MEDICAL OFFICES FOR PREVECARE

 

Issue:  Vertical accessibility to the second floor of a medical office building.

 

Analysis;  The applicant is requesting a waiver from providing vertical accessibility to the second floor of a two story medical office building with 2,995 square feet per floor.  The building is undergoing a $110,216 alteration to the first floor only.  All medical treatment will be done on the first floor with the second floor used for clerical offices.  Although more than five employees will be located on the second floor, the Commission may consider disproportionate cost as a basis for granting the waiver.  Estimates of $39,915 for a LULA and $83,966 for an elevator were submitted.  Federal regulations require that any building housing the offices of a health care provider must an include an elevator to levels where such offices are available.  Clarification from the Access Board defines such offices as:

.

(1) For purposes of this paragraph (d) -

(i) Professional office of a health care provider means a location where a person or entity regulated by a State to provide professional services related to the physical or mental health of an individual makes such services available to the public. The facility housing the "professional office of a health care provider" only includes floor levels housing at least one health care provider, or any floor level designed or intended for use by at least one health care provider.

 

Project Progress:

 

The project is in plan review.

 

Items to be Waived:

 

Vertical accessibility to the second floor, as required by Section 553.509, Florida Statutes.

 

553.509       Vertical accessibility.  Nothing in Sections 553.501-553.513 or the guidelines shall be construed to 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 guidelines require an elevator to be installed in such building, structure or facility, except for:

 

(1)     Elevator pits, elevator penthouses, mechanical rooms, piping or equipment catwalks and automobile lubrication and maintenance pits and platforms;

(2)     Unoccupiable spaces, such as rooms, enclosed spaces and storage spaces that are not designed for human occupancy, for public accommodations or for work areas; and

(3)     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.

 

Waiver Criteria:  There is no specific criteria for a waiver of this requirement in the code.  The Commission’s current rule, authorized I Section 553.512, Florida Statutes, provides criteria for granting waivers and allows consideration of unnecessary or extreme hardship to the applicant if the specific requirements were imposed.