ADA-Compliant Wedge Ramps: Requirements, Slope Guidelines & Size Chart

Anybody with a building wants everyone to be able to access it. That includes folks who would fall under the rules of the Americans with Disabilities Act. But like so many government regulations, it’s not easy to understand what your obligations are. It makes sense. You’re not a regulator. You’re good at what you do. That’s why we’re here to help.

It’s actually not that hard to be ADA-compliant, particularly with regard to ramps that access your facility. In this article, we’ll discuss the following key takeaways:

• ADA-compliant ramps make facilities accessible and keep you compliant
• Slope, width, and rise are the key factors in ADA ramp compliance
• Not every elevation change or situation requires the same ramp solution
• Rubber wedge ramps are a durable, removable ramp alternative

Why should I care about ADA-compliant ramps?

Two reasons. First, you care about your team and your customers having easy access into, through, and out of your facility. You want everyone to feel welcome. Your team and your customers will appreciate that kind of thoughtfulness.

Secondly, it’s the law. If ADA regulations apply to your facility, you risk major fines and legal liability for ignoring them. The lawyers who file lawsuits on behalf of ADA-affected clients can be very aggressive. There’s no reason to risk legal action when it’s so easy to avoid.

So who do ADA ramp requirements apply to?

Depending on your field, we have good news or bad news. Or, depending how you look at it, more or less work.

Most ADA ramp slope requirements have to do with permanent structures. That means, if you’re in the construction business, you’re at least partially off the hook. The building you’re constructing will have access ramp requirements, but your active work site may not, because it’s temporary. ADA regulations recognize that the best way to ensure safety for folks with disabilities is to keep them far away from an active construction area.

On the other hand, if you’re the owner of a permanent facility, ADA regulations likely apply to you.

ADA ramp slope guidelines you need to know

As with any government regulation, ADA ramp slope rules are complex and lengthy. The most relevant requirements to be aware of are height-to-length ratio rules (that’s the slope), width requirements (so any person or needed equipment can use the ramp), and adjacent handrail regulations.

Also relevant is when you need to have a ramp at all.

The basic height-to-length rule is 1:12. That means for every 1 inch your ramp rises, it needs a length of 12 inches. The purpose, of course, is to ensure the ramp angle is safe, gentle, and navigable for any person walking or rolling through it.

For buildings constructed before 2010, there are exceptions. Thresholds no higher than 6 inches are allowed to have ramps with a height-to-length ratio of 1:10. Thresholds no higher than 3 inches are allowed to have ramps with a height-to-length ratio of 1:8. New construction must adhere to the 1:12 rule, but you have more options if using a pre-existing building.

For most ramps, the minimum width you’ll need is 36 inches. This ensures that most equipment like a wheelchair will have enough room to ascend or descend your ramp. Many facilities opt for even wider ramps for the ease of moving wider carts and anything else with wheels you may need going into or out of your building. If your facility is wheelchair accessible, it’s often more accessible for practical work applications too.

Handrails are not required for all ramps. If the total height rise of your ramp hits 6 inches, however, you’ll need handrails on both sides. Keep in mind that this might change your width requirement. You need 36 inches between the handrails to meet ADA requirements. A 3 foot ramp surface with less than 3 feet between the handrails installed on it would be a no-go.

Are there any circumstances where I don’t actually need an ADA-compliant ramp?

There are a few. Some entrances don’t need ramps. If the height is under a quarter inch, no ramp is needed. If it’s under a half inch, you can use a ramp with a height-to-length ratio of up to 1:2 and still be ADA compliant. If the natural grade of the concrete, pavement, or earth leading up to the entrance is a gentle enough grade (height-to-length ratio of 1:20) that is sufficient to avoid needing an additional ramp. Also, if there are other means of access like an elevator or lift, a ramp is not needed.

The rubber ramp option

Most ADA-compliant ramps are made of poured concrete, or occasionally metal (particularly when added on to an older structure). These have all the typical problems of those materials. Concrete chips, cracks, and crumbles, particularly in regions with extreme hot and cold and lots of rain, ice, or snow. Metal warps and rusts in that same environment.

Rubber ramps, when made properly, can withstand all the extremes of North American weather. It has the additional advantage of being removable. While you do need to anchor a rubber ramp, you can remove those anchors temporarily to lift and clean under and around the ramp. It’s much more difficult with a metal ramp and naturally impossible with poured concrete.

Rubber ramps are also much easier to replace when broken. Just remove the anchors and lift them out. The new ramp can slide right back into the footprint of the old one.

RubberForm^® ADA-compliant ramps

We manufacture 3 types of ramp at our facility in Western NY: pipe & hose ramps, curb ramps, and wedge ramps. The first two are intended primarily for vehicles and are thus not ADA compliant: pipe & hose ramps allow vehicles to safely mount and dismount over pipes, cables, and hoses on a road or construction site. Curb ramps, similarly, elevate vehicles up and over a curb for access to a construction area. A 1:12, 1:10, or 1:8 height-to-length ratio would be impractical to manufacture for those ramps.

Our wedge ramp, however, is ADA-compliant. It comes in several different heights to meet your needs, and each version has a height-to-length ratio of 1:8 or 1:10. Our rubber and plastic composite material is lightweight and strong, so it’s easy to install (and remove for cleaning!), but tough enough to endure heavy use and the harsh weather without chipping, cracking, warping, or spalling. Built-in drainage channels allow water to pass underneath and make the whole ramp a little lighter.

One unique feature of our manufacturing process is the possibilities of ramp width. Our heights and lengths are standardized so each ramp is always ADA-compliant. But the width is variable. Provided we have a way to ship it, we can extrude virtually any width of ramp for your needs. An extra-wide entrance, or extra-long set of stairs is no problem to match, provided the ramp height works. And as always, our ramps are made from 100% recycled materials sourced domestically (within 500-1000 miles) and manufactured at our facility in Western NY.

So what now?

If you’ve got a facility that falls under ADA regulations, any shortcut you can take will make your life much easier. A wedge ramp from RubberForm^® can be the simplest part of your compliance process. To find out how our new wedge ramps can fit in your facility, reach out or give us a call. We’d love to help.

7 reasons you’ll love our new wedge ramps:

• Lightweight, durable rubber/plastic composite
• Won’t chip, crack, crumble, or corrode
• ADA-compliant
• Easy to install and remove for cleaning (then install again)
• Can extrude to any width we can pack for shipping
• 100% recycled materials
• Made in America