THORBURN ASSOCIATES

Acoustic and Technology Consultants

Designing Quality Environments

Acoustics and ADA

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has stirred up much controversy over the past year. This article will provide some practical guidelines for the public accommodations portion of these requirements. The new ADA hearing assistance requirements are not really new for Californians since the 1988 UBC, with the California Title 24 Amendment, has required hearing assistance systems.

The following summaries should help unravel the confusion surrounding these requirements.

Title 24 Section 611 (f) requires that assembly areas with permanently installed public address systems provide assistive listening systems for people with hearing impairments.

The following are exceptions:

• This does not apply to systems used exclusively for paging, or background music, or a combination of these two uses.

• Public and private schools are exempt from the requirements of this section.

• The number of personal receivers required is based upon the capacity of the assembly area as follows:

ADA Section III-7.5180 Assembly Areas requires:

• Fixed seating assembly areas that accommodate 50 or more people OR have audio-amplification systems must have a permanently installed assistive learning system.

• Other assembly areas (not covered in above) must have a permanent system OR an adequate number of electrical outlets or other wiring to support a portable system.

• A special sign indicating the availability of the system is required.

• The minimum number of receivers must be equal to 4% of the total number of seats, but never less than two.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Because facilities will always be required to implement the "strictest" of the two codes we recommend the following as a guideline when designing audio-amplification requirements:

At this point the venue needs to address their own needs. The expense of the transmitter has been installed. Additional receivers can be added when and if they are needed.

The bottom line, as put by the America Speech-Language-Hearings Association's response to the ADA was "Ask people about their needs, show respect and sensitivity, use what works (not necessarily what is most expensive), and use your resources creatively and effectively."

From a design perspective, any time an audio system that is used for speech reinforcement or audio playback is part of your contract documents, an assistive listening system should be part of the design.

© Thorburn Associates, Summer 1992

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