Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 24 - LABOR AND INDUSTRY › Chapter 24.301 - BUILDING CODES › Subchapter 24.301.9 - Building Accessibility Rules › Rule 24.301.903 - BUILDING ACCESSIBILITY

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
(1) Section
				1109, IBC, is amended to clarify that not every restroom installed in a
				building or structure is required to be accessible as long as the required
				facilities are accessible and reasonably available from all areas of the
				primary function areas of the building. Primary function area means an area of
				a building or facility in which a major activity for which the building or
				facility is designed is carried out.
(a)
				Subsection 1109.1, General is amended by adding the following: "When buildings
				or portions of buildings are required to be accessible, required building
				facilities shall be accessible as provided in this section. A person or entity
				may not be required to meet fully the accessibility requirements for buildings,
				in those rare circumstances where the person or entity can demonstrate that it
				is structurally impracticable, due to unique characteristics of terrain and/or
				not practicable in relation to the proposed usage of the building, as
				determined on a case-by-case basis, at the discretion of the building
				official."
(b) Subsection 1109.2,
				Toilet and Bathing Facilities is amended to read as follows: "Required toilet
				rooms and bathing facilities shall be accessible. Where a floor level is not
				required to be connected by an accessible route, the only toilet rooms or
				bathing facilities provided within the facility shall not be located on the
				inaccessible floor. At least one of each type of fixture, element, control, or
				dispenser in each accessible toilet room and bathing facility shall be
				accessible."
(i) A person or entity may not
				be required to meet fully the accessibility requirements for required toilet
				facilities, where the person or entity can demonstrate that it is structurally
				impracticable, due to unique characteristics of terrain and/or not practicable
				in relation to the proposed usage of the building, as determined on a
				case-by-case basis, at the discretion of the building official.
(c) The following examples are not
				intended to be inclusive of the provisions established in (a) and (b) above,
				but are provided to help clarify which facilities and plumbing fixtures are
				required to be accessible:
(i) In occupancies
				which include an office and a shop area, that requires one accessible restroom
				for employees, and the owner chooses to install an additional restroom, only
				one restroom is required to be accessible.
(ii) In occupancies which provide one
				accessible restroom and a shower is installed that is not a required fixture,
				the shower is not required to be accessible, even if it is located in the
				accessible restroom.
(d)
				In the new construction of establishments which serve food or beverages to be
				consumed on premises, on a case-by-case basis, the building official shall have
				the discretion to approve the installation of one unisex accessible restroom
				which includes a urinal, in lieu of one male and one female accessible
				restroom, when it can be demonstrated that due to an occupant load which will
				not exceed 20 seated persons, it would not be reasonable to require two
				separate accessible restrooms. The International Building Code shall be used to
				determine occupant load.
(e) In
				existing establishments, including those which serve food or beverages to be
				consumed on premises, on a case-by-case basis, the building official shall have
				the discretion to approve the addition of one unisex accessible restroom or to
				allow the alteration of the two existing restrooms to make one restroom single
				occupant unisex accessible and the other restroom single occupant unisex, when
				it can be demonstrated that it would be impractical to alter the existing
				facilities to include two separate accessible restrooms, one male and one
				female. In establishments which serve food or beverages to be consumed on
				premises, which provide two single occupant unisex restrooms, the unisex
				accessible restroom shall have a urinal.
(f) Business or commercial occupancies which
				are open to the public and located in portions of a private residence are
				required to be accessible even if those portions used for the business or
				commercial purposes are also used for residential purposes. The accessibility
				requirements extend to and include an accessible route from the sidewalk,
				through the doorway, through the hallway and other portions of the home, such
				as restrooms, used by clients and customers of the business or commercial
				occupancy.