A117.1 Section 1102
This lesson opens Chapter 11, Dwelling Units and Sleeping Units, the heart of this course and the chapter GCHS staff will use most often on multifamily and HUD-funded housing work. Section 1101.1 sets up the chapter by defining five categories of dwelling or sleeping unit: not every project has to build every category, and it is the adopting code, not A117.1 itself, that decides which category or categories a given project must provide and in what numbers. The five are Accessible units, Type A units, Type B units, Type C Visitable units, and units with communication features, the last of which this course already covered in Lesson 8. This lesson covers the first and fullest of the four remaining categories: Accessible units. Type A units and Type B units each get their own lesson next, and seeing how the three relate is easier once Accessible units, the fullest-access tier, are understood as the baseline the other two are measured against.
An Accessible unit is built to be usable by a wheelchair user from the day it is occupied, without any later modification. Its provisions in Section 1102 mostly point straight back to the general sections of Chapters 3 through 9, such as Section 404 for doors, Sections 603 through 610 for the toilet and bathing facility, and Section 804 for the kitchen. Type A and Type B units, covered in Lessons 10 and 11, instead carry unit-specific provisions in Sections 1103 and 1104: reinforcement in place of installed grab bars, removable cabinetry, and smaller dimensions in places. The thread running through this lesson is that an Accessible unit uses the general sections directly, without those unit-specific allowances.
Section 1102.2 requires an Accessible unit's primary entrance to be on an accessible route from public and common areas. The primary entrance may not be to a bedroom unless that is the unit's only entrance, a narrow carve-out rather than a general option. On a GCHS rehab project, this means the estimator has to trace the accessible route from the public and common areas all the way to the unit's actual front door, not just confirm that a door exists somewhere on the unit.
Section 1102.3.2 requires all rooms served by an accessible route to provide a turning space, the same clear floor area covered generally in Section 304. Two exceptions apply: closets or pantries no deeper than 48 inches do not need turning space, and neither do toilet rooms and bathrooms that are not required to comply with Section 1102.11.2, the one full accessible toilet and bathing facility. Every other room, bedrooms, the living area, and the kitchen among them, must provide it. A GCHS floor plan review that confirms turning space only in the kitchen and the accessible bathroom, and skips the bedrooms, has not actually verified 1102 compliance.
Section 1102.5 requires the primary entrance door and all other doorways intended for user passage to meet Section 404, the same clear opening width and maneuvering clearance requirements that apply throughout the standard. A short list of exceptions applies. For example, no maneuvering clearance is needed on the toilet-room side of the door to a toilet room or bathroom that is not the required accessible one, and none is needed within a qualifying closet or pantry. Accessible units get no reduced clear-width number. That is a contrast with Type B units, which have their own 31-3/4 inch doorway clear width and a smaller front-approach clearance at the entrance door, covered in Lesson 11. Type A units also send their doors to Section 404, with an exception list of their own.
Section 1102 extends full Section 309 operable-parts coverage across essentially everything a resident might need to reach and use: lighting controls, panelboards, switches, receptacles, environmental controls such as thermostats, appliance controls, plumbing fixture controls, and security or intercom controls. Each of these has to sit within the Section 309 reach ranges and be operable without tight grasping, pinching, or twisting. This is a broader list than a single light switch check; an inspector working through an Accessible unit needs to confirm reach range and one-hand operability at every category on that list, not just the ones easiest to see.
Section 1102.11.2 requires at least one toilet and bathing facility built to the general Chapter 6 provisions: a Section 603 toilet room with a lavatory, a water closet, and either a bathtub or a shower that meet Sections 604 through 610. Those fixtures must be in a single toilet and bathing area, so travel between them does not pass through other parts of the unit. The water closet seat height is the general Section 604.4 range of 17 to 19 inches. Every other toilet and bathing facility in the unit falls under Section 1102.11.1, which asks only for reinforcement for future grab bars and shower seats, using the Type B reinforcement provisions of Section 1104.11.1, and not even that where the structure has no Type B units. Reinforcement lets a grab bar or shower seat be mounted later without new framing. This single-full-facility-plus-reinforcement structure is worth remembering, since it means an Accessible unit with two and a half baths does not need all three built to full Chapter 6 specifications, only the one.
Section 1102.12 sends an Accessible unit's kitchen to Section 804, the general kitchen provisions. For pass-through kitchens, Section 804 sets the clearance between opposing base cabinets, countertops, appliances, or walls in the work area at 40 inches minimum, and for U-shaped kitchens it is 60 inches minimum, with an exception where an island meets the 40 inch rule. It also calls for at least one accessible work surface 30 inches minimum in length where a cooktop or conventional range is provided, and it sends the sink to Section 606, whose front height limit is 34 inches maximum. Type A and Type B units write their own kitchen sections (1103.12 and 1104.12). Those use the same 40 and 60 inch clearances, so the difference is not a smaller clearance number. It is the allowances they add, such as removable cabinetry and adjustable-height counters in Type A, covered in Lesson 10, and Type B's own appliance clear floor space rules, covered in Lesson 11.
Section 1102.14 requires at least one of each type of storage the unit provides, closets, shelving, and similar built-in storage, to meet Section 905's accessible-storage provisions. Kitchen cabinets are specifically exempted from this requirement, so a kitchen's upper cabinetry does not have to be reachable under Section 905 even though the kitchen itself must meet full Section 804. A GCHS scope of work that requires every closet in an Accessible unit to be Section 905-compliant, but treats kitchen cabinets the same way, is applying the rule more broadly than 1102 actually requires.
Section 1102.15 requires that in at least one sleeping area, at least 5 percent of the beds, but not fewer than one bed, meet the accessible bed provisions. A clear floor space must be provided on both sides of the bed for a parallel wheelchair approach (one shared space between two beds is enough), at least one bed must have an open frame rather than a solid base, and at least one bed must measure 17 to 23 inches from the floor to the top of the uncompressed mattress. Section 1102.15.4 also requires that same clear floor space to serve as a wheelchair charging area under Section 906, which is a grounded duplex outlet within reach range with a clear floor space at it, so the same floor area does two jobs rather than requiring separate space for each.
Five 1101.1 unit categories: Accessible, Type A, Type B, Type C Visitable, and units with communication features; the adopting authority's scoping decides which and how many (Section 202). Primary entrance: on an accessible route from public and common areas, not to a bedroom unless it is the only entrance. Turning space: required in all rooms served by an accessible route, except closets/pantries 48 in. deep or less and toilet rooms or bathrooms not required to comply with 1102.11.2. Doors: Section 404 with the short exception list in 1102.5. Operable parts: full Section 309 across lighting, panelboards, switches, receptacles, environmental, appliance, plumbing, and security/intercom controls. Toilet/bathing: at least one full Section 603-610 facility in a single area (604 water closet 17-19 in. seat height); other facilities need only reinforcement for grab bars and shower seats (1102.11.1). Kitchen: Section 804 (40 in. clearance, 60 in. U-shaped, 30 in. work surface). Storage: Section 905 for at least one of each type, kitchen cabinets exempt. Beds: at least 5 percent, minimum one, in at least one sleeping area; clear floor space both sides, open frame, 17-23 in. mattress-top height; the clear floor space also serves as a Section 906 wheelchair charging area.
Why this matters for GCHS
GCHS's work is construction management, inspection, and estimating for housing rehabilitation and accessibility modifications, not the hands-on plumbing, electrical, or carpentry labor itself, so the value GCHS adds on an Accessible-unit project is catching a missed requirement before it becomes a change order or a funder finding. Knowing that an Accessible unit uses Section 404 doors and Section 804 kitchen provisions directly, without the allowances Type A and Type B carry (a lower water closet seat height, removable cabinetry, narrower Type B clearances), lets an estimator write a scope of work that does not accidentally borrow one of those allowances. Knowing that only one toilet and bathing facility needs full fixtures, with the rest needing only reinforcement, keeps a rehab budget from over-specifying fixture replacement in bathrooms that do not require it.
1. Under Section 1101.1, how many dwelling and sleeping unit categories does A117.1 define, and who decides which a project must build?
2. Which of the following is one of the five Section 1101.1 unit categories?
3. Under Section 1102, where may an Accessible unit's primary entrance be located?
4. Under Section 1102, which rooms are exempt from the turning-space requirement?
5. A GCHS floor plan review of an Accessible unit finds turning space provided in the kitchen and the accessible bathroom, but not in either bedroom. Does this satisfy Section 1102?
6. Which Section 404 provisions apply to doors and doorways in an Accessible unit?
7. Under Section 1102's reference to Section 309, which of the following categories of control must be within reach range and operable without tight grasping?
8. Under Section 1102.11.1, what is required of toilet rooms in an Accessible unit beyond the one required full bathroom?
9. Under general Section 604, what is the water closet seat height range that applies to an Accessible unit's required bathroom?
10. Which section does Section 1102.12 point to for an Accessible unit's kitchen?
11. Under Section 1102's reference to Section 905, which storage is exempt from the accessible-storage requirement?
12. Under Section 1102.15, what percentage of the beds in at least one sleeping area must meet the accessible bed provisions, at minimum how many?
13. What are the required features of a qualifying accessible bed under Section 1102, including mattress-top height?
14. A GCHS project is scoping an Accessible unit's bedroom. Under Sections 1102.15.4 and 906, what additional function must the clear floor space beside a qualifying bed serve?