Striping and compliance · Based in Eau Claire
ADA Parking Stall Striping
Accessible stalls, access aisles and van spaces laid out to the dimensions the federal standard actually specifies. The numbers are below, with the section they come from, so you can check your own lot before you call anyone.
The Dimensions
From the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, section 502. These are federal minimums. Wisconsin and your municipality can require more, never less.
| What | Minimum | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|
| Accessible car stall, width | 96 inches (8 ft) | 502.2 |
| Access aisle beside a car stall | 60 inches (5 ft) | 502.3.1 |
| Van stall, width | 132 inches (11 ft) | 502.2 |
| Van stall at 96 inches, aisle instead | 96 inch aisle (8 ft) | 502.2 |
| Access aisle length | Full length of the stall it serves | 502.3.2 |
| Slope, stall and aisle, all directions | 1:48 maximum | 502.4 |
| Vertical clearance on a van route | 98 inches (8 ft 2 in) | 502.5 |
| Sign height, ground to bottom of sign | 60 inches (5 ft) | 502.6 |
Two accessible stalls are allowed to share one access aisle between them. The aisle has to be marked so it reads as an aisle rather than a stall, which is what the diagonal hatching is for, and it has to connect to an accessible route to the entrance without anyone having to travel behind parked cars.
How Many You Need
From section 208.2, counted on the total spaces in the lot. At least one in every six accessible spaces, rounded up, has to be van accessible (208.2.4).
| Total spaces in the lot | Accessible spaces required |
|---|---|
| 1 to 25 | 1 |
| 26 to 50 | 2 |
| 51 to 75 | 3 |
| 76 to 100 | 4 |
| 101 to 150 | 5 |
| 151 to 200 | 6 |
| 201 to 300 | 7 |
| 301 to 400 | 8 |
| 401 to 500 | 9 |
| 501 to 1,000 | 2 percent of the total |
| 1,001 and over | 20, plus 1 for each 100 over 1,000 |
Medical and rehabilitation facilities have higher ratios of their own, and a lot serving multiple buildings is counted differently again. If your property is one of those, the count above is a floor rather than the answer.
Where Lots Usually Fall Short
The most common one is the access aisle. A stall painted at 96 inches with no aisle beside it is not an accessible stall, it is a narrow stall with a symbol in it, and it is the single most frequent thing we repaint.
The second is the van count. A lot with six accessible stalls needs at least one of them to be van accessible, and plenty of lots have six identical car stalls because nobody was counting.
The third is not a paint problem at all: slope. The standard is 1:48 in every direction across the stall and its aisle, and a lot that was built to drain aggressively can exceed that. No amount of restriping fixes it. That is a regrade, and it is worth knowing before you spend money on paint.
The last one is faded. Markings that have worn to the point where the symbol or the aisle hatching is not clearly visible do not do the job the standard requires of them, and on a lot that gets sealed every few years the layout goes back on with the sealer anyway.
Check your own lot
- Is there an aisle beside every accessible stall
- Does the aisle run the full length of the stall
- Is at least one in six a van space
- Are the signs 60 inches to the bottom
- Can you reach the door without going behind parked cars
- Is the hatching still readable
We stripe to these dimensions. We do not certify compliance or act as an ADA consultant, and a lot with a slope problem needs more than paint.
What Usually Comes With It
Layout goes back on after the surface work, so these normally run together.
For stall layout, fire lanes and general restriping, see parking lot striping.
Questions We Get
How wide does a handicap parking stall have to be?
Does the access aisle have to be striped, or can it just be empty?
How many accessible spaces does our lot need?
Our stalls are the right size but the lot slopes. Is that a problem?
Do you handle the signs as well as the paint?
Do you certify that our lot is compliant?
Send a Photo of Your Accessible Stalls
One shot showing the stalls and the aisle beside them. Most of what is wrong on a lot is visible in that frame, and the count is the other half.
(715) 450-9897