Building Commercial for the Disabled

Posted: Dec 08, 2010 |Comments: 0 |

You're a commercial real estate developer in Minnesota, and you've selected your site. You've also chosen a general contracting company to handle all the construction details, from permitting to ensuring that your building will in compliance with Minnesota real estate building codes. But there may be one factor you may not have considered: accessibility to the building by visitors with disabilities. You will want to be sure that you don't isolate an entire segment of the population because of problems accessing the new facilities.

Where to begin?

Although your licensed Minnesota construction company will help you in the process of providing people with disabilities, you need to be familiar with a few prominent modifications that most buildings need these days. The starting point is the parking area--make sure that you have adequate spaces and signage based on the total spaces you have. Not providing a place for customers with disabilities to park almost guarantees that you won't get their business. Remember that in addition to signs, the parking spaces need to be painted with highly visible blue and white paint that stands out against all other parking spaces.


Once your customers have parked, you need to be sure that there are no barriers to entering or exiting your building. An experienced Minnesota general contracting company will assist you in determining what you'll need, but in general, you want to have low thresholds that allow easy wheelchair access, doors that can be opened easily--or automatically, continuous railings on stairwells and ramps, and again, prominent signage that helps your customers easily identify paths for them to enter your building.

Inside the building

You can't know everything that you need to do inside your facility (again, this is why working with a Minnesota real estate company that has experience in these issues is key), but there are some obvious issues to address. If your building has aisles or walkways, make sure they're at least three feet wide. You can do this by walking around with a simple yardstick.

Make sure that there are no protruding objects that could impede a visually impaired visitor, or if there are, that they have protective barriers around them.

If you offer table seating, make sure that at least 5% of it is accessible to persons with disabilities.Always make sure that any facilities for disabled customers have adequate signage. This can't be stressed enough. Even if you have made the necessary modifications, you need to let your customers know where they are.In restrooms, you need to take into account the width of doors, height of sinks and soap/towel dispensers, and Braille signage.

You don't have to assume that incorporating these improvements into your construction plan will be overwhelming. By working closely with a Minnesota real estateconstruction company with extensive general contracting experience, you can ensure that you've made your facilities accessible to people with disabilities. And these measures will help you avoid isolating a significant segment of the population.

Questions and Answers

Ask
200 Characters left
Rate this Article
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 0 vote(s)
    Feedback
    Print
    Re-Publish
    Source:  http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/building-commercial-for-the-disabled-3808375.html

    Article Tags:

    minneapolis commercial construction

    ,

    minneapolis real estate

    ,

    minnesota real estate

    ,

    demolition minneapolis

    It's important for Minneapolis construction companies to stay on top of the changes, trends and happenings in both the local and national commercial real estate scene.

    By: Corwin Smithl Businessl Dec 18, 2010

    Although many factors influence the costs of commercial construction the impact of fluctuating steel prices can be one of the most significant ones.

    By: Corwin Smithl Businessl Dec 08, 2010

    Well-designed staff areas, such as break rooms and washrooms, offer a comfortable haven for office workers to relax and take a breather from their hectic schedules. An attractive breakroom is not only conducive to healthy work relationships, but it also serves as an informal meeting room for staff training seminars and presentations.

    By: Corwin Smithl Businessl Dec 04, 2010

    In USA, one of the leading brands that offer diverse and high quality products promoting proper hygiene is Difresh USA. If you are looking for the best opportunity to grow and have the opportunity for a new business Difresh USA can help you for they are looking for Exclusive Local Distributors

    By: danieltorrisl Businessl May 31, 2012

    Getting clean and refresh doesn't sacrifice the place where you are for it should be a habit. Having a healthy body will allow you to do things right and good. And no matter where you are you should practice a healthy and proper hygiene even in little things you do.

    By: danieltorrisl Businessl May 31, 2012

    Maintaining a healthy and proper hygiene badly needs products that are truly effective and could truly answer our need for this. No matter where we are and at anytime we want to get clean we basically need these products right away and only Difresh USA can supply these in a very easy way

    By: danieltorrisl Businessl May 31, 2012

    The key reason why some firms thrive while some implode during an financial recession is still a puzzle to many people business-owning business owners. Some wrongly assume that all businesses should suffer via recessionary cycles. But the truth is that some companies are usually essentially recession-proof, and it is not necessarily because they are much larger, better known, or a lot more generously capitalized.

    By: danhoh75rel Businessl May 31, 2012

    Companies like Arch Coal (ACI) and Massey Energy (MEE) watched his or her stock climbed.

    By: pennystockegghead49l Businessl May 30, 2012

    system was a department of British Government until the year 2005 which was responsible for collecting direct taxes in the country. Its core purpose is to ensure that all the people of the system are paying the dues to the government so that the whole country is running smoothly.

    By: Corwin Smithl Business> Customer Servicel May 04, 2012

    The old days of spending countless hours driving around with a real estate agent trying to find the perfect house are long gone.

    By: Corwin Smithl Finance> Real Estatel May 02, 2012

    Most of us dream of owning a fabulous piece of property in a location of our choice. For some, it could be a suburban house close to their workplace, for others, it could mean a condominium close to the city center.

    By: Corwin Smithl Finance> Real Estatel May 02, 2012

    When purchasing property in a self directed IRA, getting the right loan is key to making your IRA more profitable. If you have a self directed IRA, you can use it to purchase real estate in any form: residential, commercial, and even raw land.

    By: Corwin Smithl Finance> Loansl Apr 24, 2012

    Foreclosures spell doom for many people, but investors are often able to make the most of the situation. If you are an individual with money invested within a self-directed IRA, you could use it to buy property.

    By: Corwin Smithl Finance> Loansl Apr 23, 2012

    Discuss this Article

    Author Box
    Articles Categories
    All Categories
    Quantcast