All leases of commercial property signed on and after July 1, 2013 must state whether the property being leased has undergone inspection by a Certified Access Specialist, and, if it has, whether the property has or has not been determined to meet all applicable construction-related accessibility standards. (Civil Code Section 1938) The requirement applies to sublessors as well as landlords. Note that this does NOT require accessibility inspections. It simply requires a disclosure as to whether there have been any such inspections, and if so, what the results were.

The disclosure language need not be complicated. We recommend something along the lines of the following: “The Premises have not undergone inspection by a Certified Access Specialist.” If in fact the Premises were inspected by a Certified Access Specialist, the language of the disclosure should be tailored to the specific situation.

Determining what must be disclosed if you have had an inspection, and deciding whether to have an inspection in the first place, are not necessarily straightforward questions. Beyond that, it isn’t clear what constitutes “commercial property.” If you’re faced with any of these issues, we would be pleased to help you plot the proper course.