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Today, many manufacturers extol their products as ones that meet and exceed the requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act’s (ADA) standards for design. However, planning an accessible bathroom, which meets the requirements contained within the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design, boils down to a much larger process than selecting the perfect toilet. As the ADA regulates almost every specification contained in a bathroom, compliance means not only selecting an appropriate product, but also properly integrating it into the bathroom setting so that it is readily usable by individuals with disabilities.
According to Bobrick’s Planning Guide for Accessible Restrooms, “Accessibility standards contain many prescriptive dimensional or scoping requirements that are legal, design or construction minimums. Where requirements allow, it is good practice to avoid designing and building to the minimums of the dimensional specifications in accessibility standards. Doing so places the design, construction and ownership team at risk of noncompliance.”
Therefore, in the interest of driving widespread commitment to achieving accommodating environments, this guide lays out a few essential considerations that designers and architects must take to realize accessible toilet and bathroom design.
COCO’s Dual-Flush Wall-Mounted Toilets are one example of an on-market toilet that can be integrated into an accessible bathroom design; image via Blu Bathworks.
1. Select a viable product.
The ADA recommends that handicap bathrooms are installed featuring an undercut (rather than a floor-mounted) toilet bowl, which means that there is a gap between the base of the toilet and the floor. Intuitively, this makes way for increased legroom and area to maneuver around the toilet, thus less fixed barriers to mobility. Visual references include TOTO’s Aquia Wall-Hung Dual-Flush Toilet and COCO’s Dual-Flush Wall-Mount Toilet.
The height of the toilet is also an essential factor to consider in facilitating ease of movement and operation. Often, toilets are advertised as “comfortable height,” which typically indicates a distance of 16.5 inches from base to seat, thus failing to be synonymous with accessible toilet design. Always read up on the measurements of a product prior to purchase and ensure that the toilet measures the required 17 to 19 inches from base to seat.
Finally, 2010 Standards for Accessible Design also account for all operable parts that are associated with the toilet, including push buttons, valves, knobs and levers. Therefore, ADA-compliant toilets must feature a flush valve that is operable with one hand, activated with less than 5 pounds of exerted force and without tight grasping, pinching or twisting of the wrist. The flush valve should be no more than 44 inches from the floor and located on the open side of the toilet — the side that is not against the bathroom wall or partition. Another helpful tool is to have control valves finished in a color that contrasts the lavatory so that they can be easily identified by the user.
Accessible bathrooms must be designed so that there is sufficient space for a wheelchair to rotate and so that an individual may comfortably transfer from wheelchair to toilet; images via Bobrick.
2. Give it sufficient space.
In order to adequately accommodate a single wheelchair of at least 30 inches by 48 inches, the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design designate for sufficient floor space surrounding the toilet. The open area may be positioned for a forward (head-on) or parallel approach to the lavatory elements and should allow for either a 60-inch 360-degree turning space or a T-shaped turning space, as depicted above. Accessible toilets should also allow for a wheelchair user to transfer onto the toilet in three ways: reverse diagonal approach, side approach and perpendicular transfer.
Required measurements for grab bars, toilet height and other accessories; image via United States Department of Justice
3. Place accessories accordingly.
In any accessible bathroom design, toilets must always be accompanied by grab bars. While the bar may take on a circular, oval or rounded rectangular profile, in the case of circular cross-sections, the bar must measure 1.25 to 2 inches in diameter. As the most recent ADA regulations delineate that a grab bar’s length and location must be the same, regardless of whether the installation is a toilet compartment or an individual toilet or bathroom, the practice is highly formalized. Next to an accessible toilet, the sidewall grab bar must be at least 42 inches long and located a maximum of 12 inches from the rear wall.
A number of other accessories, including toilet paper dispenser, should be strategically placed in every accessible toilet compartment or bathroom. All of these accessories must be located on a side wall or partition, preferably whichever is most conveniently proximate to the toilet. Additionally, all elements must be located just in front of the leading edge of the toilet, in order to ensure ease of reach and universal accessibility.
Motionspot specializes in beautiful, innovative products for accessible bathrooms; image via Motionspot
While ADA compliancy spans far beyond that which is covered within this article, this guide relays a set of preliminary considerations that are essential to think about in creating accessible toilet compartments and bathrooms. Manufacturers can do their part in creating good products that may be seamlessly integrated into accessible designs. However, it is only through the marriage between manufacturers and architects that better, more universally usable environments will repeatedly come to fruition.
The Final Entry Deadline for Architizer's 2025 A+Product Awards is Friday, January 24. Get your brand in front of the AEC industry’s most renowned designers by submitting today.
Cover image via Bobrick’s Planning Guide for Accessible Restrooms