A County Just Required Universal Design. Here's What That Means for Your Practice.

When Prince George's County, Maryland passed its Universal Design ordinance in September 2023, the industry noticed. When January 1, 2026 arrived and the requirements took effect, the conversation became practical.

This is no longer a policy discussion. For architects, builders, and designers working in or watching the greater Washington metro - and for anyone paying attention to where residential construction standards are heading - it is a professional reality.

What Prince George's County Actually Did

The Prince George's County Council voted unanimously in September 2023 to require that certain elements of Universal Design be incorporated into at least half of all new single-family attached, single-family detached, two-family, and multi-family residential dwelling units constructed in the county. The requirements took effect January 1, 2026.

The vote was unanimous. That is worth noting. This was not a narrow ideological decision - it was a policy that drew consensus from a county of nearly one million people that includes some of the most active residential development corridors in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The legislation, known as CB-65-2023, and its 2025 refinements under CB-035-2025, cover five design categories: exterior and entrance (step-free entry paths, sufficient clearance at the primary entrance); interior accessible route (hallways and doorways on the accessible level that meet minimum clearance standards - typically 32 inches for doorways on the primary floor); bathroom requirements (a full bathroom on the first floor, with blocking for future grab bar installation and provisions for roll-in or accessible shower options); controls, switches, and electrical (outlets and switches placed within accessible reach ranges); and kitchen specifications (cabinet heights and clearances that accommodate a range of users).

These are not exotic requirements. Most of them represent what good aging-in-place design has always called for. The difference is that now, in one county, they are not optional.

Why This Costs Less to Build In Than to Retrofit

Every one of these features is substantially less expensive to incorporate during new construction than to add after the fact. Blocking for a grab bar in a bathroom costs a few dollars in lumber during a rough-in. Retrofitting one into an existing wall - finding the studs, assessing the substrate, patching and refinishing - is a different project at a different price.

Wider doorways on a primary floor are a framing decision. They cost virtually nothing when made at the foundation stage of a project. Adding three inches to a doorway in a completed home involves demo, structural assessment, new framing, door hardware, and finish work.

A step-free entry is a grading and threshold decision early in design. It is a significant construction project after the fact, especially in an existing home where the entry is already finished.

The Universal Design approach has always made this argument from a design ethics standpoint: build homes that work for the full range of people who will live in them over a lifetime. Prince George's County has now made the same argument from a regulatory standpoint. And for any builder, designer, or architect who has ever been asked to fix in an existing home what should have been built right the first time - the math is not complicated.

This Is a Signal, Not an Outlier

Prince George's County is one jurisdiction. It would be an overstatement to call a single county ordinance a national mandate.

But it would also be a mistake to treat it as an isolated policy experiment.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that approximately 10 percent of American homes are currently what it calls "aging-ready" - meaning they have the basic features needed to support independence as residents age. That means 90 percent do not.

At the same time, the oldest of the 73 million baby boomers turned 80 this year. The pressure on housing stock to accommodate an aging population is not a future condition. It is present and accelerating.

Local and state governments are looking at that gap and at what levers they have available.

Zoning and building codes are among the most direct. Prince George's County used one of those levers. Others are watching to see what happens.

For professionals in the design and construction trades, the relevant question is not whether this type of policy will spread. It is whether your practice is ready before it does.

What CAPS II Covers - and Why It Maps Directly to This

The NAHB Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist credential is a three-course sequence. CAPS II - Design Concepts and Methods for Livable Homes and Aging in Place - is the course that covers Universal Design principles in direct, technical, application-focused depth.

CAPS II was designed precisely to equip professionals - builders, remodelers, architects, and designers - with the knowledge base they need to evaluate and execute home design for the full lifespan of its occupants. The course covers the same categories now codified in Prince George's County's ordinance: accessible routes, bathroom design, entry design, kitchen layout, and how to assess a home's design against functional needs.

For professionals already working in the greater Washington area, CAPS II is no longer just a market differentiation credential. It is a direct map to what the county now requires.

For professionals working anywhere else: this is what it looks like when policy catches up to practice. The professionals who had already incorporated these principles were ready.

Those who come to it now - whether because of code, client demand, or professional conviction - will find that CAPS II is the shortest path to the knowledge base they need.

Course details and registration are at householdguardians.com/caps-training.

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Fritzi Gros-Daillon, MS, CAPS, SHSS, is an NAHB Master Instructor and 2019 NAHB Educator of the Year. She teaches CAPS courses nationwide and consults with families and professionals on aging-in-place home assessment and modification.