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LA Gender Neutral restroom - what determines if they need to be added (not just relabel existing ones as GN)

J

JMichl

Registered User
Joined
Feb 25, 2021
Messages
3
Location
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Hello,
I'm clear that Los Angeles requires single occupancy restrooms to be relabeled as gender neutral.
What I can't seem to find anywhere is when are single occupancy Gender Neutral restrooms required to be built?
Specifically, if an office building is gutting an entire floor with a construction cost well over any threshold for compliance, is there any code or ordinance in Los Angeles that compels the addition of a new single occupant Gender Neutral restroom? (please specify any such ordinance or code so I can refer the our client to it)
Thank you in advance!
 
California's Equal Restroom Access Act, which requires some establishments with single-occupancy restrooms to display signs indicating that the restroom is gender-neutral, has been in effect since March 1. A.B. 1732, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed on Sept. 29, 2016, requires these restrooms "to be identified as all-gender toilet facilities" and that the signs used to designate these restrooms comply with Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations.

The new law applies to "[a]ll single-user toilet facilities in any business establishment, place of public accommodation, or state or local government agency." A.B. 1732 defines "single-user toilet facility" as "a toilet facility with no more than one water closet and one urinal with a locking mechanism controlled by the user."

The State Law Does not say you need to add NEW "single-user toilets".

Jurisdictions may adopt more stringent requirements but i do not know of any.
 

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mark handler said:
California's Equal Restroom Access Act, which requires some establishments with single-occupancy restrooms to display signs indicating that the restroom is gender-neutral, has been in effect since March 1. A.B. 1732, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed on Sept. 29, 2016, requires these restrooms "to be identified as all-gender toilet facilities" and that the signs used to designate these restrooms comply with Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations.

The new law applies to "[a]ll single-user toilet facilities in any business establishment, place of public accommodation, or state or local government agency." A.B. 1732 defines "single-user toilet facility" as "a toilet facility with no more than one water closet and one urinal with a locking mechanism controlled by the user."

The State Law Does not say you need to add NEW "single-user toilets".

Jurisdictions may adopt more stringent requirements but i do not know of any.
Click to expand...
Thanks Mark. Is there any section of code that dictates that single occupancy restrooms be provided anywhere, or are all such restrooms added voluntarily? Are the following statements be true?
1. New construction does not need to include any single occupancy restrooms if code requirements can be met solely with multi user compartmentalized restrooms.
2. Renovations, regardless of scope or size do not need to provide single occupancy restrooms by code.
 
There is nothing in the CA Codes that require single occupancy toilet facilities.
But, based on the size of the facility, you may not want Multi-user facilities.
There are travel distance requirements and number of fixture requirements.
In a large building it may not be feasible to build multiple multi-occupancy toilet facilities.
 
mark handler said:
There is nothing in the CA Codes that require single occupancy toilet facilities.
But, based on the size of the facility, you may not want Multi-user facilities.
There are travel distance requirements and number of fixture requirements.
In a large building it may not be feasible to build multiple multi-occupancy toilet facilities.
Click to expand...
Thank you Mark!
 
Two single WC 1 LAV rooms that are gender neutral calculate as 2 WC, 1LAV male & 2 WC 1 LAV female.
 
Side comment: requiring single-accommodation restroom to be gender-neutral does not automatically eliminate other plumbing code requirements for a urinal.
For example, if the plumbing code Table 422.1 requires a urinal and you don't meet the exceptions to "separate facilities" in plumbing code section 422.2, then you could end up in a scenario with two single accommodation restrooms, one provided for each sex, but both labeled as gender neutral. In this example, the fixture count could hypothetically be:
Gender-neutral labeled Restroom #1: 1 water closet and 1 lavatory (meeting plumbing code requirements for female sex)
Gender-neutral labeled Restroom #2: 1 water closet, 1 urinal and 1 lavatory (meeting plumbing code requirements for male sex).

Since min. 50% of the single accommodation restrooms must be accessible in L.A., gender-neutral restroom #2 (with the urinal) should be the accessible restroom, since it alone has enough accessible fixtures to meet the needs of either sex or gender.

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timothy kim said:
Is there a code section that proves this interpretation?
Click to expand...
Yikes makes a good point. I think you can parse the word 'separate' and interpret according to your own belief system. Problem is; all beliefs are equal but some people's beliefs are more equal.
 
Assembly Bill 1732 is not a part of the Building or Plumbing Code
It's Requirements Effective March 1, 2017, California Law requires that all single-user toilet facilities in any business establishment, place of public accommodation, or government agency to be identified as All-Gender toilet facilities. The Bill does not negate any other provisions, nor does it require single-user toilet facilities, anywhere.
 
What with all of the genders identifiable in California, it gets complicated. What is the symbol for the "no gender" classification?
 
In pre-industrial era sanitation, most cultures did not have sex-segregated restrooms. You either went outdoors, or in a "chamberpot".
Outhouses and latrines became the method for containing sanitiation issues into one place. Segregated outhouses came about because men's bad aim beget females demanding their own outhouse. The sun symbol was for the men's outhouse, the moon symbol was for the women's outhouse. Again, men's bad aim caused the wood in the men's outhouse to deteriorate faster, and over time, it was mostly the "moon" outhouses that were left standing. That's how the "moon" became associated with outhouses in general, even though it was originally for female-dedicated outhouses.

It was the industrial era brought more women into mills and factories, which occurred the same time that indoor-plumbed sanitation was developed, resulting in fixed, centralized multi-user sanitation facilities becoming part of urban architecture.
Segregated restroom facilities developed as a response to the evolving security needs of women mingling with men in "unsupervised" multi-user urban settings.
 
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Yikes said:
In pre-industrial era sanitation, most cultures did not have sex-segregated restrooms. You either went outdoors, or in a "chamberpot".
Outhouses and latrines became the method for containing sanitiation issues into one place. Segregated outhouses came about because men's bad aim beget females demanding their own outhouse. The sun symbol was for the men's outhouse, the moon symbol was for the women's outhouse. Again, men's bad aim caused the wood in the men's outhouse to deteriorate faster, and over time, it was mostly the "moon" outhouses that were left standing. That's how the "moon" became associated with outhouses in general, even though it was originally for female-dedicated outhouses.

It was the industrial era brought more women into mills and factories, which occurred the same time that indoor-plumbed sanitation was developed, resulting in fixed, centralized multi-user sanitation facilities becoming part of urban architecture.
Segregated restroom facilities developed as a response to the evolving security needs of women mingling with men in "unsupervised" multi-user urban settings.
Click to expand...
To quote Yikes, A story without an answer.
 
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