# ADA rooms in R-1 occupancy



## peach (Oct 27, 2009)

Remodel project... BIG remodel project.

The electrical contractor is saying ALL ADA rooms need 2 strobe devices (bathroom and bedroom).  There are 58 total ADA rooms (22 hearing impaired).  It looks like the restroom strobe will be tied to the building fire alarm; the other one will be activated by the local alarm in the room.

As the parent of a hearing impaired child (well, now young adult), I see the need for the strobes... but only in the hearing impaired rooms.

OF course, I loaned out my ANSI A117 pocket reference book, and haven't unpacked all my reference materials.

Opinions?


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## mark handler (Oct 27, 2009)

Re: ADA rooms in R-1 occupancy

ADAAG 9.3.1 requires that sleeping units covered by Section 9 Accessible Transient Lodging have a visual alarm connected to the building alarm system or provide a power outlet for a portable device that can be triggered by the building emergency alarm system… Auxiliary Alarms requires only that the signal--intended to alert persons who are awake--be visible in all areas of the room or unit.

If the strobe can be seen from the bathroom, an extra alarm is not required.

ANSI GIVES NO GUIDENCE


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## Gene Boecker (Oct 27, 2009)

Re: ADA rooms in R-1 occupancy

Hi Peach,

He's right.  Only one strobe is generally required.  And, as you note - only in the rooms designed for hearing impaired.  Those rooms should not all be the same as the ones designed for mobility disabilities.

Depending on the size of the unit, the spacing provisions and light level requirements of NFPA 72 may dictate additional devices being needed but it isn't a requirement to add the device to the bathroom.  It may be a nice upgrade but it isn't required.

What state is the project located in?  There may be local or state opinions/interps on the issue.


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## peach (Oct 27, 2009)

Re: ADA rooms in R-1 occupancy

It's in DC..

a great big hotel, but the rooms are small.  (except for the presidential suites)..

I don't have a problem if they want to have one local and one connected to the building fire system.  I just don't know that the (actually great) expense to install in all ADA rooms, not just the HI ones is necessary.

Thanks


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## Gene Boecker (Oct 27, 2009)

Re: ADA rooms in R-1 occupancy

So, use the number of visible alarmed units from Table 907.9.1.3; make one (or two) in the mobility designed units and note which of the others will have the strobes.  Remember to that these are alarm devices - not smoke alarms.  It's only required to tie in the system fire alarm.  The local smoke alarms are not required to be tied in.  That's an option but not a requirement.  It demands additional power which makes it more expensive.  Swapping out a horn for a horn/strobe is not so costly.


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## peach (Oct 29, 2009)

Re: ADA rooms in R-1 occupancy

Gene is right.. the number can't be reduced..

(I finally looked at Chapter 9).

Thanks


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## Yikes (Mar 12, 2010)

Re: ADA rooms in R-1 occupancy

Follow-up question:

I have an apartment building where the owner would like to add stobe alarms for the visually impaired in a limited number of units.  (They accidentally already rented out the hearing-impaired units to non-hearing-impaired tenants.  They don't have a lot of money, so they only want to add the minimum number of strobes necessary.

The units are 1 bedroom senior apartments.  A single strobe could be placed so that either it is directly visible for the bed or bath, or else the strobe light would shine directly onto a bathroom wall so that it would be noticed by someone in the bathtub, and similarly in all portions of the small apartment.

In this scenario, is a single strobe acceptable?  If the tenant closed the bathroom or bedroom door, the strobe would no longer be visible.  Is it the responsibility of the tenant to keep the doors open (including the bathroom door) for strobe notification purposes?  Or must I put a strobe in every room that could potentially be closed off with a door?


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## peach (Mar 13, 2010)

Re: ADA rooms in R-1 occupancy

Fair housing doesn't require an owner to add strobes to every unit that actually has hearing impaired tenants, only that they initially provide "X" number of them.

It's the right thing to do, of course.

Anything they do above and beyond the minimum should meet any/all legal requirements.


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## Yikes (Mar 15, 2010)

Re: ADA rooms in R-1 occupancy

Peach  - due to a clerical error, the owner failed to make the hearing impaired usints available to the hearing impaired, even thouhg they were available at the time.  So essentially, I am tasked with converting apartments to make them FHA compliant for the hearing impaired.

Back to my question, in that scenario is it OK to assume the hearing-impaired tenant will keep the bedroom and bathroom doors open in order to see the strobe?


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## peach (Mar 18, 2010)

Re: ADA rooms in R-1 occupancy

My son is hearing impaired..

IF he moves into an apartment building that has hearing impaired units.. but they are already rented.. there is no provision to add additional hearing impaired units.

I'm sensitive to this particular issue..

Flip the scenario to a wheelchair bound tenant.. would you require an apartment complex to retrofit to accommodate that if all the compliant ones are already occupied?

no.. nothing requires it.. not even ADA... a certain percentage is required to be "compliant" for every possible disability..

If the accesible units are taken.. they are not available.


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## brudgers (Apr 5, 2010)

Disabilities in R2

Peach,

At the risk of thread drift....that's the misconception that using the IBC + A117.1 creates in regards to multi-family housing.

FHA requires that "all covered units" be adaptable (this is A117.1 Type B) so that it can be modified to accommodate disability.  Modification to the unit for strobes may cost the tenant money, but the landlord cannot prohibit it...and it can open up a can of worms quickly if they price it unreasonably.  Doesn't take much more than a call to the nearest DOJ office, to start a complaint.

Ideally, modular devices are specified during design and it's simply a matter of swapping out a horn/strobe for a horn.

BTW, to further point out how useless the Type A/B unit distinction is...there's nothing to prevent replacing a horn strobe from a unit permitted as Type A and reusing it in another unit to accommodate a disability.


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## Gene Boecker (Apr 5, 2010)

Yikes said:
			
		

> Peach - due to a clerical error, the owner failed to make the hearing impaired usints available to the hearing impaired, even thouhg they were available at the time. So essentially, I am tasked with converting apartments to make them FHA compliant for the hearing impaired.Back to my question, in that scenario is it OK to assume the hearing-impaired tenant will keep the bedroom and bathroom doors open in order to see the strobe?


There is not a requirement for the strobe to be in the bathroom but it must be provided in the bedroom/sleeping area.



For apartments, this is the conversion that brudgers is mentioning.  The unit that is designed for hearing impaired needs to be modified with at least strobes in the sleeping rooms and visibility in all common use spaces like the kitchen, dining and living rooms.  The bounce from the flash is acceptable given sufficient candela and spacing of devices.  No, don't put any devices in the closets.  I don't know what other room there may be that would have a door closed.



I suppose the critical issue is who must pay for the changes.  Since they did not rent the unit they should have they are making changes to another unit to provide a base line service.  I would think that the other unit is the base line for compliance and owner's responsibility for cost.  You can put a strobe in every closet and pantry if you want, but that cost would be borne by the renter.


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