Most pages about ADA ramp requirements skip the part that matters most to the person reading them: whether any of it legally applies to you. So that goes first. The ADA governs public accommodations and commercial facilities. It does not govern the ramp on the front of a private house, and no homeowner is out of compliance for the porch they already have.
That said, the numbers below are the right ones to build to whether you're required to or not. They come from what a person can actually manage in a chair, and we build every ramp we install to them.
Do ADA ramp requirements apply to my house?
No. The ADA Standards for Accessible Design apply to places of public accommodation and commercial facilities. Stores, restaurants, medical offices, government buildings, and churches that open their doors to the public all fall under them. Private single-family homes do not.
Nobody is going to inspect your front steps, and nobody can cite you over them. If you've found a page implying otherwise, it's wrong — and it's usually wrong in the direction of selling you something.
Where it does apply: if the ramp serves a business, a church, a rental property's common entrance, a polling place, or a public event, compliance is a genuine legal requirement rather than a good idea. Local building codes may add their own requirements on top. Confirm the specifics with a local code official before you build.
The useful way to think about it at home: the standard isn't a rule you're subject to. It's the specification that separates a ramp someone can use alone from one that needs a second person every trip.
The core numbers, in one table
Everything below comes from the 2010 ADA Standards, Section 405. These are the figures we build to on every install.
| Specification | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Maximum running slope | 1:12 — one inch of rise per 12 inches of run |
| Maximum cross slope | 1:48 side-to-side |
| Minimum clear width | 36 inches between handrails |
| Maximum rise per run | 30 inches, then a landing is required |
| Landing length | 60 inches minimum, at least as wide as the ramp |
| Turn landings | 60 by 60 inches minimum where direction changes |
| Handrails required | When the rise exceeds 6 inches |
| Handrail height | 34 to 38 inches above the ramp surface |
| Edge protection | Required along runs and landings |
How steep can an ADA ramp be?
1:12 is the maximum. Every inch of vertical rise needs a foot of ramp. A 24-inch rise means 24 feet of ramp, and there's no way around that except reducing the rise.
Cross slope is the one people forget. The surface can tilt no more than 1:48 side to side — about a quarter inch of drop per foot of width. That's tight, and it's why a ramp laid onto uneven ground without proper support often fails in practice even when the length is right.
We work through the length math, including a calculator and a rise-to-length chart, in our guide to wheelchair ramp slope and sizing.
How wide does an ADA ramp have to be?
36 inches of clear width, measured between the handrails rather than the outer edges of the structure. This trips people up when they're building: a 36-inch-wide frame with rails mounted inside it gives you less than 36 inches of usable width.
Thirty-six inches accommodates standard manual chairs, most power chairs, mobility scooters, and someone walking with a rollator. Wider is fine and occasionally useful — a caregiver walking alongside needs more room than a chair alone.
When do you need a landing, and how big?
A landing is required after every 30 inches of rise. It has to be at least 60 inches long and at least as wide as the ramp running into it.
Where the ramp turns, the landing has to be a full 60 by 60 inches, because a chair needs room to pivot without a wheel dropping off the edge. That's what makes switchback layouts work, and it's why a turning ramp takes more square footage than a straight one of the same length.
There's also a landing required at the top and bottom of every ramp. The top one matters more than people expect. If the door swings outward over the landing, there has to be room for someone to hold position, pull the door open, and then move — all without rolling backward down the slope.
When are handrails required?
Once a ramp run rises more than 6 inches. That's a single step, so in practice nearly every real entrance ramp needs them.
Handrails sit 34 to 38 inches above the ramp surface, run continuously along the length of the run, and need to be graspable — a shape a hand can close around, not a wide flat board. On our ramps they're on both sides as standard, on the extended configurations as well.
Handrails matter for more people than wheelchair users. Someone using a walker or recovering from surgery often leans on the rail more than they notice the slope.
Edge protection and cross slope: the two people skip
Edge protection runs along the open sides of ramp runs and landings. It stops a front caster, a walker tip, or a cane from going off the edge — which at 20 inches off the ground is a serious fall. It can be a curb, a rail, or an extended surface, but something has to be there.
Cross slope we covered above, though it's worth repeating because it's the most common defect in a ramp that was built rather than engineered. Ground settles. Wood twists. A ramp that measured fine the week it went in can develop a cross slope over a couple of winters, and usually nobody notices until someone struggles on it.
Ramps for churches, businesses and events in Owensboro
This is where the standard stops being advisory. If you run a church, a storefront, a rental property, or a public event around Owensboro, an accessible entrance is a legal obligation, and the specs above are what you'll be measured against.
A permanent ramp isn't always the right answer, though. We rent ramps to congregations covering a single season, businesses waiting on a permanent build, event organizers who need access for a weekend, and property managers dealing with one tenant's needs. The system is modular commercial-grade aluminum, so it gets configured to the entrance, installed to the standard, and taken back out when the need ends.
Because it's freestanding, nothing gets drilled into a historic church step or a leased storefront. That matters when you don't own the building or aren't allowed to alter it.
What about permits?
Permit requirements vary by city and county, and temporary ramps are often treated differently than permanent construction. We'll tell you what we know for your area, but the local building department is the authority and worth a phone call before anything goes in.
One practical note on renting: a freestanding modular ramp that bolts together and rests on its own supports is frequently classified differently than pouring concrete or framing a permanent structure onto the house. That's not a guarantee for your jurisdiction, but it's the right question to ask when you call.
Getting a ramp that meets the standard
If you'd rather not work through slope ratios, landing dimensions and rail heights yourself, that's the part we handle. Send us a photo of the entrance and we'll tell you what it takes. A free on-site assessment confirms the rise and the layout before anything gets ordered.
Every ramp we install is built to the numbers on this page: 1:12 or shallower, 36 inches of clear width, handrails on both sides, non-slip surface, edge protection, and platform landings at doorway level. They're rated to 800 pounds and made of weather-resistant, rust-proof aluminum.
Installation is usually 24 to 48 hours from the call. Renting is $100 to install, $75 a month, and $100 to remove, with no minimum period and maintenance included — the full pricing is here. We cover Owensboro, Henderson, Hartford, Hawesville and the surrounding Western Kentucky counties, and that $100 installation fee covers delivery within 50 miles of Owensboro.
Weighing a permanent build against a rental? Our comparison of wood versus aluminum ramps covers what each is like to live with over time.