Businesses that have more than 15 employees, or provide goods or services to the public must ensure the premises are accessible to disabled persons.

If the property you are considering does not comply with the ADA, we can work out the details in your lease that define landlord and tenant responsibilities for meeting legal requirements, inducing commercial construction, complying with state and local building codes, and meeting federal ADA standards. For more information, please visit: www.ada.gov

Landlord responsibilities
The landlord should be able to provide you with a copy of the building’s last ADA audit that was performed by an engineer or architect. If improvements are needed to comply, the landlord should provide you with an agreement detailing the improvements, time frames, and reasonable accommodations if access is limited. Make sure the costs of bringing common areas to compliance are not passed to you as part of operating costs (i.e., elevators, stairways, lobbies).

Tenant responsibilities
As a tenant, you are responsible to ensure the interior layout of your office space does not limit access to disabled customers and employees. For example, you must make sure aisles, cubicles and walkways are wide enough for wheelchairs; and tables and counters can accommodate someone who’s disabled or using a wheelchair.

As a tenant broker, our goal is to make sure your building and office space is compliant. If it’s not compliant, we will ensure the necessary terms are in your leasing terms.