ADA tactile-sign mounting height and door location.
The federal rule measures tactile-character baselines—not the top, bottom or center of the sign panel—and the correct wall location changes with the opening condition.
Lowest tactile baseline
Minimum above the finish floor or ground.
Highest tactile baseline
Maximum above the finish floor or ground.
Clear floor space
Minimum centered on the tactile characters under the federal door-location rule.
Opening condition
Latch side is common, but double doors and unavailable wall space change placement.
The 48-to-60-inch baseline band
Section 703.4.1 places the baseline of the lowest tactile character at 48 inches minimum above the finish floor or ground and the baseline of the highest tactile character at 60 inches maximum. Measuring only to a panel edge can produce a noncompliant layout when the tactile message moves within the panel.
Door-location sequence
- At a single door, the tactile sign is generally alongside the door at the latch side.
- At double doors with one active leaf, the sign is located on the inactive leaf.
- At double doors with two active leaves, the sign is located to the right of the right-hand door.
- When the required adjacent wall space is unavailable, the nearest adjacent wall is used.
The federal exception permits placement on the push side of doors with closers and without hold-open devices. Project documents or adopted local requirements may add conditions.
Clear floor space and door swing
The sign must be positioned so an 18 × 18-inch minimum clear floor space, centered on the tactile characters, is provided beyond the arc of the door swing between the closed position and 45 degrees open. This is why “always put it 60 inches high on the latch side” is not a complete installation rule.
Primary reference: 2010 ADA Standards, Section 703.4. Verify the adopted code, opening condition and contract documents for the project.