Paul L. Bishop
Architect/Consultant
Mr. Bishop has more than 46 years of experience in the architectural profession. His practice transcends several areas of specialization, including traditional design services, code consulting and historic preservation.
Mr. Bishop has significant experience in the area of accessibility consulting and has provided accessibility consulting services for numerous architects, engineers, developers and contractors on difficult design problems. Mr. Bishop provides access compliance document review services for the California Division of the State Architect, Access Compliance Department for K-12, community college and State University system projects and State of California owned and leased buildings. He is currently providing access compliance document review and field inspection services for numerous projects at UC San Diego and San Diego State University.
He has provided expert witness services for more than 500 accessibility-related lawsuits, for both plaintiffs and defendants and as a neutral expert for both parties. These cases have involved both Title II and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Fair Housing Act, California Building Code and the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS). Mr. Bishop is certified by the International Codes Council (ICC) as an Accessibility / Usability Specialist (#68637), demonstrating proficiency in the requirements of ANSI A117.1, the basis for ADAAG and the California Building Code (CBC). He is one of the first Certified Access Specialists (CASp) in the state of California, having demonstrated his knowledge and experience in access compliance regulations.
Mr. Bishop’s experience also includes 6 years as an instructor of Building Codes at Design Institute of San Diego, a FIDER-accredited institution. He has also delivered educational seminars regarding accessibility for architects, designers, contractors, attorneys and real estate professionals. The firm has also prepared curriculum for statewide training on provisions of the California Building Code through the Division of the State Architect.
The firm has successfully completed projects for public clients such as Los Angeles Unified School District, San Diego Housing Commission, Unified Port District of San Diego, City of San Diego, Centre City Development Corporation, the Cities of Carlsbad, El Cajon, Dana Point & Brawley, San Diego Unified School District, Los Angeles Community College District and California State Universities Northridge and Sacramento. Projects involve K-12, higher education, retail, commercial offices, hospitality, residential, recreational and qualified historic properties.
Mr. Bishop has provided accessibility consulting services to the counties of Santa Clara, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Shasta and Solano as a subconsultant to Sabot Consulting. He has also provided expert witness services to the ACLU, Prison Law Office, Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld, LLP, Disability Rights Law Center, the Office of the California State Attorney General and the Law Offices of Rebecca Weinstein-Hamilton in connection with accessibility issues at facilities operated by the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, Montana State Prison and Nebraska State Prison.