My husband and I are trying to open a business. We are renting in an existing space. The building inspector said that bathroom was not ADA compliant and so we failed the inspection. I told him that was an employee only bathroom. He stated that all public buildings must have access to a public restroom and it would be required to be ADA compliant. I asked for a source and he gave me the international building law (2012). From what I can tell, that relates to new buildings. There are plenty of existing businesses that do not have public bathrooms AND they are not ADA compliant. What is my best course of action?This is a retail space and we will not be serving food.
While some businesses may not be ADA-compliant, that does not make it right.
Where you want to look to is the ADA guidelines. The ADA put out a user-friendly small business guide available at the link below.
The ADA recognizes what burden modifying an older structure may impose on a business owner:
"Therefore, the ADA requires that accessibility be improved without taking on excessive expenses that could harm the business...If you own or operate a business that serves the public you must
remove physical “barriers” that are “readily achievable,” which means easily accomplishable without
much difficulty or expense. The “readily achievable” requirement is based on the size and resources of the business. "
RCW 70.54.400 requires that a retail establishment that has an employee restroom must allow a customer with an eligible medical condition to use that employee restroom during normal business hours if certain requirements are met. There are limitations and eligibility requirements for the customer and there are limitations related to the safety and operations of the business, but in general, if your retail establishment has an employee restroom, you are going to have to provide at least some customer access under certain conditions.
