When do Texas Accessibility Standards apply to my remodel?

Texas Accessibility Standards (TAS) are Texas's accessibility code, administered by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation under Chapter 469 of the Texas Government Code and the rules in 16 TAC Chapter 68. TAS is closely aligned with the federal 2010 ADA Standards but has a handful of Texas-specific scoping and registration provisions that govern when a project must be reviewed by a Registered Accessibility Specialist (RAS) and filed with TDLR.

The scoping rule that matters for residential remodeling is in Chapter 469 and 16 TAC §68.20. TAS applies to construction, alteration, or modification of buildings used by the public, plus public-use and common-use areas of multi-family residential. Single-family detached residences used as a single household's home are not buildings used by the public, and they are not within TAS scope — a kitchen remodel, bath remodel, or whole-home renovation on a Dallas single-family home does not require a TAS review or RAS filing. That is the dominant case.

The edge cases are where homeowners get caught. A duplex used by two unrelated households can be inside scope when alterations exceed defined thresholds. A triplex or fourplex is multi-family, and common areas (shared entries, mailbox alcoves, parking, exterior paths of travel between units) are TAS-regulated even if individual unit interiors are not. A condo conversion — taking a two- or three-unit building and creating separate ownership — can pull common areas into TAS scope if the work crosses Chapter 469's project-cost threshold ($50,000 currently) for alterations or additions. A short-term-rental property operated as a commercial lodging business may also be inside scope under the public-use test, though enforcement varies.

The practical rule: if your Dallas remodel is a single-family residence used by one household and the only people who will use the kitchen are the people who live there, TAS does not apply. If the building has more than one dwelling unit, or if any portion of the building is rented to the public, ask the architect to run a TAS scoping memo at schematic design, before plans are submitted to Dallas Development Services. The memo answers the question definitively, and if a RAS review is needed, building it into the schedule from the start avoids a permit-stage stop.