BOWERS, CHARLES W. MUSEUM-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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December 15, 2014 Bowers Museum, SSA Project #14048 SALLY SWANSON OPrt „{IY4C72 tedC It is noted that as part of this compliance- review that certain items regulated under the codes may or may not have been constructed, installed, or otherwise provided at the site or the facility. Although regulations govern the accessibility of a project by the disabled, the lack of provision of a specific code regulated item should not necessarily cause the reader to arrive at the conclusion that the project is not in compliance. The lack of provision may only mean that the specific regulations do not apply in this instance or, that the AHJ may have made a determination that the specific item is not required at this time or, that a determination of equivalent facilitation may have been previously made by the AHJ. This report does not attempt to identify all provisions of Federal or State codes, regulations, determinations or policies related to a development project. Rather, the purpose of this report is to only identify if physical barriers to access have been removed or that the required items are in compliance with current Federal and /or State disabled access requirements. This report further does not intend to provide any interpretations, establish policy or make any determinations. If any such interpretation, policy or determination is found to be expressed or implied, such interpretation, policy or determination is not valid and must not be relied upon as "fact” as it must be first confirmed by the responsible AHJ or the DOJ prior thereto. "The responsibility for demonstrating equivalent facilitation in the event of a challenge rests with the covered entity. With the exception of transit facilities, which are covered by regulations issued by the Department of Transportation, there is no process for certifying that an alternative design provides equivalent facilitation. " Therefore, when an apparent item involving equivalent facilitation is found under this review, that item will be strictly excluded from any implicit or explicit CASp certification. When dimensions are specified by either the Federal or State regulations, they are often stated as a "minimum" or "maximum" or they must fall within a "range" of acceptable dimensions. When no such qualifier is given, the dimensions are to be considered as "absolute." During this review, no attempt has been made to define if the dimension for a particular item falls within any industry- standard or other construction tolerance limit and no such predetermined specific limits are prescribed by law. It is the opinion of this consultant that absolute dimensions will always require some limit of tolerance whether they are measured in fractions of an inch, a micron, or of an atom as there is never a perfectly even surface. Acceptance of a construction tolerance is a function strictly reserved by law for the interpretation by the Building Official, the Division of the State Architect, the Department of Justice or other Authority Having Jurisdiction and is not a determination that a CASp is entitled to render. For that reason, any items specified with an absolute dimension by any applicable code and /or regulation will be considered in this review as "non- compliant" and no certification of compliancy of said work will be able to be rendered by this reviewer. For guidance purposes however, in a September 30, 2004, letter from the DOJ to the State of California that included a side -by -side comparison of the two codes, the definition used by the State was considered compatible with the ADA Title III requirements and are provided as follows: ADAAG: 3.2 Dimensional Tolerances. All dimensions are subject to conventional building industry tolerances for field conditions. December 15, 2014 SSA Project #14048 Page 4 of 28