On July 17th of this year, the Division of the State Architect’s office announced that the Office of Administrative Law has approved the regulations for the Certified Access Specialist Program otherwise known as CASp and is now filed with the Secretary of State.

Although building inspectors have historically enforced ADA compliance CASp is the first certification of its kind that is dedicated to accessibility code and ADA enforcement.

The first applications are now being accepted for the CASp examinations and the first list of Certified Access Specialists will be posted by October 31st. Individuals holding CASp certification will be required to recertify every three years.

CASp is the result of the passing of Senate Bill 262 (Kuehl) which authorizes the State Architect to establish and publicize a program for voluntary certification by the State of persons anyone meeting specific criteria as a Certified Access Specialist.  DSA expects approximately 1,400 individuals to apply for certification. For detailed information regarding the CASp program please visit http://www.dsa.dgs.ca.gov/Access/casp.htm.    

ACIA member and RCI board member James V. Vitale, AIA, LEED AP was appointed a Subject Matter Expert (SME) by the State Architect, assisted in the writing of the examination and development of the final regulations.

CASp and Pending Legislation

On February 22 of this year, Senate Bill 1608 was introduced to amend sections of the B&P, Government, Health & Safety and Civil Codes relating to disability access. The bill would require that commencing on July 1, 2009, all inspections of a place of public accommodation (AHJ) that relate to permitting, plan checks or new construction be conducted by an inspector who is a certified access specialist. This means that local building departments will be required to employ or retain at least one CASp.  It also means that the expected number of applicants mentioned previously could double, together with increased opportunities for ACIA inspector members.

On May 29 the bill was passed on the Senate floor and sent to the Assembly where it passed B & P and Judicial 10-0 both times then placed on Appropriations suspense file.

CASp and Civil Actions

In recent years numerous civil claims have been filed against public business and property owners for accessibility issues and of these, many business owners feel were unjustified  even calling the lawsuits frivolous. Many owners paid out of court settlements to make what they considered a shake down to go away. SB 1608 contains language that will change the way construction related accessibility claims are handled throughout the litigation process.

At the time of this writing, Senate Bill 1608 is scheduled to be heard before the Assembly Committee on Appropriations on August 7.