Section 210 of the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA) applies provisions of Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to specified legislative branch entities and requires all facilities of those entities to comply. The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (OCWR) Office of the General Counsel (OGC) is required to inspect all facilities of entities covered by section 210 for compliance with the ADA and its design standards. To maximize its limited resources, the OCWR has historically often limited its biennial inspections to facilities open to the general public, although it has occasionally inspected facilities not open to the general public when necessary to address specific concerns. Most notably, the OCWR completed an ADA inspection of all areas of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center (many of which are not open to the general public) prior to its formal opening. Nonetheless, regardless of the OCWR’s historical inspection practices, facilities and spaces that are not open to the general public must comply with section 210 of the CAA – and thus with the ADA’s design standards – to the same extent as facilities and spaces open to the general public, and are accordingly required to be inspected by the OGC. The OGC is issuing this guidance document to provide clarity on this matter.
Guidance on ADA Inspections
