201.1.1 Vertical Accessibility
Sections 553.501-553.513, F.S., and the ADA Standards for Accessible Design do not relieve the owner of any building, structure or facility governed by those sections from the duty to provide vertical accessibility to all levels above and below the occupiable grade level regardless of whether the Standards require an elevator to be installed in such building, structure or facility, except for:
- Elevator pits, elevator penthouses, mechanical rooms, piping or equipment catwalks and automobile lubrication and maintenance pits and platforms.
- Unoccupiable spaces, such as rooms, enclosed spaces and storage spaces that are not designed for human occupancy, for public accommodations or for work areas.
- Occupiable spaces and rooms that are not open to the public and that house no more than five persons, including, but not limited to equipment control rooms and projection booths.
- Theaters, concert halls, and stadiums, or other large assembly areas that have stadium-style seating or tiered seating if sections 221 and 802 are met.
- All play and recreation areas if the requirements of chapter 10 are met.
- All employee areas as exempted by 203.9.
- Facilities, sites and spaces exempted by section 203.
Buildings, structures and facilities must, at a minimum, comply with the requirements of the ADA Standards for Accessible Design.
Advisory 201.1 Scope. These requirements are to be applied to all areas of a facility unless exempted, or where scoping limits the number of multiple elements required to be accessible. For example, not all medical care patient rooms are required to be accessible; those that are not required to be accessible are not required to comply with these requirements. However, common use and public use spaces such as recovery rooms, examination rooms, and cafeterias are not exempt from these requirements and must be accessible.
Florida vertical accessibility requires all levels in all new buildings, structures and facilities and all altered areas of existing buildings, structures and facilities to be accessible to persons with disabilities. All new and altered areas must comply with the ADA Standards for Accessible Design including requirements for accessible routes. Where the ADA Standards do not require an accessible route to each and every level, the Florida requirement may be waived down to the requirement of the ADA Standards.