toilet provision in restaurants

BenRowe

Is a restaurant allowed to have only one disabled toilet for disabled and non disabled male/female

Pat Mustard

You could check the building standards and technical guidance documents on the Dept. of Environment website, but I don't know if they need to be updated to take account of 2014 building regs.
http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/BuildingStandards/PartMDocuments/

These guys are more likely to know.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=876

Peregrinus

You mean there is only one unisex disabled WC, whereas there are otherwise separate facilities for men and women?

That's fine, so long as the disabled WC has its own entrance, i.e. you don't have to go through either the mens or the women's toilets to get to it.

Disabled WCs are normally unisex, in my experience. Even if there are two disabled WCs, they are usually both unisex, but one is set up for the convenience of right-handed wheelchair users and the other for left-handed users, right- or left-handedness being a more relevant issue than gender in this context.

BenRowe

Peregrinus wrote: »

You mean there is only one unisex disabled WC, whereas there are otherwise separate facilities for men and women?

That's fine, so long as the disabled WC has its own entrance, i.e. you don't have to go through either the mens or the women's toilets to get to it.

Disabled WCs are normally unisex, in my experience. Even if there are two disabled WCs, they are usually both unisex, but one is set up for the convenience of right-handed wheelchair users and the other for left-handed users, right- or left-handedness being a more relevant issue than gender in this context.

No, one one unisex disabled WC in total . Nothing else. It is for everyone

Peregrinus

That's also fine. As long as the WC is private, there's no requirement to have sex-segregated WCs. You can have a row of WCs, each unisex, and people can go to any free WC. It's not a very common arrangement, because it takes up more space than the more usual arrangement, but there's nothing wrong with it.

As to whether you can have just one WC, my guess is that that depends on the planning permission, and the planning condition attached will depend on the number of patrons for which the facility caters. Presumably there's a size of business below which having just one WC is acceptable, but I don't know what size that is.

Peregrinus

Cancel the above, turns out I'm wrong.

In a restaurant (at least, if it has a special restaurant licence) toilets must be provided separately for men and women - Special Restaurant Licence (Standards) Regulations, 1988 reg. 9(2).

The number to be provided depends on the capacity of the restaurant, but for the smallest capacity (up to 25 diners) the requirement is 1 WC, 1 urinal and 1 washhandbasin for men, and 1 WC and 1 washhandbasin for women.

Greenmachine

Peregrinus wrote: »

Cancel the above, turns out I'm wrong.

In a restaurant (at least, if it has a special restaurant licence) toilets must be provided separately for men and women - Special Restaurant Licence (Standards) Regulations, 1988 reg. 9(2).

The number to be provided depends on the capacity of the restaurant, but for the smallest capacity (up to 25 diners) the requirement is 1 WC, 1 urinal and 1 washhandbasin for men, and 1 WC and 1 washhandbasin for women.

I am not sure how about size. It might be seating for less than 15. But there is a seating capacity, where if you fall below it there is not need to provide customer toilet facilities at all.

Peregrinus

Greenmachine wrote: »

I am not sure how about size. It might be seating for less than 15. But there is a seating capacity, where if you fall below it there is not need to provide customer toilet facilities at all.

With a capacity of 25 diners or less the restaurant has to provide the toilet facilities specified (assuming they have a special restaurant licence). If they had a capacity of 26 or more, they'd have to provide more toilet facilities.

BenRowe

Peregrinus wrote: »

With a capacity of 25 diners or less the restaurant has to provide the toilet facilities specified (assuming they have a special restaurant licence). If they had a capacity of 26 or more, they'd have to provide more toilet facilities.

would a fast food place have a special restaurant licence

Losty Dublin

BenRowe wrote: »

would a fast food place have a special restaurant licence

Special Restaurant Licence is one for alcohol sales on the premises. A fast food joint would still fall under planning regulations and the like.