Sign Shops Must Be Aware of Gender Neutral Sign Laws
All sign shops must take certain stipulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act into account when creating signs that are legally compliant with all federal standards. Now sign shops must also abide by gender neutral ADA compliance rules if they have customers in California.
March 1 was the deadline for all companies in California to comply with California Assembly Bill 1732, which outlines the new rules for gender neutral restroom signs. Here is the most important excerpt from the bill:
…requires all single-user toilet facilities in any business establishment, place of public accommodation, or state or local government agency to be identified as all-gender toilet facilities, and designated for use by no more than one occupant at a time or for family or assisted use, beginning March 1, 2017.
There are already other several cities and states across the nation that have similar rules in place, but California’s passage of the bill marks the most significant change in legislation yet, especially given the size of the state.
Even if cities or states in which you have customers do not currently have gender neutral sign laws in place, the tide is certainly heading in that direction across the nation. This means it would be smart for sign shops to start focusing in the production of gender neutral ADA signs. Even if your shop is not creating or delivering large amounts of these signs to start with, it is almost a guarantee that demand for the signs will soon increase. Sign shops that already have a demonstrated ability to provide high-quality gender neutral ADA signs will be well positioned when this increase in demand occurs.
Here are cities and states that currently have such laws:
- The State of California
- The State of Massachusetts
- Denver, Colorado
- New York, New York
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Austin, Texas
- Washington, D.C.
- Seattle, Washington
An alternative to beginning to create these signs yourself is to work with an outsourced ADA sign provider to fulfill your gender neutral ADA sign needs. For more information, contact us today at Erie Custom Signs.
