# 23

III-5.4000

July 28, 1992

DJ 202-PL-183

Mr. Harold McClellan

Maybrook Construction Company
774 State Route 7 N.E.
P.O. Box 53
Brookfield, Ohio 44403

Dear Mr. McClellan:

I am responding to your letter asking whether title III of

the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and this
Department's regulation implementing title III would require the
installation of an elevator in a newly constructed two-story
building that houses a business that provides home health care
services, if no members of the public or clients of the business
receive services at that facility.

The ADA authorizes the Department to provide technical

assistance to individuals and entities that have rights or
responsibilities under the Act. This letter provides informal
guidance to assist you in understanding the ADA and the
Department's regulation. However, this technical assistance does
not constitute a determination by the Department of Justice of
your clients' rights or responsibilities under the ADA, and it is
not binding on the Department of Justice.

In new construction and alterations, title III generally

requires that at least one accessible passenger elevator serve
each level of a multistory building. However, there is an
exception to this general rule. Elevators are not required in
facilities that are less than three stories or have fewer than
3000 square feet per story, unless the building is a shopping
center or mall, the professional office of a health care
provider, a public transit station, or an airport passenger
terminal.

This Department's regulation implementing title III defines

a "professional office of a health care provider" as a location
where a State-regulated professional provides physical or mental
health services to the public. If no health care services will
be provided at the facility that you are designing, the facility
is not the "professional office of a health care provider;"
therefore, elevator access to the second floor is not required.
Although elevator access to the second floor is not required, the
second floor must meet all of the other requirements for
accessibility that are established by this Department's
regulation.

For your information, I am enclosing a copy of this

Department's regulation implementing title III of the ADA and the
technical assistance manual that we developed to assist
individuals and entities subject to the ADA to understand the
requirements of title III. I hope that this information is
helpful to you.

Sincerely,

John L. Wodatch
Director
Office on the Americans with Disabilities Act

Enclosures