At HOTELSIGNS.com, our industry guarantees are unparalleled. One such distinction is our ADA Compliance Replacement Guarantee. What is the ADA Sign Compliance Guarantee, you ask? The gist of it is, we are so committed to having ensured our signs meet ADA standards that if any time an inspector finds that one of your signs does not meet ADA guidelines, we’ll replace it free of charge. Now, you may have some questions about inspectors. When would an inspector come? What are reasons signs might not meet ADA guidelines? What’s the likelihood my signs may be rendered non-compliant? We’ll answer all of that and more in this blog post.
Up To Code: The Role of Inspectors
So, who exactly are inspectors? Upon completion of a new building construction, you’ll need to ensure your property is fully vetted and up-to-date on all relevant state and local codes. That falls under the responsibilities of building, fire, and health inspectors. For the context of this blog post we’ll focus on building inspectors. As the industry’s subject matter experts, building inspectors evaluate new and existing buildings to ensure that the requirements of state and local codes are met. Included within an inspection is an evaluation of interior signage compliancy.
Whether it’s the state building code or a local amendment to such codes, inspectors enforce the law as it is written. The health and safety of the built environment depend greatly on things such as an inspector’s review of building plans, monitoring of construction, and, in the case of interior signage, the accessibility of egress routes and corresponding signage. Since inspectors enforce the state and/or local building codes, they will be looking for material violations of such codes and standards. In the case of signs, inspectors are ensuring whether the signs in a given building comply with the accessibility standards and egress signage rules.
Building Inspectors and the ADA
While inspectors do not directly enforce federal law as they are state or local government employees, all jurisdictions must comply with the minimum requirements set forth by the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. This is typically codified one way or another within the state’s building or accessibility code. Therefore, by enforcing state law, the inspector indirectly ensures all ADA requirements are met.
An adept building inspector, therefore, is able to point out any area within your hotel that is not up to relevant structural building codes as well as accessibility standards. Failure to ensure ADA compliancy may ultimately result in a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) complaint to ensure compliancy and correction.
HOTELSIGNS.com’s Compliance Guarantee and the Inspection Process
So naturally, the question is: “How does HOTELSIGNS.com’s compliance guarantee relate to the inspection process?” The building inspection process includes an evaluation of all involved signage. When it comes to the ADA, your inspector is checking for a few things, particularly when it comes to tactile signage: proper color contrast; raised text and Grade 2 Braille; proper sign height between 48 inches and 60 inches above the floor; and proper signage positioning. Our ADA Compliance Replacement Guarantee is dependent upon an inspection; the signs cannot formally be non-compliant unless an inspection deems them such, and then the guarantee is triggered.
Our Commitment to the ADA
But you don’t need to wait until a building inspection to make sure your hotel’s signage is ADA-compliant: HOTELSIGNS.com takes pride in our commitment to the ADA every step of the way. Our sign artisans are knowledgeable in the intricacies of the ADA as it pertains to signage. Each of our signs are quality-checked to be ADA-compliant during the production and shipping process (you can view our ADA Guidelines web page to see the rules and standards we hold to). Signs on our website even automatically include proper color contrast and Braille displayed. Last but not least, our dedicated compliance team is on top of any ADA, building, and fire code changes so you can focus on handling your hotel operations.
Of course, we hope you won’t need our ADA Compliance Replacement Guarantee, but should you do, just reach out to our Customer Service team and we’ll get the replacement process started right away.