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90_HB1228
New Act
Creates the Basic Access to Housing Act. Provides that
all private single-family spec homes designed and constructed
for first occupancy after March 13, 1998 must include certain
basic access features, including a no-step exterior entrance
with a 36-inch-wide door, interior doors allowing 32 inches
of clearance, electrical outlets at least 15 inches above the
floor, and reinforced bathroom walls. Preempts home rule
powers. Provides that the Department of Human Rights shall
oversee the administration of the Act and receive and review
complaints alleging violations of the Act.
LRB9004375DJcd
LRB9004375DJcd
1 AN ACT concerning housing.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Basic Access to Housing Act.
6 Section 5. Definition. In this Act, "spec home" means a
7 private single-family residence constructed by a builder or
8 individual for sale on the open market and not built for an
9 individual for immediate occupancy.
10 Section 10. Application of Act. This Act applies to
11 every spec home designed and constructed for first occupancy
12 after March 13, 1998. A spec home shall be deemed to be
13 designed and constructed for first occupancy after March 13,
14 1998 if it is first occupied after that date or if the last
15 building permit or renewal of a building permit for the spec
16 home is issued after September 13, 1997.
17 Section 15. Basic access required. Every spec home to
18 which this Act applies shall include the following features:
19 (1) The home shall have at least one no-step
20 exterior entrance with a 36-inch-wide entrance door to
21 allow for wheelchair access into the home.
22 (2) All interior passage doors in the home shall
23 allow at least 32 inches of clearance in width.
24 (3) No electrical outlet in the home shall be lower
25 than 15 inches from the finished floor and no light
26 switch in the home shall be more than 48 inches from the
27 finished floor. All environmental controls in the home
28 shall be in accessible locations.
29 (4) In each bathroom or other room containing a
30 toilet, bathtub, shower stall, or shower seat, the walls
-2- LRB9004375DJcd
1 adjacent to those fixtures shall be reinforced in a
2 manner that will allow the later installation of grab
3 bars around those fixtures.
4 Section 20. Waiver. A builder or individual
5 constructing a spec home to which this Act applies may
6 request a waiver of the requirement that the home have a
7 no-step exterior entrance if the cost of grading the terrain
8 to provide such an entrance is prohibitively expensive. The
9 builder or individual shall request the waiver from the
10 person or entity that is authorized to issue building permits
11 or otherwise control the construction of buildings in the
12 area in which the spec home is constructed.
13 Section 25. Home rule powers preempted. A home rule
14 unit may not regulate the construction of spec homes in a
15 manner inconsistent with the regulation by the State of the
16 construction of spec homes under this Act. This Section is a
17 limitation under subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII
18 of the Illinois Constitution on the concurrent exercise by
19 home rule units of powers and functions exercised by the
20 State.
21 Section 30. Administration of Act; complaints. The
22 Department of Human Rights shall oversee the administration
23 of this Act and shall receive and review complaints alleging
24 violations of this Act.