The Keep-the-House-Usable-During-Construction SOP

Purpose

On an accessibility job the customer usually lives in the house throughout, and they are, by definition, the person least able to step over a cord, climb around a pile of tile, or manage a day without a toilet. A crew used to working in empty houses leaves the floor protection curling at the edges, runs the extension cord across the hall, takes out the only bathroom on Monday before the substitute arrives, and goes home on Friday with the smoke alarm still bagged against dust. Any one of those can put the person you are building for on the floor.

This procedure guarantees that, every day of the job, the person who lives there has a usable path through the house, a working toilet, a way to wash, an exit, and a clear account of what is happening today. It turns those from good intentions into checks with a named owner and a stop rule.

Scope

Covers every working day of an accessibility job in an occupied home, from the first day of demolition or protection to handover.

Not covered here:

• The order of the phases, which decides which functions are out in which week. See related: How to Sequence a Whole-Home Modification.
• Dust and debris rules that exist for the material itself, such as lead-safe work practices on painted surfaces in pre-1978 housing under 40 CFR Part 745, or silica controls under 29 CFR 1926.1153 for cutting tile and concrete. Those are triggered by the work and run alongside this SOP; this one is about the occupant's daily use of the house.
• The handover at the end. See related: The Modification Handover and Training SOP.

Roles and responsibilities

The procedure

1. Agree the usable set in writing before day one. For each of the five functions (way in and out, toilet, washing, sleeping, food), name the copy the occupant will use for each day of the job, or the substitute that replaces it. Acceptance: a one-page plan signed or initialed by the occupant listing, for every day of the job, which entry, toilet, washing place and bed they use. Wrong looks like "they'll use the other bathroom" when the other bathroom is upstairs and they do not climb stairs. Stop rule: any day with a function that has no named copy or substitute means the schedule is wrong; demolition does not start until it is fixed. Hazard: none physical at this step, it is a planning conversation.

2. Install the substitute and have the occupant use it before taking the original out. A bedside commode from a medical equipment supplier, a portable toilet with rails, a washing station with a seat and a hand-held sprayer, a temporary modular ramp, a bed moved downstairs. Acceptance: the substitute is in place and the occupant has used it once, with their own aid, before demolition of the original begins. Wrong looks like the toilet pulled at 8 a.m. with the commode "arriving this afternoon." Stop rule: substitute not in place, or the occupant cannot use it, means the original stays in service and the crew works on something that does not take it out. Hazard: a new substitute is an unfamiliar transfer; the occupant's helper spots the first use, and the crew does not lift or steady the occupant.

3. Protect and mark one path at least 36 in wide, with nothing loose on it. The path runs from the occupant's bed to their toilet, their washing place, the kitchen and the exit they use. Floor protection is taped on every edge, flat, with no lip a cane tip or walker wheel can catch; cords are routed along walls or overhead, never across the path; work material is staged off it. Acceptance: a 36 in clear width along the whole path, measured at the narrowest point, and no edge of protection that lifts when you run a shoe along it. Wrong looks like hardboard sheets butted but untaped, a cord across a doorway, a stack of tile boxes narrowing a hall. Stop rule: anything that narrows the path below 36 in moves before the occupant next walks it. Hazard: 36 in is a walker width plus hands; the 2010 ADA Standards use the same figure for an accessible route (403.5.1), which is a reference, not a requirement, in a private home.

4. Light the path for night use. Work often means a disconnected fixture or a moved lamp. Provide plug-in lighting along the path, especially between bed and toilet. Acceptance: with the house lights off, the path from bed to toilet is visibly lit end to end. Wrong looks like the bathroom fixture removed and a dark hall at 2 a.m. Stop rule: no night lighting means the crew does not leave until it is in. Hazard: plug-in lights and cords go on circuits that remain live and off the path; nothing plugs into a receptacle in the work area, which may be de-energized or open.

5. Isolate the work area from the living area. Dust barrier with a zipper or flap door, floor protection inside it, the barrier closed whenever no one is passing through. Acceptance: the barrier sealed at floor, walls and ceiling, closed at the end of every task, and no visible dust on the path side at the end of the day. Wrong looks like the barrier tied open for convenience. Stop rule: dust on the path side means the barrier is repaired before more dusty work starts; where the work disturbs pre-1978 paint or cuts silica-bearing material, those rules' own controls govern and override this step. Hazard: dust is an inhalation route for an occupant who may already have breathing problems; smoke alarms near the work may be covered against false alarms, and step 8 is where they come back.

6. Announce every water, power or gas interruption before it happens, and check each restoration. Tell the occupant when, how long, and what will not work (no toilet flush, no hot water, no lift, no medical device on that circuit). Acceptance: the occupant told at least one hour before any shutoff, and after restoration, the specific things checked: the toilet refills and flushes, hot water reaches the occupant's tap, every circuit turned off is back on and its GFCI protection reset and tested. Wrong looks like the water shut off while the occupant is on the toilet. Stop rule: any medical device that depends on a circuit (oxygen concentrator, powered bed, lift chair) is identified on day one, and that circuit is not turned off without the device on an alternate supply and the occupant's agreement. Hazard: restoring water to a new joint means standing clear of it, not with your face at it, while the line comes up to pressure; restoring power means the work area is clear of hands and tools before the breaker closes, standing to the side of the panel.

7. Clean up the path at the end of every work block, not only at the end of the day. Before lunch and before leaving: fasteners, offcuts, tools and packaging off the path, the shop-vac run along any protection the crew crossed. Acceptance: no object on the path larger than a screw, and no screws, at each check. Wrong looks like "we'll clean up Friday." Stop rule: a fastener or offcut found on the path at the end-of-day walk means the walk is repeated after it is cleared. Hazard: a dropped screw under a walker wheel or a sock foot is the most common way a careful crew injures an occupant; check at floor level with a light.

8. Walk the usable set at the end of the day, and tell the occupant tomorrow's plan. The lead walks the path with the occupant's aid in mind, uses or checks each function in the usable set, uncovers any smoke alarm bagged for dust and presses its test button, and confirms exits open. Then the lead tells the occupant what tomorrow brings (what is out, from when to when, and noise and arrival times), and writes it on a card on the fridge. Acceptance: every function in the plan for tonight works, every smoke alarm uncovered and sounds on test, every exit opens freely, the card is posted. Wrong looks like the crew gone with an alarm still bagged and a temporary ramp's bolts left loose. Stop rule: any function failing tonight is fixed before the lead leaves, or the occupant has an agreed alternative for the night and the office knows. Hazard: a covered smoke alarm overnight is a fire-detection failure in a house whose occupant may need extra time to get out; uncovering it is not optional.

The record this produces

A daily line on the job, written by the lead and read by the office, the next day's crew and anyone reviewing a complaint:

• Today's usable set: which entry, toilet, washing place and bed the occupant used.
• Substitutes in place and used.
• Shutoffs with times, and the restoration checks done.
• Smoke alarms uncovered and tested, exits checked.
• Tomorrow's plan as told to the occupant.
• Anything the occupant said was not working.

Worked pass: one-bathroom house, tub-to-shower conversion, day one

The house has one full bath and no other toilet. The usable set agreed in step 1: a bedside commode in the bedroom, a washing station at the kitchen sink with a seat, the front entry unchanged, the bed unchanged.

Step 1. Plan written, initialed by the occupant and her son. Pass.

Step 2. The commode was ordered for delivery the day before. At 7:30 a.m. it had not arrived; the supplier's window was now noon. Step 2 failed its acceptance: substitute not in place. Stop rule applied: the toilet stays in service. The lead told the occupant the bathroom would stay usable until the commode was in and she had tried it, and re-sequenced the morning: protection, path, lighting and the dust barrier in the hall, all work that does not take the bathroom out. The commode arrived at 11:40 a.m.; she used it once with her son beside her at 12:15 p.m. Toilet removal started at 12:30 p.m., four and a half hours later than planned.

Step 3. Path from bed to commode, bed to kitchen, bed to front door: narrowest point the hall at 38 in, protection taped on all edges. Pass, 38 in against the 36 in minimum.

Step 4. Two plug-in night lights in the hall on a live bedroom circuit. Pass with the lights off.

Step 5. Barrier at the bath door, zippered, closed. Ceiling smoke alarm in the hall covered during demolition. Pass.

Step 6. Water to the bath shut off at 12:30 p.m. after telling her at 11:30 a.m.; the kitchen sink was on a separate valve and stayed live for the washing station. At 4 p.m. the bath supply was capped and the house water restored with the crew clear of the caps; the kitchen tap ran hot. Pass.

Step 7. Fasteners and tile shards cleared at 12 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Pass.

Step 8. Lead walked the route, the hall smoke alarm uncovered and tested, front door opened, the fridge card said: "Tuesday: crew 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Bath stays closed. Loud cutting 9 to 11 a.m." Pass.

References

• 40 CFR Part 745, Subpart E, lead-safe renovation in pre-1978 target housing, triggered when work disturbs painted surfaces above the rule's minimum area.
• 29 CFR 1926.1153, respirable crystalline silica in construction, for cutting and grinding tile, concrete and cement board.
• 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, section 403 (accessible route width): a reference for a private home, not a requirement there.
• See related: How to Sequence a Whole-Home Modification; The Modification Handover and Training SOP.