Understanding new accessibility provisions for public accommodations and commercial facilities in California is made easier with this newly updated bestseller. CalDAG is the only book available combing and cross-referencing 2010 California Building Code regulations with federal ADA requirements. Author Michael P. Gibbens, who has served Commission, provides a comprehensive, detailed and user-friendly resource.

Features:

• More than 350 superb illustrations.
• Valuable flowcharts breaking down compliance procedures.
• Applicable CBC and ADAAG section numbers for easy reference.
• Easy-to-follow checklist format perfect for survey, inspection, or design.

This is a valuable reference for Contractors, Architects and Inspectors in the State of California.

About the Book
The original CaIDAG was the end product of many thousands of hours of research. The purpose of this research was to determine the Federal Government's position on the accuracy of California's accessibility guidelines as they compared to those of the ADA, and to establish a relevant set of standards that reflected this position. The ultimate product was to have enough background documentation to support the application of these standards if challenged in a court of law. To accomplish this task, a countless number of contacts, both written and verbal, were initiated between appropriate federal and state offices charged with the dissemination, interpretation and enforcement of disabled accessibility guidelines. The majority of these contacts were with the heads of policy and interpretation of the various technical and legal departments. In addition, the expertise of many private attorneys was solicited for their position in various simulated situations to test probable outcomes in litigation. Although California did not adopt its first attempt at combination of the Title 24 and ADA guidelines until the latter part of 1993, and did not begin enforcement of these guidelines until April 1, 1994, the research for the material in the CalDAG began in 1990.

When the ADA was signed into law on July 26, 1990 (Public Law 101-336), the law provided for interim accessibility standards to be utilized in the event that final regulations had not been published by the established deadline for these requirements. This provision stated that the use of the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) would suffice to satisfy the requirements that facilities be readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities as mandated. It was at this point that the cross-reference between the UFAS and Title 24 was initiated. On January 22, 1991, the Department of Justice published the ANPRM (Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making) in the Federal Register. This document represented the precursor guidelines for the final guidelines that were issued for Title III of the ADA by the Department of Justice on July 26, 1991. Subsequent printings of the ADAAG (Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines) over the years have also included amendments to the 1991 publication. The information in each of these documents was broken down, cross-referenced with California's standards, and then interpretations as to which standard was more stringent were collected. The last cross-reference of the material for this book was undertaken after California adopted those state revisions that will be enforceable on August 1st of 2009.

Each year, California's accessibility standards get closer and closer to the combined state and federal provisions that have been contained exclusively in the CaIDAG and its precursors since first published in 1991. One of these years, California's access standards may be in complete conformance with ADA provisions, however until that time comes, the CaIDAG will continue to be the most competent single source for compliance with both laws.

For those professionals well versed in California's accessibility standards of the past and present, some of the information contained in this book will likely be controversial. Please be assured that none of this information was in any way haphazardly obtained or set forth in print without a great deal of consideration. The majority of the interpretive standards in this book are presented as they are only after a minimum of six contacts was made with the DOJ or ATBCB over the years for each issue. In many cases, over a dozen of these contacts were made for specific issues to ensure unanimous and unwavering interpretations. It is highly recommended that you research these interpretations for yourselves to completely understand both state and federal positions on controversial issues. To begin to understand why this book was written, it is recommended that you read Chapter 1 in previous editions of the CaIDAG, titled "Discrepancies between State and Federal Guidelines." This chapter should provide enough background on the relevancy of this book, and will hopefully implore the reader to develop a critical standard of care in the design and construction of accessible improvements.