Are multistory townhouses required to comply with the Fair Housing Acts design and construction requirements? What if a multistory townhouse is located in an elevator building?
The Fair Housing Act applies only to new construction of covered multifamily dwellings. Multistory townhouses, provided that they meet the definition of “multistory” in the Guidelines, are not covered multifamily dwellings if the building does not have an elevator. There is a discussion of townhouses in the Preamble to the Fair Housing Act Regulations, 54 FR 3243-44, January 23, 1989, and in the Preamble to the Guidelines at 56 FR 9472, 9481, March 6, 1991. If an elevator building has multistory townhouses, the story of the unit that is served by the elevator must be the primary entrance level, and that level must comply with design and construction Requirements 3-7 and must include an accessible bathroom or powder room. If both a bathroom and a powder room are on the accessible level, the bathroom must comply. Further discussion of this issue is found in the Fair Housing Act Design Manual, page 4.9.
Related Questions
- Why are there so many new townhouse developments? Doesn the Fair Housing Acts design and construction requirements prohibit them?
- Are multistory townhouses required to comply with the Fair Housing Acts design and construction requirements?
- Does the Fair Housing Acts design and construction requirements require fully accessible units?
