Sponsor
Tammy Duckworth
Senator · D-IL
Senator · D-IL
The bill establishes a national baseline requiring visitable, accessible features in many newly assisted single‑family and small multiunit homes and gives residents enforceable remedies, trading off broader accessibility and upfront consumer protections against higher building and administrative costs, potential project delays, and legal uncertainty for builders, local governments, and some homeowners.
People with disabilities, visitors, and tenants: newly built 'covered' dwelling units must include at least one level meeting ANSI A117.1-2017 Type C (Visitable) standards, increasing baseline accessibility and reducing the need for later retrofits.
Residents of federally assisted and low‑income communities (including rural and tribal areas): linking federal assistance to the Act's requirements and HUD 108 eligibility clarity can encourage construction that meets visitability standards, improving housing accessibility in those areas.
Homebuyers, builders, and modular manufacturers: clearer statutory definitions of 'covered dwelling unit' and the Act's applicability let manufacturers and builders design to the applicable standards and understand program eligibility when federal assistance is involved.
Small builders, developers, and ultimately homebuyers and renters: meeting the new visitability and enforcement requirements will raise design, construction, and compliance costs, which developers may pass on to buyers or which could reduce housing supply and increase prices.
State and local permitting offices and taxpayers: required plan reviews, potential withholding of occupancy, and liability for approving noncompliant plans will increase administrative burdens, slow approvals, and could expose governments (and taxpayers) to lawsuits and damages.
Owners, purchasers, and tenants: court-ordered withholding of occupancy or retrofits could delay move‑ins or transactions and cause financial or personal disruption and harm.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Requires federally assisted new single‑family and small multiunit homes to include at least one level meeting ANSI A117.1‑2017 Type C (Visitable) standards and establishes plan‑review and enforcement mechanisms.
Official title: Require all newly constructed, federally assisted, single-family houses and town houses to meet minimum standards of visitability for persons with disabilities.
Introduced July 23, 2026 by Tammy Duckworth · Last progress July 23, 2026
Requires that newly constructed dwelling units that were designed or built with federal assistance include at least one level meeting ANSI A117.1-2017 Type C (Visitable) standards (or successor). Applicants and recipients of federal assistance for design or construction must submit plans for review and may be denied final approval until compliance is verified. The law creates enforcement tools including a five-year private right of action, civil penalties and equitable relief (including retrofitting), preserves stronger state/local protections, and contains preemption and severability rules. Applies to covered dwelling units first made available for occupancy one year after enactment and defines covered units, federal assistance, modular homes, and responsible persons or entities. Federal agencies (HUD, USDA, VA) must withhold certain assistance to state or local governments unless those jurisdictions carry out required plan review and enforcement functions under applicable law.