To get grab bars installed for your parent, hire someone who will mount each bar to take a 250-pound force at any point, set horizontal bars 33 to 36 inches off the floor, and, in Massachusetts, put any job over $1,000 in a written contract carrying their registration number.
Those three numbers come from two documents: the federal accessibility standard for grab bars, and the Massachusetts law on home improvement contracts. Neither is hard to read, and together they tell you what to ask for and what to sign.
Use the federal grab bar spec as your checklist
A published federal standard for how a grab bar should be installed is the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. One thing to know first: those standards are written for "State and local government facilities, public accommodations, and commercial facilities", and the portion of a home "used exclusively as a residence is not covered". They do not govern your parent's bathroom. They are still useful, because they are a specific, public description of a correct installation that you can hand to anyone you hire and ask them to meet.
The parts that matter for a home bathroom are in section 609:
- Height. Horizontal bars go 33 inches minimum and 36 inches maximum above the finish floor, measured to the top of the gripping surface (section 609.4).
- Grip. A round bar has an outside diameter of 1 1/4 inches minimum and 2 inches maximum (section 609.2.1).
- Gap. The space between the wall and the bar is 1 1/2 inches (section 609.3).
- Strength. Nothing in the assembly can fail when a vertical or horizontal force of 250 pounds (1112 N) is applied at any point on the grab bar, fastener, mounting device, or supporting structure (section 609.8).
That last line is the one to hold an installer to. It names the fastener, the mounting device and the supporting structure, not just the bar. A sturdy bar screwed into drywall alone has not met it. So the question to ask is not "what bar do you use" but "what will each bar be anchored into, and will the whole assembly take 250 pounds."
The same standard also says where bars go. Beside a toilet, it calls for a side wall bar 42 inches long minimum, located 12 inches maximum from the rear wall (section 604.5.1), plus one on the rear wall. In a tub or shower, sections 607.4 and 608.3 set out the walls that get bars. A home bathroom does not have to match a public restroom, and your parent's own needs come first, but if an installer proposes a layout, ask how it compares to these.
What to ask before anyone drills
Five questions to ask. Ask them of anyone you are considering, and get the answers in writing.
- What will each bar be anchored into, and how do you confirm the wall will hold it?
- At what height will the horizontal bars go, measured to the top of the bar?
- What bar diameter and wall clearance are you installing?
- Are you registered as a home improvement contractor in Massachusetts, and what is the number?
- Can I see the written contract before work starts, with the total price and the payment schedule?
The first three come from the federal spec. The last two come from state law.
What Massachusetts law requires of the contract
Massachusetts regulates home improvement work through chapter 142A of the General Laws. It applies to "the reconstruction, alteration, renovation, repair, modernization, conversion, improvement, removal, or demolition" of an existing owner-occupied home with one to four units. On its plain wording, adding grab bars to that kind of home is an alteration or improvement.
The statute is written around the owner. If your parent owns the home and lives in it, your parent is the owner it protects, so it makes sense for the contract to be between your parent and the contractor, even if you are the one arranging it.
Section 2 sets the rules for the contract itself. "Every agreement to perform residential contracting services in an amount in excess of one thousand dollars shall be in writing", and it has to include, among other things:
- the contractor's registration number and the date the contract was signed;
- the date work is scheduled to begin and the date it is scheduled to be substantially complete;
- "a detailed description of the work to be done and the materials to be used";
- the total price and a time schedule of payments, with each amount in dollars;
- a notice that all contractors and subcontractors must be registered, and notice of any three-day cancellation rights that apply.
Two rules in that section are worth knowing before you pay anything. The deposit "shall not exceed the greater of one-third of the total contract price or the actual cost of any materials or equipment of a special order or custom made nature". And "No final payment shall be demanded until the contract is completed to the satisfaction of the parties". The contract must also carry, in bold type above the signature line, the words "Do not sign this contract if there are any blank spaces".
The same chapter sets up a Residential Contractor's Guaranty Fund and defines who can claim against it: "an owner and resident of a residential building, containing at least one but not more than four dwelling units" who has a contract for work on that building. That is one more reason the contract belongs in your parent's name when your parent owns the home.
A job under $1,000 does not trigger the written-contract requirement. It is still worth getting the scope, the heights and the anchoring in writing, because those are what you will check when the work is done.
Checking the work when it is done
Bring a tape measure. Measure from the floor to the top of each horizontal bar and confirm it is between 33 and 36 inches. Check the bar diameter and that the gap to the wall is 1 1/2 inches. Then pull on each bar, hard, in every direction. It should not flex, shift or click. If it moves at all, it is not done, and under section 2 the final payment is not due until the work is completed to the satisfaction of both sides.
If the next question is who pays for it, that depends on your parent's coverage: start with whether a Medicare Advantage plan includes it, and for a veteran, how the VA HISA grant works.
If you would rather not vet installers yourself, start with how we match families with a certified installer.