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Registered Accessibility Specialist

Lesson 6: How TAS relates to ADA and Section 504

TDLR's TAS/ADA/ABA comparison · 14 practice questions

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Reading

GCHS already works with three overlapping accessibility frameworks: TAS, ADA, and Section 504. They are not the same law, they do not always cover the same buildings, and they are not always enforced by the same body. This lesson uses TDLR's published Texas Accessibility Academy materials ("Understanding TAS") to draw the lines between TAS, the ADA, and the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA), then connects that to Section 504, which GCHS already works through its CDBG and HOME transition plan experience.

TAS is not simply a state copy of the ADA

TAS has its own legal history. TDLR's training materials say the 1994 TAS was certified by the U.S. Department of Justice as equivalent to ADA Title III (public accommodations and commercial facilities) on September 23, 1996, and that the certification did not apply to variances. That certification recognized Texas's own standard as providing equivalent protection, not as a copy of the federal text. Effective March 15, 2012, DOJ replaced the 1991 ADA Accessibility Guidelines with the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, and TDLR replaced the 1994 TAS with the 2012 TAS. TDLR describes the 2012 TAS as intended to be consistent with the 2010 ADA Standards except as noted in italics. The same materials say a similar DOJ re-certification of the 2012 TAS was anticipated but still pending. This course could not confirm any later DOJ action, so do not tell a client that the 2012 TAS is DOJ certified. TDLR's FAQ also warns that project registration under the Texas Architectural Barriers Act cannot confirm compliance with the ADA.

Three different scopes

Under Government Code Section 469.003 and Rule 68.20, TAS applies to publicly funded buildings and facilities, to buildings leased or occupied by the state, and to privately funded public accommodations and commercial facilities, as the ADA defines them, built or renovated on or after September 1, 1993. To the extent federal law allows, it also reaches buildings built or leased by the state with federal money. Rule 68.30 exempts several things, including federal property, areas used primarily for religious ritual, and the residential portions of housing used only by residents and their guests. TAS is a construction law: for a subject building with an estimated construction cost of at least $50,000, the plans must be reviewed and the finished building inspected (Sections 469.101 and 469.105). The ADA works differently: Title II covers the services, programs, and facilities of state and local governments, Title III covers public accommodations and commercial facilities, and DOJ enforces it, largely through complaints and lawsuits, with no plan review or inspection requirement. The ABA covers facilities built, altered, or leased with federal funds or by federal agencies. So there are three separate legal triggers, a state construction law, a federal civil rights law with two titles, and a federal building law, and they can apply to the same building at the same time.

Children's dimensions

Older summaries say TAS has extra mandatory dimensions for children. This course could not confirm that for the 2012 TAS. TAS Section 102 says the technical requirements are based on adult dimensions, with children's requirements added for drinking fountains, water closets, toilet compartments, lavatories and sinks, dining surfaces, and work surfaces, and Advisory 604.9 gives guidance for children ages 3 through 12. TDLR calls the 2012 TAS generally the same as the 2010 ADA Standards except as noted in italics, so read the actual section, and its italics, before assuming a difference between the two standards.

Where the 2012 TAS differs

TDLR's materials say most of the italic text in the 2012 TAS is Title II and Title III regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations. The 2010 ADA Standards consist of those regulations plus the 2004 ADAAG, so TDLR brought some of the regulation text into TAS to stay consistent. The rest is a few state clarifications: identifying the sections that require a variance, clarifying references to the Attorney General for Texas, and numbering the definitions. Some federal provisions were left out because they conflict with Chapter 469 or apply only to implementing the federal standards. This course has not compared the two texts item by item. What a RAS carries forward is that meeting the ADA alone does not settle TAS compliance, and a plan review or inspection has to be checked against TAS's own text rather than assumed compliant because a building already meets the ADA.

Where Section 504 fits in

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a separate federal civil rights law again, distinct from both the ADA and TAS. It applies to programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance, which is exactly the trigger for GCHS's CDBG and HOME pre-rehab work. Section 504 obligates a recipient of federal funds to ensure program accessibility, which is why GCHS already prepares Section 504 transition plans for the jurisdictions it works with. Section 504 is a program-level and civil-rights-level obligation tied to the federal money, while TAS is a state building-standard obligation tied to the building itself. A federally funded project can involve both, but not automatically. TAS attaches only where the building falls within Chapter 469 and is not exempt. For residential dwelling units that are subject to HUD's Section 504 regulations, TAS Section 233.2 defers to those HUD regulations, and Rule 68.30 exempts the residential portions of housing used only by residents and their guests. So the rehabilitation of a single-family home is usually a Section 504 and HUD question, not a TAS plan review, while a publicly funded community center or the nonresidential parts of a building, such as a leasing office open to the public, can bring in both frameworks. Meeting one does not automatically satisfy the other, since they are different kinds of legal obligation even when they point toward similar physical outcomes. Confirm scope with TDLR before promising a client either answer.

Why a RAS has to keep all three straight

A RAS report addresses TAS compliance specifically, because that is what TDLR's regulated function covers. TDLR's own transmittal letter says the determination applies only to Texas Government Code Chapter 469 and does not address the ADA or any other federal, state, or local requirement. It is not a Section 504 program accessibility determination and it is not a federal ADA compliance finding, even though the underlying physical dimensions often overlap. On a project already working through a Section 504 transition plan, a RAS review, where TAS applies at all, adds the state building-standard layer on top of, not instead of, the federal civil-rights layer already being handled through that transition plan work.

Three overlapping accessibility frameworks Three overlapping circles labeled TAS, Texas state law; ADA, federal civil rights law covering Title II government and Title III public accommodations; and Section 504, federal funding recipients, with a note that one federally funded project can involve more than one framework. TAS Texas state law ADA Federal civil rights Titles II and III Section 504 Federal funding recipients One federally funded project can involve more than one framework
TAS, ADA, and Section 504 are three separate legal frameworks with different triggers that can overlap on the same project.

Practice questions

1. When did DOJ certify the 1994 TAS as equivalent to ADA Title III?

  1. TAS has never received a DOJ equivalency certification of any kind
  2. September 23, 1996, for Title III; the certification did not apply to variances
  3. March 15, 2012, the day the 2012 TAS took effect and replaced the 1994 TAS
  4. 1990, at the same time the ADA itself was signed into law

2. Does DOJ equivalency certification mean TAS is an exact copy of the federal standard?

  1. No, it recognized Texas's own standard as equivalent for Title III, not identical to the federal text
  2. Yes, but only for the parking and passenger loading requirements that DOJ reviewed
  3. No such certification exists, because DOJ only certifies standards written by federal agencies and never state codes
  4. Yes, the certified text matches the federal guidelines word for word

3. Which buildings does TAS apply to?

  1. Only privately owned commercial buildings constructed after the 2012 TAS took effect
  2. Only construction paid for with federal funds administered by HUD or another agency
  3. Publicly funded buildings, state leases, and private public accommodations and commercial facilities
  4. Private residences of every kind, including owner-occupied single-family homes

4. What does ADA Title II cover, distinct from Title III?

  1. Nothing; Title II was repealed when the 2010 ADA Standards were adopted
  2. Only privately owned commercial facilities that are not open to the public
  3. The services, programs, and facilities of state and local governments
  4. Only construction paid for with federal funds, regardless of who owns it

5. What triggers ABA (Architectural Barriers Act) coverage?

  1. Facilities built, altered, or leased with federal funds or by federal agencies
  2. State ownership of the building, whether or not any federal money was used
  3. Any building over a certain square footage or occupant load, wherever it is located
  4. Private ownership with no government involvement, if the building is open to the public

6. How does the 2012 TAS relate to the 2010 ADA Standards?

  1. It is a word-for-word copy of the 2010 ADA Standards with no state additions of any kind
  2. It is intended to be consistent with them except where marked in italics
  3. It replaces the 2010 ADA Standards for every private building in Texas
  4. It is based on the 1991 ADAAG and has not been updated since 1994

7. Does meeting the federal ADA standard guarantee a building also meets TAS?

  1. Yes, as long as the building was designed to the 2010 ADA Standards after 2012
  2. TAS was repealed once the 2010 ADA Standards took effect on March 15, 2012
  3. Yes, the two are legally identical and enforced by the same agency
  4. No, TAS has its own italic text, exemptions, and review process, so check it directly

8. What triggers Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act?

  1. A building's location within Texas, regardless of any funding
  2. State ownership of the building, whether or not federal money is involved
  3. Any building that is open to the public under ADA Title III
  4. Receipt of federal financial assistance by the program or activity

9. What has GCHS already been preparing because of Section 504's federal-funding trigger?

  1. Section 504 transition plans
  2. RAS license renewals filed with TDLR each year
  3. NGMA exam applications for its grant management staff
  4. ADA Title III lawsuits against private building owners

10. Is Section 504 the same kind of legal obligation as TAS?

  1. Yes, TDLR enforces Section 504 through the same TAS plan review and inspection program it uses for buildings
  2. No, Section 504 only applies to buildings located outside Texas
  3. Yes, both are Texas state building standards adopted under Government Code Chapter 469
  4. No, Section 504 is a federal funding condition; TAS is a state standard tied to the building

11. Can a federally funded project in Texas, such as a CDBG-funded community center open to the public, be subject to both Section 504 and TAS?

  1. Yes, but only if the building is privately owned and used only as a single-family residence
  2. Yes, the triggers are independent: federal funds bring in Section 504, and TAS applies if the building is within Chapter 469's scope
  3. No, only one framework can ever apply to a single project at a time
  4. No, CDBG funding exempts a project from TAS because federal law overrides state accessibility standards on funded work

12. Does satisfying Section 504's program accessibility obligation automatically satisfy TAS?

  1. TAS does not apply once Section 504 applies to the same project
  2. Yes, always, because HUD has adopted TAS as its own accessibility standard for federally funded work
  3. No, they are different kinds of legal obligation even when they point toward similar outcomes
  4. Yes, but only for schools and other buildings that serve children

13. What does a RAS report specifically address?

  1. Federal ADA Title III compliance for the building and its site as a whole
  2. Section 504 program accessibility for any federally funded owner or tenant
  3. TAS compliance, the function TDLR regulates
  4. All three frameworks together, as a single combined compliance finding

14. On a GCHS project already working through a Section 504 transition plan, what does a RAS review add?

  1. Nothing; the transition plan already covers TAS review and inspection requirements
  2. A replacement for the transition plan, which can then be closed out with HUD and the jurisdiction
  3. Federal ADA Title II jurisdiction over the project, on behalf of DOJ
  4. The state TAS layer, on top of the federal civil-rights layer already being handled

Glossary

DOJ equivalency certification
DOJ's September 23, 1996 certification that the 1994 TAS was equivalent to ADA Title III, not that it is identical to it. TDLR's 2020 materials describe re-certification of the 2012 TAS as pending.
ABA
Architectural Barriers Act; covers facilities built, altered, or leased with federal funds or by federal agencies.
Section 504
Rehabilitation Act provision requiring program accessibility for recipients of federal financial assistance, such as CDBG/HOME funds.
Transition plan
The Section 504 planning document GCHS already prepares for jurisdictions it works with.
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