Do Apartment Buildings Have to Be Handicap Accessible?

Whether apartment buildings have to be handicap accessible depends on three things: when the building was first occupied, how many units it contains, and whether it gets federal money. Buildings of four or more units built for first occupancy after March 13, 1991, had to be constructed with specific accessibility features under the Fair Housing Act. Older buildings did not. Federally assisted housing faces stricter rules on top of that. And regardless of a building’s age, any tenant with a disability has the right to request physical changes and rule changes that make the home usable.¹

Which Buildings Had to Be Built Accessible

The Fair Housing Act’s design and construction rules are not retroactive. They apply only to “covered multifamily dwellings” designed and constructed for first occupancy after March 13, 1991. A building occupied on or before that date was not required to include accessibility features when it went up.¹

The building also has to have four or more units. The law reaches a wide range of housing types: traditional apartment buildings, condominiums, dormitories, assisted living facilities, and single-room occupancy units, among others. A three-unit building, however new, falls outside the design requirements entirely.¹

Which specific apartments within a covered building must be accessible depends on the elevator. If the building has at least one elevator, every unit has to meet the FHA’s accessibility guidelines. If there is no elevator, only the ground-floor units have to comply. A three-story walkup built in 2005 only needs accessible ground-floor apartments; the same building with an elevator needs all of them accessible.¹

What Accessible Construction Actually Includes

For covered buildings, the FHA requires seven specific design features:

An accessible entrance on an accessible route from parking and public sidewalks, with no steps or barriers.
Accessible common areas, including lobbies, mailrooms, laundry rooms, and swimming pools.
Doors intended for passage that provide at least 32 inches of clear width.
Hallways inside the unit that are at least 36 inches wide.
Light switches, outlets, and thermostats placed no lower than 15 inches and no higher than 48 inches from the floor.
Reinforced bathroom walls around the toilet, tub, and shower so grab bars can be added later without a major renovation.
Kitchens and bathrooms with enough clear floor space for a wheelchair user to maneuver.

The reinforced-wall rule captures the FHA’s approach well. The law does not require grab bars in every new apartment; it requires the walls to be ready for them. Future modifications should be simple and inexpensive rather than baked into every unit.²

Parking is covered too. At least two percent of parking spaces serving covered units must be accessible and located on an accessible route. If the complex offers different parking types, such as both surface lots and covered garages, at least one accessible space of each type is required even if that exceeds the two percent minimum. Visitor parking at amenities like a pool must include at least one accessible space, and the rental office needs at least one as well.³

Older Buildings and Renovations

The FHA does not force any renovations on existing buildings. A pre-1991 building that gets new kitchens and bathrooms stays exempt from the design and construction standards.

But the exemption has limits. If the interior of an older building is stripped down to the structural bones and rebuilt, the result is treated as new construction and must comply. The same is true when a non-residential building like a warehouse or school is converted into four or more apartments: those new residential units are considered new construction. Adding a wing of four or more units to an existing building also counts as new construction for the addition itself.⁴

Federally Assisted Housing Has Stricter Rules

If your building receives federal financial assistance, meaning public housing, project-based Section 8, HOME funds, or other HUD programs, a separate law applies alongside the FHA: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 504 is more demanding.

For new construction, Section 504 requires that at least five percent of dwelling units (never fewer than one) be accessible to people with mobility impairments. An additional two percent (again, at least one unit) must be accessible for people with hearing or vision impairments.⁵ The same percentages apply when a federally assisted building undergoes substantial alterations.⁶

Cost is the other big difference. Under the regular FHA, a tenant who wants a structural modification pays for it. Under Section 504, the housing provider must pay for reasonable modifications unless doing so would create an undue financial and administrative burden or fundamentally alter the program.⁷ If you live in federally assisted housing and need grab bars or a roll-in shower, your landlord likely covers the cost.

Your Right to Modify the Space

Even in a building that had no obligation to be built accessible, every tenant with a disability has the right under the FHA to make structural changes to the home when those changes are necessary for full use of the space. These are called reasonable modifications. Typical examples include installing grab bars, widening doorways, building a ramp to the entrance, and lowering kitchen counters.⁸

A landlord must allow the modification, but in private (non-federally-assisted) housing the tenant pays for the work. The landlord cannot refuse simply because the building is old or was never subject to the design rules. The only questions are whether the change is reasonable and whether it connects to a disability.⁹

No magic words are needed. You do not have to cite the Fair Housing Act or use the phrase “reasonable modification.” You just have to communicate that you have a disability-related need for a physical change. Putting it in writing helps with documentation, but it is not required. If your disability is not obvious, the landlord may ask for verification from a healthcare provider confirming you have a disability and need the modification. The landlord cannot demand a diagnosis or medical records.⁹

A landlord can require you to restore the interior of your unit to its original condition when you move out, but only where restoration is reasonable. If the change would not affect the landlord’s or a future tenant’s use of the space, restoration cannot be required. Grab bars bolted to reinforced walls, for example, do not typically impair the next tenant’s enjoyment.⁹

Your Right to Changed Rules

Separate from physical changes, the FHA also requires landlords to make reasonable accommodations, meaning changes to rules, policies, or services when a tenant’s disability makes those changes necessary. Because accommodations do not involve construction, the landlord absorbs the cost.⁸

The most common requests involve parking and animals. A tenant who uses a wheelchair can ask for an assigned accessible spot near the entrance even in a complex that does not usually assign parking. A tenant with a disability-related need for an assistance animal can keep the animal even under a no-pets policy, and landlords cannot charge pet deposits or pet fees for assistance animals because those animals are not pets under the FHA.¹⁰ Other examples include allowing a live-in aide in a unit with occupancy limits, reserving a mailbox location for a tenant with limited mobility, or permitting early lease termination when a disability requires relocation.

State and Local Laws Can Require More

The Fair Housing Act sets a floor, not a ceiling. The statute preserves state and local laws that require greater accessibility than the federal standard.¹¹ Some states and cities apply accessibility rules to smaller buildings, require a higher percentage of fully accessible units, or mandate features the FHA does not address. Check both federal and local requirements; the stricter standard wins.

What to Do If a Landlord Refuses

If a landlord will not approve a reasonable modification or accommodation, or built a covered building without the required features, you have two options.

The first is an administrative complaint with HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. You can file online, by phone at 1-800-669-9777, or by mail. The deadline is one year from the last act of discrimination, and HUD investigates at no cost to you.¹²

The second is a private lawsuit in federal court. You have two years from the discriminatory act, and any time spent in HUD proceedings does not count against that deadline. A court can award compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees.¹² Civil penalties in HUD’s administrative process can also run into the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the landlord’s history of violations.¹³

1
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Department of Justice. Joint Statement on Accessibility (Design and Construction) Requirements for Covered Multifamily Dwellings Under the Fair Housing Act
2
U.S. Department of Justice. The Fair Housing Act
3
HUD User. Fair Housing Act Design Manual – Chapter Two: Accessible and Usable Public and Common Use Areas
4
HUD User. Fair Housing Act Design Manual
5
eCFR. 24 CFR 8.22 – New Construction, Housing Facilities
6
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Fair Housing Act
7
HUD Exchange. In Public Housing, Who Is Responsible for Paying for Physical Modifications
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing
9
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Joint Statement on Reasonable Modifications Under the Fair Housing Act
10
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Fact Sheet on HUD’s Assistance Animals Notice
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC Chapter 45 – Fair Housing
12
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 103 – Fair Housing, Complaint Processing
13
Federal Register. Adjustment of Civil Monetary Penalty Amounts for 2025