RIHousing Development Standards and Accessibility Resource Manual

Utile was hired by the Rhode Island Housing Finance Agency (RIHousing) to update its existing development standards and create a new accessibility resource manual that will shape the construction of affordable housing throughout the state. Utile led a broad team of consultants, including engineers, a landscape architect, a local community outreach professional, and an accessibility consultant. In collaboration with RIHousing, we designed and facilitated a stakeholder engagement program that included large group discussions, one-on-one interviews with tenants of current RIHousing-funded housing developments, and a broader online survey. In parallel with this outreach to stakeholders, Utile reviewed development standards from other New England housing finance agencies and held discussions with each to confirm what was effective and what was not in each state’s standards. The development standards were rewritten to address stakeholder feedback, incorporate recommendations from New England HFAs, eliminate internal conflicts, improve navigation, and update code references. A companion checklist was also included to help development teams ensure that various RIHousing standards and common code requirements were not overlooked.

The development standards were issued in January 2025 and were quickly followed by an Accessibility Resource Manual appendix, issued in April 2025, which included a more targeted round of stakeholder discussions involving community advocates, designers, developers, property managers, and governmental agencies. This resource manual provides guidance to navigate accessible code applicability, highlights accessibility requirements from the base development standards, offers enhanced accessibility recommendations, includes a list of state, local, and federal resources with web links, and features graphics of generic kitchen and bathroom types that outline the text-based requirements and recommendations in a more visually friendly manner.