# Restroom Rqmts for Small Restaurant in Colorado



## Michael.L (May 10, 2018)

Apologies in advance for the long post. But I wanted to provide as much information as possible so we hopefully get some accurate responses.

We are planning to open a small donut & coffee shop in Boulder County, Colorado. The space we're planning to occupy has 1,091 total leasable space. The majority of our customers will be take-out, but we will provide a small number of non-fixed tables & chairs, and window-counter seating, for our customers who wish to dine-in; the estimated number of total seats will be ~14.

This space is located in a 1970's building that houses a bowling alley, and this space has two 36" doors: one that opens directly into the parking lot, and one that opens into the bowling alley lobby. The space has been vacant for over a decade (landlord has been using it for storage) but it was previously occupied by a frozen yogurt shop. It has only one small restroom (8'-8" x 2'-11") located in the back corner of the space, and it's clear from the partition walls that it was a staff-only restroom. Since the frozen yogurt shop shared common hours with the bowling alley, their customers were able to use the bowling alley restrooms. Our business, however, will open in the very early morning, several hours before the bowling alley opens. Therefore, it appears we will need to provide some number of restroom facilities for our customers.

Based on preliminary plans, our space will be divided up roughly as follows:
Kitchen & food preparation: 50% (540 SF)
Customer ordering & dining: 35% (380 SF)
Other (office, storage, restrooms, janitorial, etc.): 15% (165 SF)​
Referring to Table 1004.1.2 of the IBC on occupancy loads, it would appear that the customer area will be categorized as "Unconcentrated Assembly Without Fixed Seats" (15 net) and the food prep area will be categorized as "Commerical Kitchens" (200 gross). Since part of the space will be calculated as net and part as gross, I'm not sure how to assign and calculate the other areas. I suspect the storage room & janitorial closet would be counted as "Accessory storage areas" (300 gross), and the small office as "Business Areas" (100 gross). But what about the restroom(s) and any hallway area? Are they counted as part of "Kitchen" gross or not counted as part of "Assembly" net? If counted, what numbers do I use? Also, since we are a counter service restaurant, the reality is that some customers will be standing to order and receive their food. Does that mean we have to count some of our customer area into "Standing Space" (5 net)? If so, how do we make the division between "Standing" and "Unconcentrated (tables & chairs)"? Finally, if we were to place a couple of tables outside the shop, how would that impact OL for restroom calculations?

(Also, note that the only two egress doors are located in the customer area; there is no backdoor in the kitchen. I don't think this impacts restrooms, but will impact total allowable occupancy for exiting purposes.)

Another point I'm not sure about is, are the spaces occupied by interior partition walls and permanent fixtures (e.g., the customer service counter) counted in the square footage for OL calculations?

Based on my basic understanding of how these OL's are calculated (and assuming I don't have to count any of the customer area as "Standing Space"), we would have the following:
Kitchen OL: 2.7
Customer OL: 15
Office/Storage OL: 0.5
Bathroom/hallway: ???​
Is the result for each area is rounded up to an integer number? Or are the OL's for each area first summed and then rounded up? In any case, I'm probably looking at an OL of approximately 19.

Now about the restrooms. Ideally, we'd like to just enlarge the existing bathroom to make it a single unisex ADA-compliant restroom for both staff and customers. But I've come across conflicting information about the OL number for going from one to two restrooms. For example, the following are quotes from some different sources:

From: *Restroom Requirements for Restaurants*


> *Minimum Facilities*
> As a general rule, the minimum requirement for restroom facilities is one toilet or water closet for every 30 women and every 60 men. In small establishments, employee and customer access can be combined



From the same article above:


> *Exceptions*
> In some jurisdictions, a restaurant with less than 1,200 square feet of space that accommodates no more than 20 employees and customers at one time may have a single unisex restroom, so long as it is handicap-accessible.



From: *Restaurants, Bars, Bakeries and Occupant Loads*


> The first point where occupant load makes a difference is for very small establishments, we see it mostly in bakeries. When you have more than 15 occupants you are required to have two separate bathrooms, one for men and one for women. For a small establishment, that’s a big cost.



From: *Code of Colorado Regulations (CCR) 1010-2: Colorado Retail Food Establishments*


> *5-209 Toilets and Urinals
> B.* Separate toilet facilities shall be required for each sex in establishments with seating capacity in excess of 20 patrons or more than 20 employees.



Also from CCR 1010-2:


> *5-209 Toilets and Urinals
> C.* Separate toilet facilities are not required for each sex in places of 15 or fewer seating capacity for patrons, or 20 or fewer employees where there is no seating capacity, provided the toilet is a single occupancy facility and the door can be secured from the inside.



The last two sections from the CCR beg the question: What about establishments with a seating capacity greater than 15, but fewer than 20?

So, a quick call to the local city planning office yielded a general nod towards the "you must have two restrooms if >15 occupants," although the guy wouldn't really give me a firm answer and told me it's up to my architect to figure out the occupancy load and code requirements.

Basically, I'm hoping to avoid building two ADA-compliant restrooms in our already small potential space. Not only would that add significantly to our build-out costs, but they would consume a large chunk of our square footage. Ideally, we can just expand the existing restroom to make it ADA and call it good. But if the requirement is >15 total OL (and it really doesn't seem possible for us to get below that), can we designate the existing small bathroom for staff only, and just add one public unisex ADA bathroom for our customers?

Of course, we will be hiring an architect and engineer prior to construction. But I'm trying to get as many ducks in a row ahead of time, in part because I need to know if this space will work for us before committing a chunk of our budget to designing for it.

Thank you for reading!


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## cda (May 10, 2018)

Welcome !!


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## cda (May 10, 2018)

Boy you did your homework


Sometimes if you show your seating arrangement on the plans, the city will accept the occupant load by the number of seats 

So your entire place is a B occupancy, because your ol is below fifty

Sorry I don’t do potties.

One other figure would help total width and depth of the lease space.

Give it a couple of days and you will get some replies


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## Michael.L (May 10, 2018)

Here is an image of the existing floor plan as provided by the landlord. I annotated the parking lot and bowling alley lobby for reference. The walk-in is not part of our space so I grayed it out. The interior partition walls can be changed or removed.


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## mark handler (May 10, 2018)

The only way I can see one restroom is decrease the customer load and increase the kitchen/storage.
Or ask for an exemption based on additional restrooms available during busy hours in Bowling alley.


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## steveray (May 10, 2018)

Maybe Fatboy will have something Colorado specific? I have a concern with the bathroom opening into the kitchen? And apparent lack of accessibility...

1210.4 Toilet room location. Toilet rooms shall not open
directly into a room used for the preparation of food for service
to the public.


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## cda (May 10, 2018)

mark handler said:


> The only way I can see one restroom is decrease the customer load and increase the kitchen/storage.
> Or ask for an exemption based on additional restrooms available during busy hours in Bowling alley.




As the floor plan is set,

I take it the public would require access to the bathroom? 

Meaning they would enter the kitchen area??

If maybe he should run a hallway to it, to section it off


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## cda (May 10, 2018)

Michael 
To answer one of your questions off the occupant load factor table:::



FLOOR AREA, GROSS. The floor area within the inside perimeter of the exterior walls of the building under consideration, exclusive of vent shafts and courts, without deduction for corridors, stairways, ramps, closets, the thickness of interior walls, columns or other features. The floor area of a building, or portion thereof, not provided with surrounding exterior walls shall be the usable area under the horizontal projection of the roof or floor above. The gross floor area shall not include shafts with no openings or interior courts.

[BE]FLOOR AREA, NET. The actual occupied area not including unoccupied accessory areas such as corridors, stairways, ramps, toilet rooms, mechanical rooms and closets.


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## cda (May 10, 2018)

Thanks for the drawing


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## Michael.L (May 10, 2018)

Don't get too focused on the existing layout. All that matters is the exterior shell. As I stated earlier, the interior partition walls can and will be removed. So ignore that weird angled wall. And that bathroom can be enlarged so that a door can be installed facing the parking lot (instead of facing the bowling ally lobby). That means customers could access it without entering the kitchen (which will be along the back wall (bottom of the image). Enlarging it that way would also make it ADA compliant in size.

But if the existing bathroom can be designated for staff only, then we won't enlarge it and we'll add a new single ADA unisex bathroom, which would be installed somewhere "above" that walk-in.


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## Michael.L (May 10, 2018)

cda said:


> To answer one of your questions off the occupant load factor table:::
> 
> FLOOR AREA, GROSS. The floor area within the inside perimeter of the exterior walls of the building under consideration, exclusive of vent shafts and courts, without deduction for corridors, stairways, ramps, closets, the thickness of interior walls, columns or other features. The floor area of a building, or portion thereof, not provided with surrounding exterior walls shall be the usable area under the horizontal projection of the roof or floor above. The gross floor area shall not include shafts with no openings or interior courts.
> 
> [BE]FLOOR AREA, NET. The actual occupied area not including unoccupied accessory areas such as corridors, stairways, ramps, toilet rooms, mechanical rooms and closets.



I get all that, if the entire space is to be designated one way or the other. But how do you divide a space that has some areas designated gross and some areas designated net? If the kitchen is gross and the dining area is net, can the restrooms and corridors (assuming they're accessible to customers) be grouped with the dining room so they don't have to be counted as part of the kitchen's gross SF? What about the 60 square foot customer service counter that effectively splits the room between the food prep area and the dining area? Is that counted as part of gross kitchen area, or not counted as part of net dining area?


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## steveray (May 10, 2018)

As a BO, I would let you wiggle that number to make it work with the one bathroom....keep the counter under net and lose that sqftage as well as maybe some walls...


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## cda (May 10, 2018)

Michael.L said:


> I get all that, if the entire space is to be designated one way or the other. But how do you divide a space that has some areas designated gross and some areas designated net? If the kitchen is gross and the dining area is net, can the restrooms and corridors (assuming they're accessible to customers) be grouped with the dining room so they don't have to be counted as part of the kitchen's gross SF? What about the 60 square foot customer service counter that effectively splits the room between the food prep area and the dining area? Is that counted as part of gross kitchen area, or not counted as part of net dining area?




Normally a few people one way or the other does not matter when it comes to code requirements.


When it does, that is when the occupant load can be looked at closer.   Normally I do the lump factor. Lump one area as one factor, and another area as another factor.

But in your case, sounds like lower numbers may help you.

You can always submit whatever OL number you want to the city, and see if it flies!! you never know sometimes.


If you are talking a few dollars, you might hire a code consultant to advise you, sometimes the money spent, saves money!!!

Here is a good one in Colorado  :::


https://www.coloradocode.net/about/company-directory/


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## Michael.L (May 10, 2018)

Thanks to everyone for the feedback so far. Hopefully, more will contribute.

And CDA, I do appreciate the referral to the code consultant.


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## Pcinspector1 (May 10, 2018)

M,
Was this space originally an accessory to the bowling area and now its a separate space?
Is there a sprinkler system?

By the way, you did a good job calculating your OL and providing a nice layout!. It will be some real magic to see how your "man who draws" comes up with only one bathroom if the OL is >15.


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## Michael.L (May 10, 2018)

The building is a square. Centered inside the square is a large "T" shaped space which is the bowling alley. The vertical stem of the "T" is the long extended entrance/lobby and the horizontal top bar of the "T" is the alley itself. There are storefront spaces in the front of the building on either side of the bowling entrance. So I don't think it was an accessory space to the bowling alley, but I don't know for sure. All I know was that it once contained a frozen yogurt shop.

Yes, there are fire sprinklers in the space. So AFAIK that's not a concern.

I didn't provide that layout; that's the old configuration left behind by the former yogurt shop. We'll be tearing out the interior partition walls and putting in new walls to suit our purposes.


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## cda (May 10, 2018)

You have to have whole people, when
You calculate ol

So like your office example .5

Has to be 1, and before you add all the areas


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## cda (May 10, 2018)

It is a business thing on what occupant load you can live/ work with.

So figure your employee needs, than design the customer area so it adds up to less than 15.

So make the back area bigger

Show tables and chairs on the plans, with only enough seating for the ol.

Most cities do not come back after you open and count people in your business.


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## Michael.L (May 10, 2018)

cda said:


> It is a business thing on what occupant load you can live/ work with.
> 
> So figure your employee needs, than design the customer area so it adds up to less than 15.
> 
> ...


The problem is that our dining area is a long horizontal strip along the inside front wall due to the wide & shallow nature of the space and the locations of the doors. Most of that dining area has to be clear space for people to be able to enter/exit using the side door to the bowling alley. So even though our seating will be few (based on layouts I've done, we can fit only ~14 seats) we can't really reduce the customer space any more because then people can't walk freely between the tables and the service counter.


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## cda (May 10, 2018)

Michael.L said:


> The problem is that our dining area is a long horizontal strip along the inside front wall due to the wide & shallow nature of the space and the locations of the doors. Most of that dining area has to be clear space for people to be able to enter/exit using the side door to the bowling alley. So even though our seating will be few (based on layouts I've done, we can fit only ~14 seats) we can't really reduce the customer space any more because then people can't walk freely between the tables and the service counter.




If you show seating for 14 in that entire area, it may fly


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## fatboy (May 10, 2018)

Welcome!

You have armed yourself with ample information, I would suggest as cda did, a code consultant to assist. Colorado Code is an outstanding resource.

Then, a sit down with the Building Official, or the Plans Examiner, in Boulder County, see what their take on it is.

Good luck, keep us posted!


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## Michael.L (May 10, 2018)

cda said:


> If you show seating for 14 in that entire area, it may fly



That would be a blessing.


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## Michael.L (May 10, 2018)

I'll give Colorado Code a call and schedule a consultation.


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## cda (May 10, 2018)

Michael.L said:


> I'll give Colorado Code a call and schedule a consultation.




Tell Steve hello

I have had several classes he has taught


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## Michael.L (May 10, 2018)

cda said:


> Tell Steve hello
> 
> I have had several classes he has taught


Sure. Will he know you by CDA?


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## cda (May 10, 2018)

Michael.L said:


> Sure. Will he know you by CDA?




No

Just a student from BPI


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## mtlogcabin (May 10, 2018)

I would show 1 accessible restroom and remove the existing. I would then reference 3411.7 that your one new restroom exceeds the 20% cost threshold requirement for meeting accessibility. You might want to use fixed benches/seating to reduce the OL. Then again if you have a reasonable BO he can reduce the OL on his own per 

1004.1.2 Areas without fixed seating.

Exception: Where approved by the building official, the actual number of occupants for whom each occupied space, floor or building is designed, although less than those determined by calculation, shall be permitted to be used in the determination of the design occupant load.

One restroom would mean the space was designed for no more than 15 occupants per code.


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## sergoodo (May 10, 2018)

Seems reasonable the code official will allow, they can, besides, you are not changing the use which has 1 lav existing.  Request from landlord the existing occupancy load card and do not exceed that amount.  Submit to permit the alterations including req. ADA modifications, no bother with new occ calc for fixtures if customer area does not change.


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## Michael.L (May 11, 2018)

sergoodo said:


> Seems reasonable the code official will allow, they can, besides, you are not changing the use which has 1 lav existing.  Request from landlord the existing occupancy load card and do not exceed that amount.  Submit to permit the alterations including req. ADA modifications, no bother with new occ calc for fixtures if customer area does not change.


I thought grandfathered compliances go out the window once you do a major renovation of a space. The yogurt shop was probably built-out in the 1980's, so the way they calculated OL and restroom requirements was likely different than now. I realize that the government can't go into a business that's been operating for 30+ years, shut them down, and make them rebuild everything to current code. But I thought that once the space undergoes significant construction (either by the existing tenant or by a new tenant), then the new code requirements kick in.

Am I wrong?


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## steveray (May 11, 2018)

Michael.L said:


> I thought grandfathered compliances go out the window once you do a major renovation of a space. The yogurt shop was probably built-out in the 1980's, so the way they calculated OL and restroom requirements was likely different than now. I realize that the government can't go into a business that's been operating for 30+ years, shut them down, and make them rebuild everything to current code. But I thought that once the space undergoes significant construction (either by the existing tenant or by a new tenant), then the new code requirements kick in.
> 
> Am I wrong?



Yes, IEBC, based on level of work, will tell you what else needs to be upgraded....


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## ADAguy (May 11, 2018)

Donut shops by their nature survive based on sales, sales require quick in/quick out not, lingering over coffee like a Starbucks. Can you put a service counter on the outside for walkups, increase your display area and back of house and reduce your interior table area?
Also, your local health department must buy into your layout, separating the public from the back of house.
Sorry that I didn't see this posting under access first as it answered some questions you made there.


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## Michael.L (May 11, 2018)

ADAguy said:


> Donut shops by their nature survive based on sales, sales require quick in/quick out not, lingering over coffee like a Starbucks. Can you put a service counter on the outside for walkups, increase your display area and back of house and reduce your interior table area?


Ours will be a donut and coffee cafe. So we will have both quick take-away sales and a limited number of customers dining-in while lingering over their "Double Ristretto Venti Half-Soy Nonfat Decaf Organic Chocolate Brownie Vanilla Double-Shot Gingerbread Frappuccino Extra Hot with Foam Whipped Cream Upside Down Double Blended with Ice." 

No, there's no ability in this space to put an outside service counter.


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## ADAguy (May 11, 2018)

I see, a real "chi-chi" at the bowling alley place. Will your donuts and lattes' be "infused" (smiling?).


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## Michael.L (May 11, 2018)

I was just being facetious about the insane Starbucks-like drink order. But we will be serving espressos, cappuccinos, lattes, etc. (in addition to our donuts), so a step up from the plain brewed coffee currently offered at the bowling alley's kitchen. While we will be treading a bit on their toes with regard to coffee sales, ultimately there should be some synergy between our shop and the bowling alley. So hopefully, both our business and theirs will benefit from the close-proximity relationship. They are already aware of our plans and they do not object.


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## sergoodo (May 11, 2018)

I just think the focus is wrong, determine what you need to make the business successful, 1 or 2 restrooms?... rather than ratcheting down your customer area.  A major renovation for your business, however by code this is a simple non structural alteration and the problem presented is non life safety problem. Principal is in your corner, hammer that point into your architect to obtain the best solution, because there are many.


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## Michael.L (May 11, 2018)

sergoodo said:


> I just think the focus is wrong, determine what you need to make the business successful, 1 or 2 restrooms?... rather than ratcheting down your customer area.  A major renovation for your business, however by code this is a simple non structural alteration and the problem presented is non life safety problem. Principal is in your corner, hammer that point into your architect to obtain the best solution, because there are many.


Believe me, I'm in total agreement with you. There is no reason for our small, mostly takeout, business to have more than one restroom. Especially since most of our dine-in customers will be seated during the time when the bowling alley is also open and our customers will have access to their restrooms too. Originally, I was hoping to avoid the need to apply for a variance because I was worried about our construction timetable being bogged down in public hearings and lengthy approval processes. But the prospects of artificially constricting our customer area or building two ADA restrooms are both onerous.

So, apply for a variance we will... if that's what it takes.


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## ADAguy (May 14, 2018)

I don't see any hardship justification here only an attempt to pour ten pounds of sugar into a five pound sack. It is not equal for a wheelchair user to have to leave the building when an ambulatory person doesn't.


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## manifold (May 14, 2018)

Based on your description, it sounds like this would be a Level 3 alteration under the IEBC (no change of occupancy since it was previously permitted as a yogurt shop). In which case this section could be helpful:

810.1 Minimum fixtures. Where the occupant load of the
story is increased by more than 20 percent, plumbing fixtures
for the story shall be provided in quantities specified in the
International Plumbing Code based on the increased occupant
load.

If you can provide a study showing the previous and new occupant loads and show that you are below this 20% threshold, it would be a good justification for a single restroom.  I imagine that it shouldn't be too difficult to juggle the numbers to get the occupants you need for the new business.  

The restroom would still need to be made ADA compliant.


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## Michael.L (May 14, 2018)

ADAguy said:


> I don't see any hardship justification here only an attempt to pour ten pounds of sugar into a five pound sack. It is not equal for a wheelchair user to have to leave the building when an ambulatory person doesn't.


I'm trying to convert the existing single staff-only restroom to a single ADA restroom available to both staff and customers. How is that discriminating against a wheelchair user or favoring an ambulatory person?


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## Michael.L (May 14, 2018)

manifold said:


> Based on your description, it sounds like this would be a Level 3 alteration under the IEBC (no change of occupancy since it was previously permitted as a yogurt shop). In which case this section could be helpful:
> 
> 810.1 Minimum fixtures. Where the occupant load of the
> story is increased by more than 20 percent, plumbing fixtures
> ...


Thank you. This is very helpful.

Does it matter that the previous yogurt shop's restroom was for staff only?


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## manifold (May 14, 2018)

Michael.L said:


> Thank you. This is very helpful.
> 
> Does it matter that the previous yogurt shop's restroom was for staff only?


No, that should not matter.


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## ADAguy (May 15, 2018)

Michael.L said:


> I'm trying to convert the existing single staff-only restroom to a single ADA restroom available to both staff and customers. How is that discriminating against a wheelchair user or favoring an ambulatory person?


Not an issue if only one RR is required, it becomes an issue of 2 are required and the in-house is occupied. Is a health dept. permit required? Do they also have requirements for staff vs customers?


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## Michael.L (May 15, 2018)

ADAguy said:


> Not an issue if only one RR is required, it becomes an issue of 2 are required and the in-house is occupied. Is a health dept. permit required? Do they also have requirements for staff vs customers?


If we are required to have two restrooms available to customers, then both would be ADA. The preferred option for us is a single ADA restroom.

The other option I was exploring would be if occupancy loads require more than one restroom, could we have one publically-available ADA unisex restroom and one staff-only non-ADA restroom. In other words, could we split the OL between staff and customers? Of course, the staff restroom would _not_ be available for customer use. So again, how would that discriminate against wheelchair-bound vs ambulatory customers?


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## ADAguy (May 15, 2018)

Now you would be discriminating against a disabled employee. Remember that disabilities come in many flavors. An accessible RR will accommodate not only wc's but also "large" employees.


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## Michael.L (May 15, 2018)

ADAguy said:


> Now you would be discriminating against a disabled employee. Remember that disabilities come in many flavors. An accessible RR will accommodate not only wc's but also "large" employees.


Hypothetically.

The idea was that we not alter the existing tiny staff-only restroom so that we wouldn't be required to rebuild it to ADA, thus allowing us to build only one publically-accessible ADA restroom (which will be MORE THAN ENOUGH for our very small shop).


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## ADAguy (May 16, 2018)

Staff may exit the back of house to use the new accessible RR but the public usually is not allowed to use the back of house RR. so, one existing noncompliant, one new accessible, ok?


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## Michael.L (May 16, 2018)

ADAguy said:


> Staff may exit the back of house to use the new accessible RR but the public usually is not allowed to use the back of house RR. so, one existing noncompliant, one new accessible, ok?


We could create "What if" scenarios all day. For example: What if we are required to have two ADA restrooms, we build two ADA restrooms, and then three people need to use the restroom at the same time?

The hypothetical should not make reality impossible to achieve. My goal is not to discriminate against _any_ people, customers or staff, who need to avail themselves of a restroom. The reality, based on our experience with a similarly-sized cafe in California that has been operating for 50 years with just _one_ non-ADA restroom, was that very few customers ever used the restroom. Forcing us to build-out two ADA restrooms, at significant cost and consumption of ~10% of our total floor space creates an undue hardship for no practical reason other than to meet hypothetical situations.

Which raises another point: it seems that the requirement for two restrooms when OL > 15 was based on the need for one restroom for men and a second for women (I draw this conclusion because the requirement specifically states that the two restrooms must be assigned as one for men and one for women). Now that the country is moving towards designating all single-occupancy restrooms as unisex, it seems to me that the OL requirements need to be revisited.


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## ADAguy (May 17, 2018)

Now "that" is a truism which the local AHJ can "choose" to allow, or not"
Be thankful you don't also have a liquor license where both a urinal and a toilet are required in your RR.


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## Michael.L (May 17, 2018)

ADAguy said:


> Now "that" is a truism which the local AHJ can "choose" to allow, or not"
> Be thankful you don't also have a liquor license where both a urinal and a toilet are required in your RR.


Actually, I'm trying to figure out a way to fit both a toilet and a urinal into the (hopefully, just one) ADA restroom we intend to build. Not because it's required, but because it would provide a better experience for our customers (and staff). As a man, I know I hate going into a restroom with only a toilet and finding pee on the seat. It must infuriate women!

Unfortunately, adding a urinal to a single-occupancy ADA restroom expands the floor space significantly, so I may not be able to do it. This is why I'm trying to eliminate unnecessary clear floor space requirements by using a deadbolt instead of a latch. As much as I'd like to offer a really nice restroom, I can't do it at the expense of required kitchen space. Because without a kitchen, there's no business (and no restroom at all).

This is the difference between hypothetically living "on paper" versus actually living in the real world of a small business.


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## jpranch (May 17, 2018)

New to the 2018 Codes just for small business:

*IBC Table 1004.5: Business use occupant load: *The occupant load factor has been raised from 100 gross per person to 150 gross per person.

*Cost Impact: *Construction cost savings.

*IPC Section 403.2: Toilet Facilities for Small Business: *The allowable threshold for the requirement for more than one toilet room has been raised from an occupant load of 15 to an occupant load of 25.

*Cost Impact: *Significant construction cost savings for small businesses especially considering the change in IBC Table 1004.5 which raised the occupant load factor for business occupancies from 100ft2 to 150ft2 per occupant. This now means it is possible (depending on the floor plan) that a small business could be 3,750ft2  or less and only have to provide one toilet room as compared to 1,500ft2 under the 2015 edition.


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## Michael.L (May 17, 2018)

jpranch said:


> New to the 2018 Codes just for small business:
> 
> *IPC Section 403.2: Toilet Facilities for Small Business: *The allowable threshold for the requirement for more than one toilet room has been raised from an occupant load of 15 to an occupant load of 25.


Wow, this is hugely beneficial. Is the 2018 Code already accepted and in effect?


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## jpranch (May 18, 2018)

It depends on the jurisdiction that you are in. Here in Gillette we are hoping for an effective date of August 1st. Even though it is not in effect I have been allowing our design professionals to use it now. I would suggest contacting you local building inspection department to see if they would allow it. I'm sure that the answer may vary from one department to another.


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## Michael.L (May 18, 2018)

jpranch said:


> It depends on the jurisdiction that you are in. Here in Gillette we are hoping for an effective date of August 1st. Even though it is not in effect I have been allowing our design professionals to use it now. I would suggest contacting you local building inspection department to see if they would allow it. I'm sure that the answer may vary from one department to another.


Thank you so much for the information and advice.


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