D&C Accessibility Requirements as Part of the Federal Fair Housing Act's Disability Protection

• Accessibility Guidelines for Multi-Family Housing Built after 1988
  http://fhco.org/access_guidelines.htm
• Article: Close Enough May Result in a Fair Housing Lawsuit
  http://www.fhco.org/pdfs/CloseEnoughDCarticle.pdf
• Article: Recent Litigation, Settlements & Complaints
  http://www.fhco.org/pdfs/dc_RecentCases.pdf
• Fair Housing First: The Definitive Resource on D&C Requirements
  http://www.fairhousingfirst.org
• Fair Housing Act Design Manual (Revised April 1998, 130 pages)
  http://www.huduser.org/publications/destech/fairhousing.html
• Accessibility Requirements for Buildings
  http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/disabilities/accessibilityR.cfm

"Builder Beware"

Don't think think that your local planning or zoning officials are watching for compliance; the Fair Housing Act's requirements don't fall within their jurisdiction. You need to know both your local requirements, as well as federal accessibility minimums as set out in the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988.

In an effort to document the multitude of accessibility requirements in the marketplace and, eventually, pinpoint the discrepencies between the Fair Housing Act's requirements against other commonly referred to requirements, standards, and safe harbors, the FHCO and the Community Development Law Center offer the following resource materials:

• Complexity Hinders Compliance with Federal and Oregon Accessibility Laws (2009)
  www.FHCO.org/pdfs/dc_ComplexityHindersCompliance.pdf
• APPENDIX A: A matrix for Oregon and Federal housing assessibility laws, in summary form
  www.FHCO.org/pdfs/dc_ComplexityMatrix.pdf
• APPENDIX B: Accessibility Worksheet for Existing Buildings, Alterations, and Additions
  www.FHCO.org/pdfs/dc_ComplexityWorksheet.pdf

"Visitability"

• Inclusive Environments and Visitability
  FHCO.org/pdfs/InclusiveEnvironmentsVisitability.pdf
  Brief FHCO article introducing the idea of visitability
• ConcreteChange.org
  http://www.concretechange.org
  With goal is to make all homes "visitable," ConcreteChange.org was created by a nonprofit, non-governmental, consumer-controlled organization in Georgia. Provides interesting cost analysis for accessible features and additional resources.
• Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access' Universal Design and Visitability Project
  http://www.udeworld.com/visitability.html
  An affordable, sustainable and inclusive design approach for integrating basic accessibility features into all newly built homes and housing.

Other Disability-Related Issues

• FHCO's Disability as a Protected Class Page

  http://www.fhco.org/disability.htm

If you still have questions, please contact us at 503/223-8197 Ext. 2 (Portland metro area) or 800/424-3247 Ext. 2 or information@FHCO.org.

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