Do I have to have an ADA sauna in my wellness spa?

Hello! My name is Dolan and thank you so much for contacting me! I just had a few quick questions for you:, Lindsey. When you said "ADA sauna," what is it you were thinking? Are disabled people able to get in it at all, even with help?

Got it! They can get into your facility overall though, correct? Do you have anyone who could assist a wheelchair bound person to get in? This will dictate whether you're in compliance.

Ok! Did you need to tell me anything else? If not, I can start with answering your question.

Also, to your 2nd question, yes, assisting them into the SAUNA

I got you. One moment...

So legally speaking sauna rooms just need to be "accessible." What this means is that they just need to be wide enough for an individual to come in and swing out in a way that would not block someone in between any seating and the door. This means it needs to swing out into the facility. The law does require that the sauna be big enough for a wheelchair to fit inside and be able to turn around in. So for example, most people can get into the sauna by closing their chair, but it has to be big enough for them to be able to sit down in their chair inside of the sauna and turn around - https://www.access-board.gov/ada/guides/chapter-6-saunas/ So what this means for you is that the doorway doesn't have to be big enough. Just the inside. If you have someone who can provide accommodations by assisting someone who needs it, that can help!

Thanks! I think we responded at the same time. My apologies. Nevertheless, I would just check the sauna space to see if it's at least reasonably big enough to fit a chair inside the sauna itself. It only has to be one chair.

Thanks for clarifying! It's not 100% clear. The ADA says that when two or more saunas/steam rooms are clustered together, then at least one has to comply. The thing is if you just have one sauna room in this case, then it doesn't actually make a difference. So this means that the wheelchair requirement would be exempted under that ADA link from below.

Correct; in this case, under these circumstances, it fits the exception. The intent of Congress passing this law was to get those places that have multiple saunas or steam rooms to have at least one be accessible, but if it's just one, then the exemption is met. Of course, there is ALWAYS the chance someone will try to sue you. The law says: "Where two or more saunas or steam rooms are clustered at a single location, no more than 5% of the saunas and steam rooms, but no fewer than one, of each type in each cluster shall comply (§241).: What this means is IF you have TWO or more saunas or steam rooms clustered at a single location then at least one, and more than 5% of the rooms total, need to be accessible.

Correct! That exception is your defense. My recommendation is to just make sure your insurance carrier covers these kinds of issues because oftentimes your carrier will just offer to pay a settlement to make the issue go away permanently. You're going to find a very small number of people who will decide to sue, but you want to be prepared.

For sure! Were there any details I missed? Were there any concerns you still needed to be addressed?

Sure thing! I can definitely help with that. Because you are a member, you get a 10% discount on jobs. I can create a template for you. If I can clarify, do you have waivers already that you need reviewed or do you need waivers from scratch? Also, is it just for the sauna issue?

You got it! The normal fee for these would be $*** each ($****) However, because it's all in one and because of your discount, I can do all of them for just $*** as a one-time fee. Your satisfaction is guaranteed and you get as many revisions as you need until it's to your liking.

I sent over an offer to you. It should come over via email. Let me know if you're cool with it and I can get started on it right away! I can upload the documents through this site securely!

You got it!