Home Building Designing for Life
Some homebuilders are gradually adding universal design elements into their homes, but for some, the change has not come quickly enough. The Montgomery County Commission on People with Disabilities approached the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association (MNCBIA) in 2003, proposing legislation that would mandate that a certain percentage of all new homes in Montgomery County be wheelchair accessible.
“The Commission wanted to make zero-step entries a mandatory feature in all new construction, regardless of a site’s physical reality or topography of the county and the regulatory and physical restraints that would conflict with such a mandate,” says Raquel Montenegro. She is MNCBIA’s associate director of legislative affairs and staff liaison to the “Design for Life” working group.
After some initial discussions, “the Building Industry Association and the Commission on Disabilities came to realize that the best thing they could do was create a volunteer program and make it attractive to everybody,” says John Stovall, partner in NSArchitects and chair of the Design for Life committee. Representatives of MNCBIA and the Commission worked together for more than three years to develop the program standards.
The group put together a voluntary recognition for builders who incorporate designs to accommodate two levels of accessibility: visitability and livability. Visitablility, the first level, allows disabled people to visit a home. “It involves having one entrance without steps, doors that are at least 32 inches wide, and a circulation path 36 inches wide to a visitable room and a powder room,” explains Stovall. The powder room must have a door wide enough to fit a wheelchair, and a 30-inch by 48-inch space where the chair can sit with the door closed.
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