Readiness check

Is your ADA curb ramp and accessible parking work ready to pass?

Accessible parking and curb ramps are the most-checked items on the site, because a plaintiff or an inspector reads them with a tape and a level without entering the building. The gap between passing and failing is a couple of tenths of a percent on slope, one missing van space, or a sign set too low, and the fix on a poured or opened lot is saw-cut, re-grade, and re-pour, paid for twice. This check walks the readiness items the crew should have handled before forms go in or asphalt goes down, so the failure gets caught while it is still cheap.

1. Have you confirmed the controlling standard and the local agency detail before layout?Pulled the adopted standard (2010 ADA or PROWAG) and the city or DOT detail sheet, and are building to whichever is stricterWorking from the federal minimums only, with no local detail sheet in handBuilding to habit or an old drawing, standard not confirmed for this jurisdiction

2. Did you shoot the existing grades and set drainage to run around the accessible stalls, aisles, and ramp rather than through them?Shot top of walk, gutter flow line, and street, with a grading plan that flattens the accessible stalls and ramp and routes runoff around themGrades shot, but drainage still falls through the accessible stalls at the lot's runoff slopeForming or paving to the existing surface without shooting grades first

3. Have you read the accessible and van count from the count table and checked for a stricter state override?Counted every provided space, read the 208.2 bracket, applied one van per six accessible rounded up, and checked the adopted state codeRead the table but skipped the state check or the van round-up on the fractionCounted standard stalls by eye, or pooled a multi-facility site into one count

4. Are the accessible stall and aisle widths laid out to the stripe, with the access aisle marked so no one parks in it?Car at 8 ft plus a 5 ft aisle, van at 11 ft plus 5 ft or 8 ft plus 8 ft, aisles hatched with NO PARKING where the code calls for itWidths set close, but the access aisle is narrow or left unmarkedStandard stall widths used with no dedicated, marked access aisle

5. On the curb ramp, are the forms set to the finished slope with margin, instead of set to the curb?String lines and grade stakes set to the target slopes, aiming under the running and cross-slope maximums, checked with a level on the formsFormed to the back of curb and letting the ramp take whatever slope that producesNo slope target set on the forms before concrete is ordered

6. Do you check running and cross slope with a digital level before the concrete sets, and record the as-built with the level in the photo?Level goes on running and cross slope after screed and before set, both ways, and the as-built reading is photographed before calling for inspectionSlope only gets checked at inspection time, after the concrete has curedNever put a level on it, slopes are eyeballed and no record is kept

7. Is the detectable warning ready to go in right: cast-in-place panels on site, full width, at the back of curb, with color contrast?Cast-in-place panels on site, set full width and 2 ft deep at the back of curb on the grade break, contrast confirmed against the detailSurface-applied panels on cured concrete, or placement and contrast not yet confirmedNo warning planned, or it lands partway up the ramp or short of full width

8. Are the accessible parking signs set with the symbol and any van plate so the bottom sits high enough and stays visible when the space is occupied?Sign with symbol, van plate stacked where needed, bottom at 60 in or the stricter state height, at the head of the stall clear of a parked vanSign set to the federal 60 in minimum with no state height check, or mounted where a parked vehicle can hide itSign low on a bollard, missing the van plate, or the ground symbol painted with no post sign