Registered Accessibility Specialist
GCHS already performs accessibility and aging-in-place evaluations, TAS, ADA, Section 504, and Fair Housing, as one of its three service lines, and pre-rehab work on CDBG and HOME projects already touches TAS compliance. The Registered Accessibility Specialist credential, RAS, is what turns that advisory work into a regulated function. A RAS is hired by a building owner to perform plan reviews or inspection services verifying compliance with the Texas Accessibility Standards, TAS, and then files a report to both the owner and to TDLR, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which administers the program. Staff at GCHS who hold RAS could perform that actual regulated review or inspection themselves, with a report that carries weight with TDLR, rather than only advising a building owner on TAS compliance from the outside.
RAS is issued by TDLR. It is a Texas state credential, not a national one, so this course is specific to Texas law and TDLR's own published material, not a national accessibility standard. The scope is also specific: TDLR says the Elimination of Architectural Barriers law and TAS are relevant to public and commercial buildings and facilities but do not apply to private residences, and Rule 68.30 exempts those portions of apartments, condominiums, townhomes, and single-family dwellings used exclusively by residents and their guests. That limit matters for how GCHS would use this credential alongside its existing work, since GCHS's housing rehabilitation work touches private homes as well as public and commercial buildings, and RAS only reaches the latter.
TDLR requires an applicant to meet one of three qualifications before certification. The first is a degree in architecture, engineering, interior design, landscape architecture, or equivalent, plus one year of related experience. The second is eight years of related experience in building inspection, building planning, accessibility design or review, or accessibility inspection, with no degree required. The third is four years of that kind of experience plus certification as an accessibility inspector or plans examiner from a model building code organization. Every applicant, whichever pathway they use, must also pass the written examination TDLR approves, pass a criminal history background check, and pay the required fee. The next lesson covers each pathway in more depth, including which one best fits GCHS staff who already do inspection and estimating work.
Some older summaries list the Texas Accessibility Academy as a RAS requirement. The current Rule 68.70 and TDLR's application page do not. The Academy is a two-day program on the Texas Architectural Barriers Act, the administrative rules, and the 2012 TAS, and TDLR notes that it does not cover the RAS exam or RAS procedures. TDLR currently lists it as offered through outside providers rather than its own sessions, so treat it as a study aid, not a step on the licensing checklist. What does have a clock is the application itself: every requirement, including passing the written exam, must be completed within one year from the date TDLR receives the application. After that year, an applicant must submit a new application, supporting documents, and a new fee.
PSI, a third-party testing vendor under contract to TDLR, develops and administers the RAS exam. A completed and approved RAS application is required before you schedule it. Once TDLR verifies an application, PSI sends the applicant an eligibility notice and the applicant registers and schedules a test date directly at psiexams.com. TDLR's exam page points applicants to PSI's Candidate Information Bulletin for the passing score, number of questions, time allowed, reference materials, fees, and test sites. That bulletin was not accessible from this course's public research, so treat any specific question count, time limit, or passing score you see elsewhere as unconfirmed until you have your own copy of the current bulletin from PSI. What is confirmed: the exam is written, and the same exam requirement applies to every applicant regardless of which eligibility pathway they used. TDLR reported a 49.4 percent pass rate on the written exam for fiscal year 2025 (42 of 85 candidates).
RAS work is tied to construction projects. Under Rule 68.50 and TDLR's own FAQ, a project with an estimated construction cost of $50,000 or more must be registered with TDLR and have a full set of construction documents reviewed by a RAS, and it must have a plan review at some point before inspection unless TDLR registered it as a special registration. A project under $50,000 does not have to be registered, but it still has to comply with TAS, and an owner may register it anyway using TDLR's Special Project Registration form.
The initial application costs $300. Renewal costs $250. A RAS license is valid for one year from the date of issue and must be renewed annually. Renewal requires 4 hours of continuing education completed within the term of the registration being renewed, on one or more of these topics: Texas Government Code Chapter 469, Texas Administrative Code Chapter 68, the Texas Accessibility Standards, TDLR technical memoranda, ADA Accessibility Guidelines or Access Board/DOJ guidance, the Americans with Disabilities Act itself, the ICC/ANSI A117.1 standard, or building and life safety codes related to egress. Lesson 9 covers renewal and continuing education in depth.
The program is established in Texas Government Code Chapter 469, the Elimination of Architectural Barriers law, with 16 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 68 providing the administrative rules, including Rule 68.70, the qualifications for certification. The exam is the substantive bar to entry, and it is the same for every applicant. The current technical standard those rules point to is the 2012 Texas Accessibility Standards (TAS), the edition TDLR publishes as in effect today.
As of the state's fiscal year 2025, TDLR reported 594 registered accessibility specialists statewide. That number is context for how specialized this credential is, not exam content you need to memorize.
GCHS already evaluates properties against TAS, ADA, Section 504, and Fair Housing as part of its construction management, inspection, and estimating service lines, and already works Section 504 transition plans and TAS compliance on CDBG and HOME pre-rehab projects. Holding RAS on staff would let GCHS perform the plan review or inspection itself, with a report that files directly to TDLR, on the public and commercial side of that work, rather than relying on an outside RAS or only advising an owner informally. It does not replace GCHS's existing TAS, ADA, and Section 504 knowledge; it credentials the regulated review and inspection function built on top of that knowledge, for public and commercial buildings specifically.
1. Which state agency issues the RAS credential?
2. What kind of buildings does RAS plan review and inspection work cover?
3. Which of these is one of the three eligibility pathways to sit for the RAS exam?
4. Besides meeting one of the three eligibility pathways, what else must every RAS applicant do?
5. What is the initial RAS application cost, and the renewal cost?
6. Who typically hires a RAS, and who receives the RAS's report of findings?
7. What does GCHS gain by having RAS on staff, given its existing accessibility work?
8. As of the state's fiscal year 2025, roughly how many registered accessibility specialists did TDLR report statewide?
9. Which of these is NOT a requirement for RAS certification under TAC Rule 68.70?
10. How long does an applicant have to complete every requirement, including the academy and the exam, after filing the application?
11. Who administers the RAS exam itself?
12. A RAS license must be renewed how often, and with what continuing education requirement?
13. Which Texas Government Code chapter establishes TDLR's Architectural Barriers program and the RAS registration?
14. What estimated construction cost requires a project to be registered with TDLR and have its construction documents reviewed by a RAS?