California - distance to plumbing facilities

[Yikes]

I'm designing a new single story freestanding A-3 occupancy rec room building serving an adjacent 3-story apartment complex. The rec room is only for use by residents, and will not be open to the general public.
We are planning to provide one single-accommodation accessible toilet room in the rec center as a courtesy to residents and for use by (<10) employees that manage the apartments.

Q1: The owner is asking if this meets minimum plumbing code. I say "yes", because all residents using the A-3 rec room have access to the bathrooms within their own dwelling units, so we easily exceed minimum requirements for fixture counts. Am I correct?

Q2: I'm trying to find maximum travel distance in the California Plumbing Code. I don't see anything for a residential use.
I do see 422.2 which says: "Required toilet facilities for employees and customers in other than shopping malls or centers shall have a maximum travel distance not to exceed 500 feet (152 m)." Is this what I should use for travel distance? Or is it irrelevant when the A-3 use serves apartments?

Q3: CPC 422.4.1 says " In multi-story buildings, accessibility to the required toilet facilities shall not exceed one vertical story." Would this apply to residents living in the 3rd story who are using the ground floor rec room? If so, does my single accommodation toile tin the rec room solve this situation? (FWIW, there are only about 30 residents on the 3rd floor.)

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[e hilton]

What if a tenant reserves the rec room for a birthday party?

 

[Yikes]

What if a tenant reserves the rec room for a birthday party?

e hilton, you bring up a good point, because there's nothing specific in the code that says "If an A-3 occupancy solely serves an R-occupancy, base the fixture count on the R occupancy". But that's exactly the approach I'm taking, and have taken on previous projects up until now.

The tenants and their guest would be allowed to use the single accommodation restroom as a convenience, or they can use the tenant's own apartment, as each of us would do in our own home at a birthday party.
There are also 2 accessible restrooms 50' away in the nearby leasing offices.

As a practical matter, this apartment complex is for formerly homeless adults. The current demographics are 0 children, and most residents rarely have a visitor. Most of their friends are their neighbors. It is highly unlikely that a tenant would have a large birthday party.

 

[north star]

@ ~ @

I too would inquire about visitors; rare or not,
to the Rec. Facility Bldg., not necessarily a large
group ( e.g. - possible family members, ...some
friends, ...possibly dignitaries, etc. ).

FWIW, ...IMO, a maximum travel distance of 500 ft.
is a long way to go when someone has to go.

Q1): Will the Leasing Office restroom actually allow
visitors in to use their accommodations ?
Q2): If you go with a single Accessible toilet room,
will it have the capability to serve multiple users at
one time ?

@ ~ @

 

[Sifu]

Can't speak to CA, but I can share what I see in the I-codes...and what I don't.

Sounds like you are using the methods I have seen for apartment/condo complex swimming pools. This is somewhat codified by the ISPSC which has no specific requirements for a class C pool that I recall. It has been common practice to assume all residents and their guests could run back to their apartment (which could exceed 500' and one story).

For an apartment clubhouse I would not use this method, nor do I know of anywhere this approach would be somewhat codified. I would follow IPC 403 which says fixtures must be calculated based on the use of the space. If there are the required number, open at all times to the public, within 500' I would count them. But if they can be locked (as all apartments can) I would not.

 

[Yikes]

@ ~ @

I too would inquire about visitors; rare or not,
to the Rec. Facility Bldg., not necessarily a large
group ( e.g. - possible family members, ...some
friends, ...possibly dignitaries, etc. ).

FWIW, ...IMO, a maximum travel distance of 500 ft.
is a long way to go when someone has to go.

Q1): Will the Leasing Office restroom actually allow
visitors in to use their accommodations ?
Q2): If you go with a single Accessible toilet room,
will it have the capability to serve multiple users at
one time ?

@ ~ @

Actual travel distance is very short - -see image below of existing building, and scale in lower right corner.
The red square indicates the new rec room location, which will have a lobby with mailboxes, a manager's office, and also the single accommodation accessible restroom accessed from the lobby. Horizontal distance from rec room to furthest unit is about 180'.
Inside the existing building is a second leasing office that has an extra restroom. A policy could be made to open this up as a 2nd restroom for visitors if needed. If there were that many visitors, they would likely have extra staff on hand to manage it.

 

[steveray]

A3 has to "stand alone" or be accommodated within code parameters (500' or one story)....Or a modification....