I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2353

To require all newly constructed, federally assisted, single-family houses and 

town houses to meet minimum standards of visitability for persons with 

disabilities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 5, 2003

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. LEE, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. 

FARR, and Ms. KILPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To require all newly constructed, federally assisted, singlefamily houses and town houses to meet minimum standards of visitability for persons with disabilities.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Inclusive Home Design 

5 Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 As used in this Act: 
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1 (1) ACCESSIBLE ROUTE.—The term ‘‘accessible 

2 route’’ means a continuous unobstructed path that—

3 (A) can be negotiated by a person with a 

4 disability using a wheelchair; and 

5 (B) is safe for and usable by people with 

6 other disabilities and people without disabilities. 

7 (2) COVERED DWELLING UNIT.—The term 

8 ‘‘covered dwelling unit’’ means a dwelling unit 

9 that—

10 (A) is a detached single family house, a 

11 townhouse or multi-level dwelling unit (whether 

12 detached or attached to other units or struc13 tures), or a ground-floor unit in a building of 

14 three or fewer dwelling units; 

15 (B) is designed as, or intended for occu16 pancy as, a residence; 

17 (C) was designed, constructed, or commis18 sioned, contracted or otherwise arranged for de19 sign or construction, by any person or entity 

20 who, at any time during the design or construc21 tion, received Federal financial assistance for 

22 any program or activity; and 

23 (D) is made available for first occupancy 

24 after the expiration of the one-year period be-
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1 ginning on the date of the enactment of this 

2 Act. 

3 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS.—The term 

4 ‘‘environmental controls’’ means, for a dwelling unit, 

5 any switches or devices that control or regulate 

6 lights, temperature, fans, doors, security system fea7 tures, or any other feature included in the new con8 struction of the unit. 

9 (4) FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The 

10 term ‘‘Federal financial assistance’’ means—

11 (A) any assistance that is provided or oth12 erwise made available by the Secretary of Hous13 ing and Urban Development or the Secretary of 

14 Veterans Affairs, or any program or activity or 

15 such agencies, through any grant, loan, con16 tract, or any other arrangement, after the expi17 ration of the one-year period beginning on the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, including—

19 (i) grants, subsidies, or any other 

20 funds; 

21 (ii) services of Federal personnel; 

22 (iii) real or personal property or any 

23 interest in or use of such property, includ24 ing—
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1 (I) transfers or leases of the 

2 property for less than the fair market 

3 value or for reduced consideration; 

4 and 

5 (II) proceeds from a subsequent 

6 transfer or lease of the property if the 

7 Federal share of its fair market value 

8 is not returned to the Federal Govern9 ment; 

10 (iv) any tax credit, mortgage or loan 

11 guarantee or insurance; and 

12 (v) community development funds in 

13 the form of obligations guaranteed under 

14 section 108 of the Housing and Commu15 nity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 

16 5308); or 

17 (B) any assistance that is provided or oth18 erwise made available by the Secretary of Agri19 culture under title V of the Housing Act of 

20 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.). 

21 (5) PERSON OR ENTITY.—The term ‘‘person or 

22 entity’’ includes one or more individuals, corpora23 tions (including not-for-profit corporations), partner24 ships, associations, labor organizations, legal rep25 resentatives, mutual corporations, joint-stock compa-
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1 nies, trusts, unincorporated associations, trustees, 

2 trustees in cases under title 11 of the United States 

3 Code, receivers, and fiduciaries. 

4 SEC. 3. VISITABILITY REQUIREMENT. 

5 It shall be unlawful for any person referred to in sec6 tion 2(2)(C) with respect to a covered dwelling unit to fail 

7 to ensure that such dwelling unit contains at least one 

8 level that complies with the following requirements: 

9 (1) ACCESSIBLE ENTRANCE.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

11 subparagraph (B), the level shall contain at 

12 least one entrance to the dwelling unit that—

13 (i) is accessible to, and usable by, peo14 ple with disabilities such that all rooms on 

15 the level are connected by an accessible 

16 route; 

17 (ii) does not contain any steps or any 

18 door threshold that exceeds one-half inch 

19 in height; and 

20 (iii) is located on a continuous unob21 structed path from the public street or 

22 driveway that serves the unit, which 

23 path—
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1 (I) at no point has a slope ex2 ceeding one inch in rise for every 12 

3 inches in length; 

4 (II) has a width of not less than 

5 36 inches; 

6 (III) has a cross slope not great7 er than two percent of the width; 

8 (IV) is an accessible route; and 

9 (V) may include curb ramps, 

10 parking access aisles, walks, and 

11 ramps. 

12 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The provisions of 

13 clauses (ii) and (iii) of subparagraph (A) shall 

14 not apply to a covered dwelling unit if—

15 (i) the finished grade of the site is too 

16 steep to provide a path having a slope 

17 meeting the requirements of subclause (I) 

18 of subparagraph (A)(iii) at the front, side, 

19 or back of the unit; 

20 (ii) there is no driveway serving the 

21 unit; and 

22 (iii) there is no alley or other roadway 

23 capable of providing vehicular access to the 

24 rear of the unit. 
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1 (2) ACCESSIBLE INTERIOR DOORS.—All doors 

2 that are designed to allow passage within the level 

3 shall have an unobstructed opening of at least 32 

4 inches when the door is open at a 90-degree angle. 

5 (3) ACCESSIBLE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS.—

6 All environmental controls located on the level shall 

7 be located on the wall—

8 (A) at least 15 inches, but not more than 

9 48 inches, above the floor; or 

10 (B) in the case of environmental controls 

11 located directly above a counter, sink, or appli12 ance, not more than three inches above such 

13 counter, sink, or appliance. 

14 (4) ACCESSIBLE HABITABLE SPACE AND BATH15 ROOM.—The level shall contain the following: 

16 (A) HABITABLE SPACE.—At least one in17 door room that has an area of not less than 70 

18 square feet and contains no side or dimension 

19 narrower than seven feet. 

20 (B) BATHROOM.—At least one bathroom 

21 that contains, at a minimum, the following: 

22 (i) CLEAR FLOOR SPACE.—Clear floor 

23 space of 30 by 48 inches centered on and 

24 contiguous to the sink, which is not en-
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1 croached by the swing path of the bath2 room door. 

3 (ii) ACCESSIBLE SINK AND TOILET.—

4 A sink and a toilet that each allow for a 

5 parallel or head-on approach by a person 

6 in a wheelchair. 

7 (iii) REINFORCED WALLS.—Walls that 

8 are reinforced to be capable of supporting 

9 grab bars that resist shear and bending 

10 forces of a minimum of 250 pounds, as fol11 lows: 

12 (I) All walls adjacent to the toilet 

13 shall have horizontal backing rein14 forcements, each at least 33 inches, 

15 but not more than 36 inches, above 

16 the floor, and sufficient to allow for a 

17 24-inch grab bar on the wall behind 

18 the toilet and another 42-inch grab 

19 bar. 

20 (II) If a bathtub is present in the 

21 bathroom, such reinforcements shall 

22 include (aa) two backing reinforce23 ments on the back wall of the bath24 tub, each at least 24 inches long and 

25 not more than 24 inches from the 
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1 head end wall and not more than 12 

2 inches from the foot end wall, one in 

3 a horizontal position at least 33 

4 inches, but not more than 36 inches, 

5 above the floor, and one 9 inches 

6 above the rim of the bathtub, (bb) one 

7 backing reinforcement on the foot end 

8 wall of the bathtub, at least 24 inches 

9 long and located at the front edge of 

10 the bathtub, and (cc) one backing re11 inforcement on the head end wall of 

12 the bathtub, at least 12 inches long 

13 and located at the front edge of the 

14 bathtub. 

15 (III) If a shower is present in the 

16 bathroom, such reinforcements shall 

17 include backing reinforcements on at 

18 least two walls on which the control 

19 valve is not located, each at least 33 

20 inches, but not more than 36 inches, 

21 above the floor. 

22 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

23 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL FINANCIAL AS24 SISTANCE.—Each applicant for Federal financial assist25 ance shall submit an assurance to the Federal agency re-
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1 sponsible for such assistance that all of its programs and 

2 activities will be conducted in compliance with this Act. 

3 (b) APPROVAL OF ARCHITECTURAL AND CONSTRUC4 TION PLANS.—

5 (1) SUBMISSION.—Any applicant for or recipi6 ent of Federal financial assistance who designs, con7 structs, or commissions, contracts, or otherwise ar8 ranges for design or construction of a covered dwell9 ing unit shall submit architectural and construction 

10 plans for such unit to the State or local department 

11 or agency that is responsible, under applicable State 

12 or local law, for the review and approval of construc13 tion plans for compliance with generally applicable 

14 building codes or requirements (in this subsection 

15 referred to as the ‘‘appropriate State or local agen16 cy’’). 

17 (2) DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE.—

18 (A) CONDITION OF FEDERAL HOUSING AS19 SISTANCE.—The Secretary of Housing and 

20 Urban Development may not provide any Fed21 eral financial assistance under any program ad22 ministered by such Secretary to a State or unit 

23 of general local government (or any agency 

24 thereof) unless the appropriate State or local 

25 agency thereof is, in the determination of the
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1 Secretary, taking the enforcement actions under 

2 subparagraph (B). 

3 (B) ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.—The en4 forcement actions under this subparagraph 

5 are—

6 (i) reviewing any plans for a covered 

7 dwelling unit submitted pursuant to para8 graph (1) and approving or disapproving 

9 such plans based upon compliance of the 

10 dwelling unit with the requirements of this 

11 Act; and 

12 (ii) consistent with applicable State or 

13 local laws and procedures, withholding 

14 final approval of construction or occupancy 

15 of a covered dwelling unit unless and until 

16 such compliance is determined. 

17 (c) CIVIL ACTION FOR PRIVATE PERSONS.—Any per18 son aggrieved by an act or omission that is unlawful under 

19 this Act may commence a civil action in an appropriate 

20 United States district court or State court against any 

21 person or entity responsible for any part of the design or 

22 construction of a covered dwelling unit no later than two 

23 years after the occurrence or termination of the alleged 

24 unlawful conduct under this Act. For purposes of this sec25 tion, a violation involving a covered dwelling unit that is 
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1 not designed or constructed in conformity with the re2 quirements of this Act shall not be considered to terminate 

3 until the violation is corrected. 

4 (d) ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—

5 Whenever the Attorney General has reasonable cause to 

6 believe that any person or group of persons has violated 

7 this Act, the Attorney General may commence a civil ac8 tion in any appropriate United States district court. The 

9 Attorney General may also, upon timely application, inter10 vene in any civil action brought under subsection (c) by 

11 a private person if the Attorney General certifies that the 

12 case is of general public importance. 

13 (e) RELIEF.—In any civil action brought under this 

14 section, if the court finds that a violation of this title has 

15 occurred or is about to occur, it may award to the plaintiff 

16 actual and punitive damages, and subject to subsection 

17 (g), may grant as relief, as the court finds appropriate, 

18 any permanent or temporary injunction, temporary re19 straining order, or other order (including an order enjoin20 ing the defendant from violating the Act or ordering such 

21 affirmative action as may be appropriate). 

22 (f) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In any civil action brought 

23 under this section, the court, in its discretion, may allow 

24 the prevailing party, other than the United States, a rea25 sonable attorney’s fee and costs. 
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1 (g) EFFECT ON CERTAIN SALES, ENCUMBRANCES, 

2 AND RENTALS.—Relief granted under this section shall 

3 not affect any contract, sale, encumbrance, or lease con4 summated before the granting of such relief and involving 

5 a bona fide purchaser, encumbrancer, or tenant, without 

6 actual notice of a civil action under this title. 

7 SEC. 5. EFFECT ON STATE LAWS. 

8 Nothing in this Act shall be constructed to invalidate 

9 or limit any law of a State or political subdivision of a 

10 State, or of any other jurisdiction in which this Act shall 

11 be effective, that grants, guarantees, or provides the same 

12 rights, protections, and requirements as are provided by 

13 this Act, but any law of a State, a political subdivision 

14 thereof, or other such jurisdiction that purports to require 

15 or permit any action that would violate this Act shall to 

16 that extent be invalid. 

17 SEC. 6. DISCLAIMER OF PREEMPTIVE EFFECT ON OTHER 

18 ACTS. 

19 Nothing in this Act shall limit any right, procedure, 

20 or remedy available under the Constitution or any other 

21 Act of the Congress. 

22 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY OF PROVISIONS. 

23 If any provision of this Act of the application thereof 

24 to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remain25 der of the Act and the application of the provision to other 
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1 persons not similarly situated shall not be affected there2 by.

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