Recreation, Assembly, and Special Occupancy Spaces
Core concepts
Special occupancy rules cover assembly areas, dining, lodging, recreational facilities, and other unique spaces. Know the dispersion requirement for wheelchair spaces and companion seats in assembly areas, lines of sight, and accessible routes to seating. For dining, know accessible tables and counters. For lodging, know the number of accessible and communication-accessible guest rooms. For recreation, know requirements for pools, play areas, and sports facilities.
Traps in questions
- Forgetting that wheelchair spaces must be dispersed across seating types and price ranges.
- Missing companion seat requirements and the ratio of wheelchair spaces to total seats.
- Overlooking that accessible guest rooms include both mobility and communication features.
- Assuming all recreation elements are exempt; many have specific technical criteria.
Worked example
A 500-seat theater is being designed. Rule of thumb: determine the required number of wheelchair spaces from the capacity table, disperse them across seating sections, provide companion seats, and ensure accessible routes and lines of sight. Then verify assistive listening and signage.
Study tip
Build a capacity-to-requirement table for assembly, dining, and lodging. Most questions reduce to a table lookup plus a dispersion check.