Section  404.2.10 Door and Gate Surfaces

The 2010 ADA Standards require that the push side of swinging doors have the bottom rail that is 10″ measured vertically from the finish floor or ground be “smooth”.

This door is a flush door and therefore considered to have a “smooth surface” within 10″ from the floor

Sometimes the doors are paneled by joints and may not be considered to have a “smooth surface”. If there are joints in the surface below 10″ from the finish floor, it is only allowed to be within 1/16 inch of the same plane as the other to be considered “smooth”.

This paneled door is not considered to have a smooth surface because there are joints deeper than 1/16 inches and below 10″ a.f.f. creating a paneled effect.

The locking mechanism on this door is more than 1/16 inches from the face of the bottom rail and therefore will not be considered to have a smooth surface

This door has glass panels that are located above 10 inches a.f.f. , therefore the bottom rail is considered smooth

According to the 2010 ADA , the smooth surface should extend full width of the door or gate. This may be an issue when door hardware is located within the 10 inch smooth surface.

The kick plate extends the entire width of the door and therefore considered to have a smooth surface

The door hardware at this door is located within the 10 inches and therefore it is not considered to have a smooth surface

The hinges have a chrome plate on either side of the door which makes the bottom rail not smooth since it is not extending all the way across the door

There are some exceptions:

1. Sliding doors shall not be required to comply with section 404.2.10

This door does not have a smooth surface within 10″ of the floor, but since it is a sliding door then it is allowed

2. Tempered glass doors without stiles and having a bottom rail or shoe with the top leading edge tapered at 60 degrees minimum from the horizontal shall not be required to meet the 10 inch bottom smooth surface height requirement.

This door has tempered glass and the bottom rail is tapered 60 degrees at the top, therefore the 4″ height of the bottom rail is compliant

This bottom rail is not tapered and it is less than 10″ high, therefore is it not compliant

3. Doors and gates that do not extend to within 10 inches (255 mm) of the finish floor or ground shall not be required to have smooth surface at the bottom of the gate or door

This door does not extend to 10 inches from the ground, therefore it will not require a smooth surface at the bottom