How to Make Restrooms Accessible: ADA Toilet Standards Explained

Are you planning to add a new installation and refurbish a toilet while ensuring it's in compliance with ADA standards? From the entrance door width to the hooks' mounting points, every measurement should meet accessible toilet standards. 

Having grab bars and sinks installed at incorrect heights in a restroom is a violation of the ADA Standards for Accessible Designs. To avoid lawsuits due to non-ADA compliance, you’ve to ensure your toilet is physically accessible to persons with disabilities.

To get expert tips on how to make accessible toilet installations and refurbishments ADA-compliant, continue reading.

Why are Accessible Toilets Important?

A toilet is said to be accessible if it’s designed to accommodate the majority of the needs of persons with special physical requirements. Restrooms in public facilities should be designed in a way that promises freedom to persons with age-related concerns and persons with disabilities.

Here are the key reasons why accessible toilets are important:

• Using an accessible toilet increases wheelchair users' self-assurance, lowers stress levels, and promotes independence.
• The spacious toilet space and easy-to-reach installations make accessible toilets easy to use.
• Since maneuvering in the toilet, transferring to the toilet seat, and installations are within reach, individuals with disabilities experience a sense of independence when using accessible toilets.
• Accessible toilets allow wheelchair users to maintain dignity since they can use them independently.

Understanding How to Make an Accessible Toilet 

Newly constructed or altered State facilities, commercial buildings, and public accommodations, including their parts, must be accessible and usable by persons with disabilities. There are set standards on how toilets in areas mentioned above should be designed. These standards are stipulated in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)2010.

When adding new toilet installations and refurbishments, there are requirements you should abide by. They include:

A. Alterations

i) Alterations on any part of a facility that includes toilets should not affect its accessibility and usability.

ii) Alterations to the toilet door should not reduce the required accessible route width.

B. Installations

i) Toilet doors should not swing into the clearance space left for any installation or clear floor space.

ii) When installing mirrors above lavatories in the toilet, the bottom edge should not go above 40 inches from the ground or the finished floor. If not above the lavatory, the mirror's bottom edge should not be above 35 inches from the ground.

iii) Toilet seat height should be mounted between 17 and 19 inches above the floor.

Toilet seat height

iv) When installing coat hooks and shelves in toilets, the forward reach height should be 48 inches high if the hook is unobstructed and at a low of 15 inches above the floor.

v) Water closets in toilets should be installed 60 inches minimum from the side wall if measured perpendicular and 56 inches minimum from the rear wall.

vi) Unisex toilet rooms should have privacy latches and have at most one water closet, one lavatory, and one urinal.

Tips to Make Accessible Toilet

There are common ADA requirements that are easy to comply with when installing new fixtures and doing refurbishments in an accessible toilet. To help you navigate ADA compliance challenges, follow these tips:

• Tip 1: In cases of insufficient maneuvering space or entrance route, prioritize one accessible toilet for each sex or one unisex toilet.
• Tip 2: Minimize obstructions in the toilet to give space for the right grab bars, hooks, and sink installation measurements.
• Tip 3: Avoid installing an inward-swinging toilet door as it will reduce wheelchair maneuvering space inside the toilet.

• Tip 4: Design your toilet in advance and take into account the final dimensions between the fixtures to avoid future alteration costs.
• Tip 5: Where applicable, design the toilet with an added front projection to give room for an accessible entrance route.
• Tip 6: Ensure the toilet seat has a clear circle of at least 60 inches around the sidewall and 56 inches from the rear wall for easy wheelchair maneuvering.

Enhance Your Mobility with XSTO Wheelchairs

With an adaptive wheelchair, you can break many mobility barriers. Besides promoting mobility, a good wheelchair will boost your dignity and independence. Imagine using a wheelchair that can give a 360-degree rotation, elevate you to a toilet seat height, and allow easy transfer to another seat of your choice.

Acknowledging accessibility limitations that come with hard-to-navigate spaces like toilets, the XSTO M4 Self Balancing Power chair width dimension is 22.8 inches (required ADA door width 60 inches). Its compact design allows it to easily navigate through narrow entrances.

Frequently Asked Questions on Accessible Toilets

 

i) What Do You Need for an Accessible Toilet?

For a toilet to be accessible, it should have grab bars for self-support, a non-slip floor, a toilet seat raised between 17 and 19 inches, and enough space for a wheelchair to turn.

ii) How big should a wheelchair-friendly toilet be?

For a wheelchair to have a 5-foot diameter turn in a toilet, the toilet dimensions should be 56 inches deep and 60 inches wide for a wall-mounted toilet or 59 inches deep for a floor-mounted toilet.

iii) What is the difference between an accessible toilet and handicap toilet?

Accessible toilets and handicap toilets mean the same thing. Accessible or handicap toilets are toilets designed to provide enough space for wheelchair access, turning, and assistance to wheelchair users.