Accessibility Compliance in an Office Building: What the Accessibility Consultant Checks and How to Prepare Properly

Accessibility is one of the areas where office building owners discover the gap between "we thought we were fine" and what the accessibility consultant finds on site. As a working building manager, I have seen it again and again: a building that received its building permit years ago, was renovated, and looks tidy — and a consultant's inspection on behalf of a new tenant exposes three material deficiencies nobody knew existed. Accessibility of the public spaces is a continuing obligation under the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law, 1998, and the accessibility regulations enacted under it. It surfaces over and over: when a consultant acting for a tenant arrives before a business opens, when a complaint is filed, and when proceedings begin. Whoever manages accessibility as part of ongoing operations gets through those moments quietly. Whoever doesn't — discovers deficiencies at the least convenient moment possible.

Why accessibility is not a one-off event

The most common mistake is to treat accessibility as a box that was ticked once during the licensing stage. In practice, the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law imposes on the building owner a continuing obligation to keep the public spaces accessible — the entrance, the lobby, the corridors, the elevators, the restrooms and the signage. The obligation does not expire, and it is re-examined every time a new tenant applies for a business license, on every request from a person with a disability, and in every inspection by an accessibility consultant.

In a multi-tenant office building this has an important practical consequence: as long as the public spaces are not accessible, even a tenant who invested and made their own unit accessible may get stuck in licensing — because the route to their door passes through space that is the building owner's responsibility. A deficiency in the lobby is not the building owner's problem alone; in practice it blocks everyone in the building.

The problem worsens over time: accessibility elements wear out. A handrail comes loose, a sign falls off, an accessible restroom gradually turns into a cleaning-equipment storeroom — nobody made an active decision to break the law, yet the building is out of compliance.

Accessibility is measured as a continuous chain. One weak link — a single step before the entrance, an impassable threshold, an elevator button that is too high — breaks the whole route, even if everything else is perfect.

Who inspects, and under what authority

The inspection is carried out by an accessibility consultant for buildings, infrastructure and environment ("mataus" consultant) — a professional holding a specific certification under the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (accessibility adjustments for service). They examine measurable elements against the requirements of the accessibility regulations for existing buildings and Israeli Standard (SI) 1918 and its amendments, and produce a detailed opinion with findings, deficiencies and corrective recommendations. That opinion is the central document in the building's accessibility file — an old drawing from the building permit will not suffice.

Alongside the built-environment consultant, there is also a service accessibility consultant, who examines the accessibility of the service itself (usually relevant to tenants). When a tenant applies for a business license, both may be examined — one for the shared physical space, the other for the interior of the unit and the way the service is provided.

What the accessibility consultant actually checks — the main elements

The following are the topics that come up in almost every inspection of a public space in an office building. Knowing these elements lets you run a self-check before the consultant arrives.

1. The access route and the main entrance

The inspection begins before the door: is there a continuous accessible route from the parking and the street to the entrance? Ramp gradients are checked (usually not steeper than 1:12 per the regulations), minimum passage width, a level waiting surface before the door, the door's opening force, threshold height and reachability of the handle. An impressive entrance with a single unmarked step in front of it is one of the most common deficiencies encountered in older office buildings. Sometimes the fix is simple — an appropriate aluminum ramp — and sometimes construction work is required, which is a painful surprise if discovered under pressure.

2. Elevators

In the elevator we check: car dimensions (usually a minimum of 110×140 cm per the requirements), door opening width, button-panel height (up to 120 cm as the maximum height per the regulations), Braille and raised markings, a voice-announcement system that announces the floors, and adequate lighting. In addition, the waiting surface opposite the elevator door on every floor is checked — a clear area free of obstacles. An elevator that does not meet the requirements in a multi-story building is a material deficiency: it blocks independent access to every floor above it.

A common error: owners believe that because the elevator was refurbished, it is automatically accessible. A mechanical overhaul does not guarantee compliance with accessibility requirements — the button-panel height and the announcement system have to be checked separately.

3. Accessible public restrooms

Checked here: the existence of an accessible restroom stall of standard size, turning space for a wheelchair, the height and position of the toilet, sink and tap, grab bars on the correct sides and at the right height, paper and soap fixtures within accessible reach, and a working emergency call button that can also be operated from the floor. An accessible restroom that turned into a storeroom, and a loose grab bar, are recurring findings. The typical problem: nobody decides "let's turn the accessible restroom into a storeroom" — it happens gradually, one item at a time.

4. Signage and wayfinding

Accessible signage includes: sufficient color contrast between text and background, standard font size and mounting height (usually 140–160 cm to the center of the sign), and in certain places Braille and raised lettering as well. The check verifies that a person can find their way around the building — locate the elevator, the accessible restrooms and the escape route — without depending on another person's help. Old signs that have faded, been relocated after a renovation, or not updated after an interior refresh — all require inspection.

5. Disabled parking and the route from it

Checked here: the existence of a sufficient number of accessible parking spaces (regulations define a minimum ratio to the total number of spaces), the dimensions of the space (a greater width than a standard space is required, to allow a wheelchair to be unloaded), clear marking and signage, and above all — the continuity of the route from the parking space to the accessible entrance, including curb ramps and gradients. A disabled parking space that leads to a step or to an unpaved path does not fulfill its purpose.

6. Escape and emergency routes

Accessibility also covers the ability to evacuate in an emergency. Checked here: escape-route signage, access to the escape stairwell, and in certain buildings — evacuation waiting areas for people who cannot use the stairs. This topic sometimes sits in a shared responsibility zone between the building owner and fire-safety requirements, and so it may also come up in a fire authority inspection.

Where the line runs: building owner vs. tenant responsibility

This is the question that generates the most friction in office buildings, which is exactly why it should be clarified up front and anchored in the lease. The guiding rule: the public and shared spaces — the building owner's responsibility; the interior of the leased unit — the tenant's responsibility. On the ground, the line is not always sharp.

In practice, a tenant applying for a business license must present a complete accessible route — from the street to their service desk. A deficiency in the lobby "belongs" to the building owner, but the one who gets stuck in licensing is the tenant. So a smart building owner does not wait for the tenant to complain: they keep the public spaces accessible on an ongoing basis and provide the tenant with an up-to-date consultant's opinion as part of the building's "welcome package" — which makes the building easier to lease and prevents licensing friction before it starts.

Three arenas where the building's accessibility is actually tested

1. Tenants' business licensing

When a business applies for a license under the Business Licensing Law, 1968, accessibility comes up as a condition. A tenant who cannot present a complete accessible route — including the parts that are the building owner's responsibility — is delayed. A building owner who holds an up-to-date consultant's opinion for the public spaces spares the tenant the delay, and spares themselves the anxious phone calls in the week before the business opens.

2. Requests and complaints

A person with a disability, or a party representing them, is entitled to make a request and demand that an accessibility deficiency be corrected. A request that goes unhandled may escalate into proceedings. A well-managed building documents the request, opens a corrective task and tracks it until closed — so that even if a claim is raised, the building owner has documentation showing they acted responsibly.

3. Legal proceedings

The law allows proceedings to be brought over non-accessibility. The best line of defense is not "we didn't know" — it is orderly documentation: a consultant's opinion, a corrective plan, and a log showing that deficiencies were handled. An orderly accessibility file is the difference between full exposure and the ability to show that the building is managed responsibly.

Readiness checklist before an accessibility audit

The following elements are the common failure points encountered in on-site inspections. It is worth walking through them physically in practice — not just on a drawing:

• An up-to-date accessibility consultant's opinion for the public spaces — not an old document from the permit stage.
• A continuous accessible route from the parking and the street to the elevator — including gradients, passage width and a level waiting surface before the door.
• An elevator with a working voice announcement, Braille markings, standard button height and clear waiting surfaces on every floor.
• An accessible restroom that is active and clean — not a storeroom, with stable grab bars, a working emergency button and clear turning space.
• Accessible signage in place, with proper contrast, correct mounting height, and clear wayfinding to the elevator, the restrooms and the escape route.
• Disabled parking that is marked, of standard size, with a continuous accessible route from it to the entrance.
• A consolidated accessibility file — opinions, approvals, a list of open deficiencies and a corrective log.
• A responsibility split anchored in the lease with each tenant, to prevent an argument at licensing time.

This checklist is not a substitute for a professional accessibility consultant's opinion — it is a self-check tool that shows you, before a consultant even arrives, where the likely gaps lie.

Ongoing management beats firefighting

Accessibility deteriorates quietly. Not because of deliberate negligence — but because no one is "responsible" for checking it as part of the maintenance routine. A ramp cracks, a sign falls off, a grab bar comes loose — each change small in itself, but together they turn a building that was accessible into a building that no longer meets the requirements.

This is exactly the difference between reactive management and preventive management. Under proper management, accessibility is not a project you wake up to when a letter arrives — it is part of ongoing maintenance: a periodic round that checks the accessibility elements, opening a corrective task for every deficiency, and an orderly file that consolidates the opinions and approvals. See more on this principle in a broader context in SI 1525 for building maintenance.

At Domera, accessibility management runs like any other system in the building — with periodic inspection rounds, a log of open deficiencies, and tracking through to closure. That way, when a consultant acting for a tenant arrives for an inspection, the file is already ready — with no last-minute pressure. This is the same approach with which we manage the building's compliance fabric, as described in the management company service checklist.

Want to know where your building stands against accessibility requirements? Schedule an initial review of the public spaces — get in touch.