Hi
We are installing room signs next to doors in an older hotel. I understand that the signs have to be 60 inches from the floor to the center of the sign but because the floor is not even the signs run up and down as you look down the hall. Can the signs be adjusted for appearance or is this magic 60 inch number an exact number? Can some signs be lower than 60 inches or a bit higher? The signs are about 8 inches wide and about 3 feet apart because the rooms are back to back.
Dick Klein
Hi Charles
Thanks for the reply.
I was hoping that I could place one sign a bit lower (1/2 inch) than the 60 inch to center mark. The doors run in pairs. This would be logical because it would not place the sign out of reach.
Does anyone else have any input on this subject?
Dick Klein
I would discuss Equivalent Facilitation with the inspector. That means, if you can provide something that is at least equal in accessibility, it can be accepted. Your proof should be the new ADA/ABA Design Standards, which should be published by the DOJ at any minute. They were published by the Access Board back in 2006. I helped to write this particular standard, so I know pretty much the history behind it. The new standard allows you to place the base of the highest tactile characters no higher than 60 nches above the floor, and the base of the lowest Braille no lower than 48 inches above the floor.
We did this for several reasons. For one thing, it allowed people to put signs lower when many people use wheelchairs, like in a Veteran's Home. It allows signs to be lower in an elementary school. And, it keep people from centering 24 inch high signs with the tactile element at the top of the sign, and therefore out of reach of many people who are blind! Everyone does not read by touch, but some must get their eyes literally right up to the letters. When they are too high for shorter people, they are impossible to read.
So, if you are placing the sign a bit lower, you are actually probably providing increased accessibility for shorter people, and are well within the limits of the new standards which should become law fairly soon.
Sharon Toji
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Ug.. Sorry to say this, but I think your pretty stuck with having the signs where they are. I'm not sure if another inspector might give you some leeway, but I've been gotten by this one before. We have an area with a slight ramp upwards, Only about 5 inches over 40 feet. On it are 3 doorways. I put them all at equel heights using the center most door as the average between the ends and was told to correct them all to reflect their height from where the sign is at in relation to the floor at that location.
Here is the pertinent passage from the ADA.
"4.30.6 Mounting Location and Height. Where permanent identification is provided for rooms and spaces, signs shall be installed on the wall adjacent to the latch side of the door. Where there is no wall space to the latch side of the door, including at double leaf doors, signs shall be placed on the nearest adjacent wall. [b]Mounting height shall be 60 in (1525 mm) above the finish floor to the centerline of the sign[/b]. Mounting location for such signage shall be so that a person may approach within 3 in (76 mm) of signage without encountering protruding objects or standing within the swing of a door."