One of the most common areas of law suits are in movie theaters and assembly seating. In order to avoid these, an understanding of what the ADA requires will be needed. This newsletter will give you a brief overview of the minimum requirements of seating.
Section 221 and 802 in the 2010 ADA and the ABA Standards discusses what assembly areas are required to be accessible. It states that within assembly areas shall provide wheelchair spaces, companion seats and designated aisle seats which must comply. Lawn seats are also required to comply in an assembly area by being connected to an accessible route.
In general, in order to determine how many wheelchair spaces we are required to provide, we follow the Table 221.2.1.1
This table applies to general seating in assembly spaces, as well as luxury boxes, club boxes, and suites in arenas, stadiums and grandstands. Team player seating will not follow this table, but at least one wheelchair space must be provided where team players sit.
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| Team Player Seating |
Section 221 also discusses dispersion of the accessible seating (horizontal and vertical), companion seats and designated aisle seats. The rest of the newsletter will discuss companion seats.
