Do I need a special bathroom?

Q. I’m planning to open a doctor’s office in my home. It’s a real problem if I have to have a handicapped-accessible bathroom because it’s going to mean moving walls and giving up a back door — not to mention the cost. Isn’t there some way to get around this? I’m a pediatrician and don’t have patients in wheelchairs, and a doctor friend got a permit similar to what I want without the bathroom. How did they do that?

A. I was surprised by your question for several reasons, but the answer is that you’re required to have a handicapped-accessible bathroom unless your jurisdiction will allow the remote exception that you make an alternative “reasonable accommodation,” meaning that you’d have to demonstrate that you make house calls to disabled patients. I discussed this with different building departments, and most agree that your request would move them to monitor your claim that you accommodate those patients — and most said it was unacceptable to request not to have a handicapped-accessible bathroom. They all insisted that it was required.