing installations, or retrofit of existing, or new construction. The other item we will be discussing is that DOJ has only approved specific versions of ASME. And then the question comes up as to whether we only need to comply with that DOJ-approved older version or somehow have to synthesize the newer regulations with the DOJ-approved version, and what are the differences.

Learning Objectives
• Learn to determine applicable regulations and requirements for vertical transportation’s role in accessible pedestrian circulation.
• Understand and identify compliant eligible equipment and their spatial requirements.
• Review the differences between stairway/chair lifts, platform (wheelchair) lifts, LULAs,  elevators, escalators, and how to choose.
• Learn how to identify compliant installations in existing projects.

Public Housing - Which Regulations are Applicable to What - presented by Bill Hecker, Architect

The different funding sources, programs, and activities for public housing are quite complex. They often trigger ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, HUD's Deeming Notice, FHA, and applicable local codes (CBC 11B). We will review what the federal accessible design requirements based on different types of public programs, government funding, tax credits and even private funding. The sourcing of the funds and programs, and even where the banks received the funding from will have an impact on how and which accessibility codes and regulations are applicable to a project. There can be a multitude of applicable regulations impacting one project and the design and development teams must be sharp to catch all applicable duties for accessibility. We will review best methods for synthesizing the various codes and regulations and how to apply them to the total project.

Learning Objectives
• Review the type of analysis that needs to be done regarding funding, tax credit implications as well as housing programs activities applied to a public multifamily residential project.
• Understand how to implement the applicable federal regulations and which ones might take precedent over other applicable codes or accessibility standards.
• Learn the difference between ministerial and discretionary programs and their effect on a project.
• Review the accessible design implications of a private development used for public housing and which federal regulations get triggered.

Pedestrian Crossings At Roadways - What is Maintenance vs Alterations, and What Does That Mean Under DOJ & DOT?
- presented by Melissa Anderson, PE

This session will cover the DOJ and DOT requirements for Access under the Americans with Disability Act Standards and the federal Department of Transportation requirements when performnig work on road surfaces in the public right of way. It will introduce and explain the 2013 Department of Justice/Department of Transportation Joint Technical Assistance on Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act Requirements to Provide Curb Ramps when Streets, Roads, or Highways are Altered through Resurfacing.  We will also further clarify the 2015 Supplement of Questions & Answers. The types of pavement treatments in the Technical Assistance Memo will be explained including photos so you can recognize the type of road work that has been performed. By having an understanding of pavement treatments, you will be better able to differentiate what work is considered alterations, which could then trigger upgrades for curb ramp obligations, vs treatment types that are considered maintenance.  An update on the current status of the adoption of the Final Public Right of Way Accessibility Guidelines and its impact on curb ramps whether existing or new will be briefly discussed.

Learning Objectives
• Gain an understanding of how roadway alterations impact pedestrians with disabilities and the obligations to provide access when altered.
• Learn the resurfacing types and activities to be able to identify which treatments are alterations that trigger installation or upgrade of a curb ramp vs maintenance.
• Overview the status of the Final Public Right of Way Accessibility Guidelines and its impact on pedestrian features, such as sidewalks and shared use paths, curb ramps, crosswalks, accessible pedestrian signals, and transit stops.
• Understand emerging issues from PROWAG for better utilization of existing guidance to ensure future projects are accessible to people with disabilities.

Understanding Powered Operators for Accessible Openings - presented by Scott Sabatini, DAOC, FDHI, CFDAI, CSI, CCPR

The use of automatic and powered operators is very complex, and requirements are commonly misunderstood. This presentation with define the different types of powered operators and applications in respect to accessible openings, along with the required signage. The various definitions along with Code and Standards will be
discussed.

Learning Objectives
• Understanding the different types of automatic powered operators.
• Being able to properly define applicable Codes and Standards including CBC requirements where they differ from national.
• Obtain basic knowledge of definitions.
• Identifying common installation and maintenance issues.

Long-Term Care & Social Service Center Establishment Access Requirements - presented by Josh Schorr

We will cover requirements in the ADA Accessibility Standards for long-term care facilities, social service center establishments, rehabilitation centers, and nursing homes, and other similar facilities. We will also review how these facilities are defined. Scoping and technical requirements for bedrooms, bathrooms, accessible routes, accessible parking, and other spaces and elements will be discussed.

Learning Objectives
• Learn how long-term care & social service center establishments differ from medical care facilities, residential units, transient lodging, and each other.
• Review the accessibility requirements specific to long-term care facilities
• Understand how to apply accessibility guidelines to Social Service Centers
• Overview other accessibility requirements for elements and spaces within common areas (e.g. bathrooms, kitchens)

Access meets Historic - presented by Ranger Richard De La O & Johanna Street, Architect

Attendees will learn when to apply the historic code, whether it's a city, state or federal historic code. There will be examples where access meets historic and what were the outcomes vs actual accommodations for individuals with disabilities. Changes to historic facilities most also include its new usage and determine where access and historic MUST work together to ensure individuals with disabilities receive the same treatment as everyone else. As individuals implement code compliance, we must keep in mind of the 1990 ADA Civil rights law. As codes are being implemented, sometimes individuals forget that it's a citizen Civil Rights law that is being violated and not the code itself.

Learning Objectives
• Understand that it is not about the code, it's about an individual's rights
• Understand that Historic and Accessibility cannot be treated as a competition, they must work together to accomplish a common goal.
• Understand the importance of always having connections and resources to bounce back ideas and solutions.
• Learn how to include individuals with disabilities in your decision process.

Creating ADA Transition Plans as Tools for Action - presented by Valerie Fletcher

Not news - Title II requires that state, public entities, and local governments give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from their programs, services, and activities. ADA Self-Evaluations and Transition Plans are the backbone of making that real. Fletcher will share a perspective, born of dozens of Transition Plans, on strategies that result on increasing planning and budgeting impact, and result in building client capacits. She’ll share precedents and methods.

Learning Objectives
• Describe the critical elements required to complete a compliant ADA Transition Plan.
• Summarize the options for programs located in non-compliant spaces.
• Analyze how to consider and resolve multiples of programs for a single jurisdiction (e.g., playgrounds, libraries).
• Identify the basis for setting priorities for planning and budgeting in the Transition Plan.

Proposals thru CASp Project Completion & What You Need to Know from a Lawyers & Insurance Broker's Perspective  
- presented by Taylor Pohle, Esq. & Michael Olson

Attorney Taylor Pohle of Collins + Collins LLP and Insurance Broker Michael Olson of Assured Partners will offer their perspective on best practices related to preparing for, negotiating, acting in furtherance of proposals, agreements, and closing out a project for CASp services. This discussion is intended to provide CASI Conference attendees with a high-level overview of the life-cycle of a proposal to completion; potential pitfalls; and recommendations for protecting against risk and potential liability.  In doing so, Taylor and Michael will discuss several issues you will likely encounter in your practice.

Learning Objectives
• What are the basics of a proposal – what to include and not include
• Identifying important proposal & contract terms from beginnning to end.
• The role of insurance as it relates to professional services.
• Best practices for reporting and communicating opinions – thru-out the process