2021 IBC Chapter 11
Chapter 11 of the IBC decides where accessibility applies and how many of each feature a building needs. It does not draw the details. Clear widths, reach heights, slopes, and clearances come from the referenced standard, ICC A117.1, and the 2021 IBC references the 2017 edition (Chapter 35 lists A117.1-17). GCHS has a separate course on that standard: ICC A117.1 accessibility course. The 2021 edition also renumbered Chapter 11, so a 2018 handout points to the wrong sections: dwelling units moved from 1107 to 1108, and toilet and bathing facilities from 1109 to 1110.
A commercial or multifamily project in Texas can answer to three accessibility tracks at once. The IBC and A117.1 are the locally enforced building code. The Americans with Disabilities Act is a federal civil rights law enforced through the Department of Justice. The Texas Accessibility Standards (TAS) are the state standard administered by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), and many Texas projects are registered with TDLR and reviewed and inspected by a Registered Accessibility Specialist. The technical content overlaps heavily, but the documents and enforcers differ, so passing the local IBC review does not clear the other two. This course teaches the IBC; check TDLR for the current TAS edition and do not quote TAS numbers from here.
Section 1103 sends most buildings through Chapter 11 and then lists exceptions in 1103.2, among them employee work areas, detached one- and two-family dwellings, utility buildings, construction sites, raised areas, limited-access spaces, equipment spaces, and walk-in coolers and freezers. An employee work area needs only to meet a short list (907.5.2.3.1, 1009, and 1104.3.1) and be designed so a person with a disability can approach, enter, and exit it (1103.2.2). A work area under 300 square feet, raised 7 inches or more where the change is essential to its function, is exempt entirely.
Section 1104.1 requires at least one accessible route within the site from public transportation stops, accessible parking, accessible passenger loading zones, and public streets or sidewalks to the accessible entrance. Section 1104.2 connects accessible buildings and facilities on the same site. Under 1104.4, an accessible route connects each accessible story, mezzanine, and occupied roof. Exception 1 excuses levels above or below accessible levels whose aggregate area is not more than 3,000 square feet, but it does not apply to Group M buildings with five or more tenant spaces, offices of health care providers in Group B or I, transportation facilities, government buildings, or structures with four or more dwelling units. Section 1009 adds accessible means of egress, and an accessible egress stair needs 48 inches clear between handrails (1009.3.2), with exceptions such as buildings sprinklered under 903.3.1.1 or 903.3.1.2. The accessible route also has to coincide with the general circulation path, stay interior where the circulation path is interior, and, when it is the only route, avoid kitchens, storage rooms, restrooms, and closets (1104.5).
Section 1105.1 requires at least 60 percent of all public entrances to be accessible, plus the special entrances listed in 1105.1.2 through 1105.1.8, such as parking garage pedestrian entrances, tenant spaces, and dwelling units. New in 2021, 1105.1.1 and Table 1105.1.1 require one door at each required accessible public entrance to be power-operated where the building occupant load is over 300 in Groups A-1 through A-4, or over 500 in Groups B, M, and R-1.
Table 1106.2 sets the number of accessible spaces by the total in the lot. Count each parking facility on a site separately.
| Total spaces in the facility | Accessible spaces required |
|---|---|
| 1 to 25 | 1 |
| 26 to 50 | 2 |
| 51 to 75 | 3 |
| 76 to 100 | 4 |
| 101 to 150 | 5 |
| 151 to 200 | 6 |
| 201 to 300 | 7 |
| 301 to 400 | 8 |
| 401 to 500 | 9 |
| 501 to 1,000 | 2 percent of total |
Above 1,000, the table adds 20 plus one for each 100 or fraction over 1,000. For every six accessible spaces, or fraction of six, at least one is van accessible (1106.6). Spaces go on the shortest accessible route to an accessible entrance (1106.7), and 1106.9.1 requires one accessible passenger loading zone in every continuous 100 linear feet of loading zone. Residential parking follows 1106.3: at least 2 percent, and not less than one, of each type of space serving Accessible, Type A, or Type B units in R-2, R-3, and R-4. Hospital outpatient and rehabilitation facilities carry higher percentages (1106.4, 1106.5). Signs with the International Symbol of Accessibility mark the spaces, except where the lot has four or fewer spaces (1112.1). EV charging is a new 2021 section, 1107.
Worked example: an office park lot has 130 spaces. Table 1106.2 puts 130 in the 101 to 150 row, so 5 spaces are accessible, and 5 divided by 6 rounds up to 1 van space. A 260-space lot needs 7, and 7 divided by 6 rounds up to 2 van spaces. Two separate lots on one site of 40 and 30 spaces are counted separately, 2 plus 2, so 4 spaces, not the 3 that a single 70-space lot would need.
Section 1108.2 sends Accessible, Type A, and Type B units to Chapter 11 of A117.1. In Group R-2 with more than 20 dwelling or sleeping units, at least 2 percent, and not less than one, must be Type A units, counted across the R-2 buildings on a site; existing structures are not counted (1108.6.2.2.1). Where a single structure has four or more dwelling or sleeping units, every unit intended as a residence is a Type B unit (1108.6.2.2.2), with similar rules for R-3 with four or more units and for R-1. Section 1108.7 reduces the count in buildings without elevator service, on impractical sites, and in flood hazard areas. Rehab of existing buildings is handled by the existing-building code, which lesson 1 pointed to.
Each toilet and bathing room is accessible (1110.2). Assembly and mercantile occupancies need an accessible family or assisted-use toilet room where an aggregate of six or more male and female water closets is required (1110.2.1). At least 5 percent of water closet compartments must be wheelchair accessible, with an additional 5 percent ambulatory accessible where compartments and urinals together total six or more (1110.2.4). At least 5 percent of lavatories, and never fewer than one, must be accessible (1110.2.5), and where drinking fountains are provided, at least two are required, one for wheelchair users and one standing type (1110.5.1). Toilet room signs carry visual, raised, and braille characters (1112.2). Section 1109 covers special occupancies such as assembly seating, and 1111 covers recreational facilities.
In the field
Before bidding a rehab of a community center, walk the site the way a visitor with a wheelchair would: start at the public sidewalk, then the parking, then the door. Note every break in the route, such as a stepped entrance, a steep drive apron, a missing sign, or a door that needs a tight grip. Each one is a line item with a cost, and it is far cheaper to price it before the contract than to add it after a review comment.
1. Which edition of ICC A117.1 does the 2021 IBC reference in Chapter 35 for the technical criteria used with Chapter 11?
2. A plan reviewer needs the clear width of an accessible route and the mounting height of a reach control in a Group B building. Where do those technical dimensions come from?
3. A Group B clinic in Texas passes its local IBC accessibility plan review. Which statement is correct?
4. A Group B parking lot on a site has 80 total spaces. How many accessible spaces does Table 1106.2 require?
5. A Group M shopping center has one lot of 260 total spaces. Table 1106.2 requires 7 accessible spaces. How many of them must be van accessible under 1106.6?
6. A Group B office site has two separate parking lots, one with 40 spaces and one with 30. Counting each facility separately, how many accessible spaces are required in total?
7. A Group B building has five public entrances. Under the general rule in 1105.1, how many must be accessible?
8. A new Group A-2 restaurant has an occupant load of 350. What does 2021 Section 1105.1.1 add for its required accessible public entrances?
9. A two-story Group B dental office has a 2,500 square foot second floor. Does the 3,000 square foot exception in 1104.4 excuse an accessible route to that floor?
10. Only one accessible route serves a Group B building. Which space may it NOT pass through under 1104.5?
11. A Group M store requires an aggregate of six water closets for its public. What additional toilet facility does 1110.2.1 require?
12. A new Group R-2 apartment site has 100 dwelling units. What is the minimum number of Type A units under 1108.6.2.2.1?
13. A new Group R-2 apartment house of five dwelling units is being permitted. What does 1108.6.2.2.2 require of the units, subject to the reductions in 1108.7?
14. A Group F plant has an employee-only work area. Under 1103.2.2, what applies to it?