Shared wash room

[Examiner]

The purpose of the lav in the same room is to allow one to wash up prior to leaving the room. Women are not going to like washing hands or primp next to men. Women like to put there purses on something like a vanity and adjust makeup looking in a mirror. I know that not all women restrooms have a vanity.

I think the Code is quite clear on the requirement of separate sex restrooms with all the whistles and bells for each sex fixtures to be in their own room, not shared.

Once the occupant load requires separate sex restrooms then that is what is required for all fixtures. The Table lists the minimum number of fixtures for each sex.

 

[gbhammer]

The reasons for separate facilities are two fold.

1.) It is human nature to want privacy while performing the act of waste elimination and a perceived lack of privacy such as hearing the other sex in the next room may lead to the prevention waste elimination

2.) Safety of female patrons. A placard is no barrier to entry into a female restroom, however if a female were to hear a male in the room she would be immediately aware of a potential problem. If there is no separation then there is no immediate situational awareness and many women may perceive the facility as unsafe and waste elimination is prevented.

It is however all about the toilet not really about the lavatory, even though in the layout above I would think that privacy would be at a modicum, and would say it might violate the spirit of the code if not the actual intent.

 

[Papio Bldg Dept]

IPC 405.3.2 Public Lavatories. In employee and public toilet rooms, the required lavatory shall be located in the same room as the required water closet.Commentary : In employee and public toilet rooms, the required lavatory must be located in the same room as the required water closet or in an adjacent room connected by openings without doors. This provides the user with the necessary sanitary facilities to promote proper hygiene and to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. ...

So it is okay to use the handle and latch on the partition door, but not okay to have another partition/wall door between the lavatory and toilettes? The semantics boils down to differentiating between a partition and a wall such as it defines a room. If CG lowers the top of wall below the ceiling line (how much does a wall make versus partition) then the door is simply a partition door and the three areas (men's toilets, women's toilettes and lavatory area) become one room? 405.3.2 is met in letter but not intent?

 

[Papio Bldg Dept]

Once the occupant load requires separate sex restrooms then that is what is required for all fixtures. The Table lists the minimum number of fixtures for each sex.

Uni-sex fixture may count towards the minimum required number. Separate facilities are required only when the exception do not apply, and are not required to account for all fixtures. For example, if a minimum of one toilet and lavatory are required for both male an female occupants, and the exceptions are not applicable, the design could then provide for a separate single fixture male and female facilities/rooms, as well as provide a multifixture uni-sex facility/room.

Is this a "what happens at Boston Legal stays at Boston Legal" code?