The size of the bathrooms will be determined by the maximum number of people who may be seated at one time in your restaurant. There are two schools of thought that are diametrically opposed to one another when it comes to the question of where bathrooms should be placed for maximum convenience.
- The first group believes that they should be located close to the door so that guests can change their clothes before eating, whereas
- the second group believes that they should be tucked discretely away in the back of the room away from the dining area.
Both groups believe that this would be the most convenient location. Suit yourself.
It is most likely that the location of the plumbing lines in your building is the determining factor in the positioning of the bathrooms; hence, restrooms are often situated in close proximity to the bar and/or the kitchen.
The municipal regulations stipulate the minimum number of bathrooms that are needed to be provided at all times, and this number is based on the total number of clients that are currently present in your business at any one time. The regulations stipulate the necessary number of water closets (the typical legal word for toilets in stalls), urinals for men’s rooms, and lavatories (washbasins) for hand washing in public bathrooms. Urinals are only permitted in restrooms that are designated specifically for men.
American Restroom Association
The Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) serves as the foundation for the vast majority of municipal and state regulations in western regions of the United States. On the other hand, they are considerably more likely to become reliant on the International Plumbing Code (IPC) in the eastern part of the United States. Additionally, there is something called the National Standard Plumbing Code that must be followed.
One might discover an existing list of codes that have been recognized by state governments by going to the website of the American Restroom Association (www.americanrestroom.org). It’s probable that the bare minimum area necessary for a toilet and sink in a small firm with as few as fifty seats is somewhere between thirty-five and forty square feet. This is because small companies often have fewer seats than larger companies. If you are unaware of the square footage you can do so by using our calculator square feet.
Concept of Potty Parity
According to Lawson, a facility that has the capacity to house up to seventy individuals ought to have a restroom that is somewhere between seventy-five and eighty square feet in size. In addition to this, he believes that the restrooms of the restaurant need to have a greater amount of space the more premium the institution is (the higher the total score), such as one urinal for every 15 guests.
A conversation is now going place in a variety of different jurisdictions, and one of the topics that are being addressed has a comical name that conceals a genuinely major fear that is being explored. The idea of “potty parity” is undeniably a response to the widespread complaint that is often raised by women, namely that the number of facilities that are designed for the female company is almost never sufficient, in especially at events that have a high attendance rate and are quite packed.
The idea of toilet parity has been deemed “faddish” by supporters of the IPC, which calls for fewer fixtures in certain circumstances than the UPC does. These supporters of the IPC maintain that their code is contingent on inquiry. Proponents of the IPC, which requires fewer fixtures for some situations than the UPC does, say that their code is based on the investigation. While it is true that women spend much more time in the restroom than men do, and that they expect enough spaciousness for a modicum of privacy, proponents of the IPC say that their code is based on the investigation.Â
Additional legislative criteria for the bathroom regulation include the following: In most places, businesses that offer alcoholic drinks are required to install toilets that are gender-segregated in order to comply with local ordinances. This mandate has many implications. In most cases, businesses that serve alcohol and have alcohol sales that account for more than 30 percent of total sales are prohibited from having any toilets that are shared by both sexes.
Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted in 1990, and it demands accessibility measures and space needed to accommodate people with physical restrictions. The other law is the Americans with Disabilities Act, and we shall go into more depth about it later on. People who are unable to fully participate in society due to their physical condition are protected by this legislation, which was enacted to assure this.
Best Practice
Although it is generally considered to be the best practice to have separate stalls or rooms for staff and clients using the bathrooms, this is not always possible in many situations. Our research has shown that the vast majority of eateries that offer gender-specific restrooms for their staff also provide a shared facility that is between 30 and 40 square feet in size and has one toilet, one basin, and one room for each gender. Use our calculator’s square feet to measure the actual size.