However, it does not constitute a legal interpretation and it is not binding on the Department. Your letter inquires as to your responsibilities as tenant and employer with respect to your field offices, and to what extent your responsibilities as a tenant are effected by the provisions of your lease with the building owners. Title III of the ADA, which this office enforces, sets forth the obligations of privately owned places of public accommodations. With respect to the existing facilities, places of public accommodation are required to remove architectural barriers to access and structural communication barriers where it is readily achievable to do so. If barrier removal is not readily achievable, you must take alternate steps to make services available to the extent such measures are themselves readily achievable.
More stringent requirements apply for alterations and new construction.
These obligations are imposed on both owners of the structures in which places of public accommodation are located, and on the operators of the places of public accommodation. The landlord and the tenant may allocate the expense of conforming to the requirements of Title III in their lease agreement, but both landlord and tenant remain obliged under the ADA to comply with its terms and remain liable for any failure to comply. These and other obligations imposed by the ADA are discussed in the enclosed Title III Technical Assistance Manual recently published by this Department. I hope this information will be useful to you. Thank you for any assistance you can give me.