In brief: If you need a step-free way home, check the complete route from the pavement or your actual arrival point to the door of the exact apartment. Include gates, entry controls, both lobby doors, the lift and the landing. Record where another person helped. Seeing a ramp and a lift is not enough to establish that you can use the whole route in everyday conditions.

This is a personal viewing record, not an accessibility certificate, a building-code assessment or an emergency evacuation plan. It does not assess the apartment's interior. A route without stairs may still be unsuitable for your needs; do not attempt a difficult manoeuvre just to finish a checklist.

1. Define the arrival you actually need

Choose a starting point: the pavement you approach from, a permitted drop-off point or the parking space you expect to use. Check each relevant arrival separately. Reaching a lift from the garage does not answer whether you can reach it from the street.

Before the visit, tell the building contact which route you need to see. If you use a wheelchair, walking aid or stroller, decide whether a safe visit with your usual equipment is practical. Do not assume that these different users need the same space or assistance. If a personal trial is not practical, request photographs, plans and an assessment from an accessibility specialist familiar with your requirements.

Use Dignisi's apartment-selection guide to form a shortlist, then keep a separate entrance-route record for each exact unit.

2. Follow every link to the apartment door

The U.S. Access Board's route guide identifies surfaces, doorways, ramps and lifts among the components of an accessible route.[1] Here that is a prompt to inspect connections, not a claim that US rules apply to an Armenian apartment. No US dimensions or compliance thresholds are adopted in this checklist.

  1. Arrival to entrance. Identify the actual path, not just the building's map marker. Note steps, kerbs, slopes, surface changes, narrow points and gates. Record where the route is interrupted or not safely viewable.
  2. Entrance and lobby. Follow the route through every door, including a second door in a vestibule. Note thresholds, mats, turns and objects in the passage. Do not stop the check as soon as you enter the building.
  3. Route to the lift. Look for any level change between the lobby and the lift. Record which lift serves the apartment's floor and whether the route to it is currently open.
  4. Lift and landing. Where safe and permitted, check ordinary entry, travel to the required floor and exit. Observe the doorway, cabin, controls and space to approach and turn. A lift serving another section or stopping at a different level does not establish access to your apartment.
  5. Landing to apartment. Continue to the exact door, noting intervening doors, turns and thresholds. Stop at the apartment entrance: usable rooms and bathroom arrangements need a separate assessment.

Take measurements only where safe and permitted. Label the location, units and finished or unfinished state; a width alone is not a suitability verdict. Ask a qualified accessibility professional to assess uncertain slopes, manoeuvring space or proposed changes rather than trying to calculate compliance yourself.

3. Check how the doors and controls are used

The Access Board's door guide treats space for approaching, opening and passing through a door separately from the opening itself.[2] For your viewing, observe whether you can reach the entry control, operate it and move through the door in your normal manner. Record the actual result rather than rating a door by appearance.

Ask to see the ordinary resident entry method, with permission. Was a staff member holding the door, entering a code or operating a lift for you? Would that help be needed every time? Keep “used independently”, “used with agreed help” and “not tried” distinct. Store access codes and personal information privately, not in a shared comparison sheet.

Check the return direction too: leaving the apartment floor, using the lift and passing out through the entrance. If a door is too heavy or a control cannot be reached, stop and record the barrier. Do not wedge doors open, defeat a closer, alter equipment or ask someone to carry a person or occupied wheelchair across an obstacle.

4. Separate today's route from a promised one

For an unfinished building, request a plan of the intended finished route, including levels, doors and the lift serving your unit. Mark every unseen link as planned or not checked. A sample lobby or a route to another apartment is not evidence for your own route.

Ask when the finished route can be revisited and who will answer outstanding questions. Record promised changes separately from observations; do not mark a barrier resolved because someone says a ramp or automatic door will be added.

If the route depends on a lift, ask the building contact what arrangements exist during maintenance or an outage, whom residents contact, and whether any alternative route is genuinely usable for your needs. Keep an untested answer labelled as reported. Do not test an outage by cutting power or disabling equipment. These questions concern routine access only; emergency evacuation needs separate professional guidance.

Keep one access card per apartment

Copy these fields into your notes. Repeat the route-link entry for each door, level change and lift; with permission, attach photographs that avoid identifying other residents.

  • Unit and visit: address, building section, floor, apartment, date and route's current completion state.
  • Personal task: starting point, equipment used, intended independent use or agreed assistance; keep sensitive details private.
  • Route link: exact location, observed obstacle or usable passage, measurement and units if taken, photograph reference.
  • Evidence: observed on this visit, reported by a named role, shown on a dated plan, or not checked.
  • Entry and return: controls used, doors opened, lift and floor reached; any help and any direction not tried.
  • Dependency: key or permission needed, assistance arrangement, lift availability question and alternative still to verify.
  • Next action: specific unanswered question, responsible contact or specialist, evidence needed and proposed recheck.

Compare the unresolved links, not the equipment count

For each apartment, choose one description: the complete route was usable in the conditions observed; a specific barrier remained; or the route was not fully checked. State any assistance alongside the result. One visit is not proof of future availability or suitability for another person.

For example, a step-free side entrance opened only by the viewing host leaves a question about ordinary resident access. Ask to confirm the resident entry arrangement before treating that link as resolved. If an important link remains uncertain, keep it visible and arrange a specialist assessment or another permitted visit before relying on the route.

Sources

Primary guidance read on 8 November 2026. These US guides support the component and door-space distinctions only; the access card and viewing sequence are editorial tools, not Armenian legal requirements.