The United States Department of Justice has adopted a new standard to implement the Americans with Disabilities Act that will become the federally mandated minimum construction design standard on March 15, 2012. In anticipation of the need to update Florida's accessibility code, the Florida Building Commission convened a workgroup and forwarded its consensus-based recommendations for Legislative review during the 2011 session. Those recommendations were adopted in Chapter 2011-222, Laws of Florida. The 2012 Florida Accessibility Code for Building Construction merges the federal minimum with Florida-specific, legislatively mandated enhancements. The Commission has selected an effective date of March 15, 2012, to implement the updated standard consistent with the effective date of the new Federal standards.