BUILDING CODE ADOPTION HEARINGS

        AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT & THE UNIFORM BUILDING CODE

                                NMHBA CALL TO ACTION

-       Support adoption of the 1991 Uniform Building Code WITHOUT the
inclusion of Chapter 31, and the Appendix, concerning Site Accessibility.

- Oppose any further inclusion of Americans With Disabilities Act 
references in our building code, such as the proposed ADAAG document.

                CONTACT YOUR CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES COMMISSIONERS
                        MAKE THEM AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING:

- The Federal Government will enforce the Americans With Disabilities Act      
(ADA), along with other civil rights acts, whether or not the New Mexico   
building code includes ADA. States are not required to certify their          
building codes as equivalent to ADA. Congress did not grant funds to the 
states to enforce ADA.

- ADA is phased to gradually impact more businesses over a period of time.
This phasing is lost if Americans With Disabilities Act Architectural 
Guideline (ADAAG) requirements are brought into the building code. 
Building owners would lose rights granted by Congress.

- Congress provided certain flexibility in the ADA law which may be lost 
if ADA Standards of Construction are put into the building code. For 
example, ADA allows a business owner to be exempt from ADA requirements 
if the business is financially weak. Code officials would have 
difficulty accommodating this. 

- The New Mexico Legislature specifically declined to fund ADA related
education of our building officials and inspectors. It is essential that     
building owners and their contractors be able to predict the responses 
of code official to particular building designs. 

- Contractor licenses should not be jeopardized because of building owners 
decisions regarding construction details.

- The proposed Chapter 31 of the Uniform Building Code is inadequate for 
ADA compliance.
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