Comment Submitted by Kirk Miya

I have a building with 4-unit townhouse style dwelling units attached under one roof in California. All four units are identical with a garage, living room, powder room and den on the first floor (ground level) and the kitchen, dining room, bathrooms and bedrooms on the second level. The building is not service by an elevator. The California Building Code requires at least one (ten percent) of these units to have the primary entry level accessible. By current regulations these townhouses appear to be exempt from the requirements of the Federal Fair Housing Act. Multistory dwellings with living space on the ground level and not served by an elevator and those served by an elevator to only the primary entry level appear to be similar in nature, but design guidelines and codes either overlook or exempt multistory dwellings without an elevator from accessibility requirements. ? Please clarify if it was intended that that these ground floor level townhouse units comply with the Fair Housing Act and are required to be Type B units or not. ? Given ICC/ANSI A117.1-2003, Section 1004.3.1, requires at least one accessible route connecting all spaces and elements that are part of the unit. Please clarify the accessibility rules for a Type B unit as they apply to multistory units with or without elevators. o Access between stories?should this be an adaptable feature of a Type B unit? o Do the kitchen, a bathroom with a tub or shower and a bedroom that are on the floor level above the primary entry level need to be accessible; or adaptable with conforming doorways and special features of adaptability for the kitchen, bathrooms, light switches, electrical outlets and environmental controls? o If a the primary entry level of a townhouse style dwelling unit was a split level condition serviced by an elevator, with the dining area and kitchen on a raised section of the primary entry level. Would the dining area and/or the kitchen need to be on an accessible route? How about if the living room also had a sunken conversation pit, what areas (if any) would need to be on an accessible route. It appears that the kitchen, for which there are no exceptions, needs to be on an accessible route and either the raised dining area or the sunken living room is exempt by the section. o If the townhouse had a mezzanine with an enclosed bathroom and bedroom, would the mezzanine need to be accessible? ICC/ANSI A117.1-2003, Section 1004.3.1, exceptions for mezzanines is limited to unenclosed habitable spaces without plumbing fixtures. ? Pictured in the upper right hand corner, on page 8 of the Fair Housing Act, Design Manual, (1998 update), is a building with elevators in which one- and two- story units are depicted and since the building has elevators all units are required to be covered units. The Fair Housing Act, Design Manual, (1998 update, page 4.9) sums it up the best ?Multistory dwelling units in buildings without one or more elevators are not covered by the Fair Housing Act; however, when multistory dwelling units are in buildings with elevators, the dwelling is covered and the story served by the elevator must be the primary entry to the unit and must meet the requirements of the guideline.? The ?Fair Housing Guidelines?, Federal Register, Vol. 56, No. 44, March 6, 1991, Sec. I.(2), addresses single-story dwellings and multistory dwellings in buildings with an elevator but does not appear to address multistory townhouse style dwellings without an elevator. 2006 IBC, Section 1107.7.2 specifies that ?a multistory dwelling or sleeping unit which is not provided with elevator service is not required to be a Type B unit. Where a multistory unit is provided with external elevator service to only one floor, the floor provided with elevator service shall be the primary entry to the unit, shall comply with the requirements for a Type B unite and a toilet facility shall be provided on that level.?