Home access checklist

Start outside. A beautiful kitchen does not help if you cannot get in the door. The ADA standards say door openings on an accessible route have a clear width of 32 inches minimum, measured with a swinging door open 90 degrees, from the face of the door to the stop.

The usual maximum running slope of an ADA ramp is 1:12. That is 1 inch of rise for every 12 inches of run. In some existing sites, the standards allow a steeper short ramp when space is tight. A board in a driveway may be steeper than either number. Measure it, and decide if you can use it. This checklist does not say the seller must rebuild it.

The clear width of an accessible walking surface is 36 inches minimum. It may narrow to 32 inches for a length of 24 inches maximum, if the narrow part is separated from other narrow parts. Ask whether a wheelchair or walker can pass a door swing in the hall.

Turning space is required in toilet and bathing rooms that the standards cover. A circle of 60 inches is one way to provide it. In a kitchen, ask whether you can get to the sink and turn around. Knee space, where the standards require it, is at least 27 inches high. Many older kitchens were not built that way. The question is whether you can use this one.

Clear floor space has to be firm, stable, and slip resistant. Carpet on an accessible route must be securely attached, with a firm pad or no pad, and a pile height of 1/2 inch maximum. Loose rugs and thick pile are worth a look even when the house is not an ADA building.

Ask where you would park and whether that spot connects to the door without a step. A visitor space on the street is a different question from a reserved space at the door. If you need the reserved space as a change to the rules, that is a Fair Housing request, not a measurement.