Action/Alerts

Dear SPOSF Members,

If you have a mixed use commercial/residential building in San Francisco, or a commercial-only building, please read! The deadline for compliance with the new SF Accessible Building Entrance Program (ABE) is in May 2018.

San Francisco Ordinance No. 51-16, effective May 22, 2016, requires any existing building with a public accommodation to have all primary entries and paths of travel into the building accessible by persons with disabilities or to receive from the City a determination of equivalent facilitation, technical infeasibility, or unreasonable hardship. You will recall that Department of Building Inspection (DBI) Director Tom Hui spoke to us about this program at the May 2017 member meeting. Many SPOSFI members do not, in fact, have a public accommodation situation. 

The ABE program applies to those mixed-use buildings where commercial businesses do exist. Owners of buildings with public accommodation are the ones required to fill out, sign, and turn in the pre-screening form to the DBI by May 23, 2018. This form essentially tells the DBI that your building is already compliant with primary entry accessibility requirements.

The form is available on the DBI website: http://sfdbi.org/sites/default/files/Pre-Screening%20Form.pdf

Owners need to engage an architect, engineer or CASp-certified professional to complete and sign the Compliance Checklist if the property falls into Category I or II, per the guidelines in the D-17 Information Sheet. These guidelines are on the DBI web site, http://sfdbi.org/businessentrance.

Both documents must be submitted to the DBI by May 23, 2018. DBI is setting up workshops on ABE. One will be scheduled for later this month and others will follow in April and early May. Learn more by calling the DBI at (415) 558-6088.

Yours Truly, 
Noni Richen