Private Toilet Design and Public Toilet Design

In the classification of plumbing fixtures, “public” applies to fixtures in general toilet rooms of schools, gymnasiums, hotels, airports, bus and railroad stations, public buildings, bars, public comfort stations, office buildings, stadiums, stores, restaurants and other installations where a number of fixtures are installed so that their utilization is similarly unrestricted with unrestricted exposure to walk-in traffic.

PRIVATE. In the classification of plumbing fixtures, “private” applies to fixtures in residences and apartments, and to fixtures in nonpublic toilet rooms of hotels and motels and similar installations in buildings where the plumbing fixtures are intended for utilization by a family or an individual that are not public.





CHANGE SIGNIFICANCE: The definition of “public” is aligned with that of standards ASME A112.18.1, Plumbing Supply Fittings, and ASHRAE90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings, to minimize the number of lavatory fixture fittings (faucets) that must comply with the code’s public use requirements for 1) discharging only tempered water and 2) having a flowrate of not greater than 0.5 gpm. Public lavatory faucets are the only plumbing fixtures required by the code to discharge tempered (between 85 and 110°F) water.




The revised definitions have little, if any, impact on public lavatories. However, as the terms “public” and “private” are used throughout the code for purposes beyond identifying lavatory types, the revised definitions could give new meaning to other code sections even though the approved proposal may not have intended to change the meaning in those contexts.