Accessibility at the Department of Veteran Affairs

Information made available by VA Office of Construction and Facilities Management

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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has played a major role in formulating architectural accessibility policy in the United States.  In 1968 VA was a major advocate for the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA), Public Law 90-480, which insured that buildings financed with federal funds were so designed and constructed as to be accessible to everyone.  This law required all construction, renovation, or leasing with federal funds meet Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS).  These standards brought all Federal agencies under a common accessibility guideline for the first time.  Today, VA follows Government Services Administration (GSA) and other standard-setting agencies in replacing UFAS with the Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Standard (ABAAS) for Federal Facilities.  ABAAS was made effective May 9, 2006 for new construction and alterations, June 30, 2006 for lease-construction facilities, and February 7, 2007 for all other leased facilities.

In addition, VA uses the Barrier Free Design Standard (BFDS) as a supplement to the ABAAS to better meet the barrier free needs of the Department of Veterans Affairs in its health care facilities. An example of these differences in the BFDS is the requirement for turning spaces. The ADA and ABA require accessible turning space to be 60 inches in diameter or T-shaped space. The graphic below is representative.

Turning Space Dimensions in ADA and ABA

The BFDS supplement requires these spaces to be 5.5 feet for most areas in VA health care facilities, or 6 feet for bariatric (obesity) areas. The reason for this increase is that wheelchairs have increased in size in recent years.

Architectural Accessibility Program
The Office of Construction and Facilities Management directs the Architectural Accessibility Program for VA using the ABAAS.  This program complies with the provisions of all national standards, represents VA at various accessibility Committee/Board meetings, and provides liaison and technical staff to the Secretary of the Department concerning accessibility complaints against VA facilities.  The Secretary, or his designee, is a member of the U.S. Access Board (USAB), an agency of the Federal government that oversees compliance with accessibility standards. ABAAS replaces the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS), which was VA’s previous standard for accessibility.

Remember, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 set accessibility requirements for state and local government, as well as private sector projects, similar to the requirements set for Federal projects through the Architectural Barriers Act.  The ADA guidelines are called the ADAAG Standards.  These Standards were revised with the 2010 ADA Standards.

If you have a question about the accessibility at a facility within the VA, please contact Richard Acree at 615-752-0060.

Thank you