ADA Restroom Sign Height / Installation – Where Do They Go?

Federal ADA Sign Installation Requirements:

ADA Restroom Signs are required to help those with visual impairments locate the correct restroom. An ADA Sign not only needs Braille and tactile text, but they also need to be mounted in a specific location to be compliant. If you’re in California, there is also a restroom door sign required with different mounting requirements! Read on…

ADA Braille Sign Height Requirements : Alpha Dog ADA Signs

ADA Bathroom Wall Sign Installation / Height Requirements:

  • Must be mounted on the latch side of the door
  • Must be 48″ minimum and 60″ maximum measured from the finished floor to the bottom line of text

Exceptions to the mounting rules are situations like double doors, or doors where no wall space is available. In these cases, signs can be mounted on the nearest adjacent wall. Signs with tactile characters should be mounted so that a clear floor space of 18” minimum by 18” minimum, centered on the tactile characters, is provided beyond the arc of the door swing. (Between the closed position and 45° open position).

updated door placement image 20190424 1 : alpha dog ada signs

California Title 24 Bathroom Door Sign Installation / Height Requirements:

Any state may modify their building codes affecting signage as long as they have been granted approval the Department of Justice. These codes are then enforced by state officials.

In California, Title 24 restroom door signs are also required in addition to normal wall restroom signs. At Alpha Dog ADA Signs we offer All GenderBoy’s, Family, Girl’s, Men’s, Unisex and Women’s bathroom wall and door signs.

Doorways leading to a men’s restroom should be identified by an equivalent triangle 1/4” thick with edges 12” long and a vertex pointing upward. The women’s restroom should be identified by a circle 1/4” thick, 12” in diameter. Gender Neutral restrooms shall be identified by a circle 1/4” thick, 12” in diameter with a 1/4 “ thick triangle superimposed on the circle and within the 12” diameter. These geometric symbols shall be centered on the door at a height of 60” and the color and the contrast needs to be distinctly different from the color and the contrast of the door.

It’s important to note that some states guidelines are ”stricter” than others. Please check with your local guidelines to be sure that all requirements are being met.

There’s an old adage that “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” That’s usually what one hears when stopped for a traffic violation. In the case of the ADA and its now-active enforcement provisions, everyone involved in the design, construction and management of facilities needs to make sure the interior signage complies with the Act, or face penalties.

One final note: An added bit of assurance is to select a signage vendor well versed in the ADA and how signage must be designed to conform to the Act.

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