Ambulant Not Ambient Toilets
The following advice is in regard to understanding the requirements for the provision of ambulant sanitary facilities within proposed building works and existing buildings. This commentary is based on the requirements from the National Construction Code (NCC) formerly the Building Codes of Australia (BCA).
In order to provide clarification on the provision of ambulant sanitary facilities it is essential that the trigger for provision is identified. The specific trigger is found in Section F of the NCC Volume 1, the direct reference is F2.4 (c).
“at each bank of toilets where there is one or more toilets in addition to an accessible unisex sanitary compartment at that bank of toilets, a sanitary compartment suitable for a person with an ambulant disability in accordance with AS 1428.1 must be provided for use by males and females”
Therefore, based upon the deemed to satisfy provision, (mandatory minimum requirement), the trigger is; at a bank of toilets where there is an accessible toilet plus one or more toilets – then and only then are ambulant toilets required. To demonstrate the trigger the below table has been provided to show when ambulant toilets are required.
Bank of Toilets
- 1 x Accessible Toilet
Ambulant Toilets Required?
- No – There are no additional toilets in addition to the accessible toilet.
- Male Toilets
- No – There are no additional toilets in addition to the accessible toilet.
- Female Toilets
- No – There are no additional toilets in addition to the accessible toilet.
- Male + Female Toilets
- No – There are no additional toilets in addition to the accessible toilet.
- 1 x Accessible Toilet + Male and Female Toilets.
- Yes – There are additional toilets in addition to the accessible toilet.
- 2 x Accessible Toilets
- Yes – There is an additional toilet in addition to an accessible toilet.
The subjective component of the trigger for ambulant toilets is “what is consider as a bank?” There is no technical definition of this within the NCC definitions. ASN have adopted the view, our professional opinion, that a bank of toilets where there is an accessible toilet as well as other toilets that the ‘bank’ is only a bank when there is an adjoining wall shared between an accessible toilet or either a male / female toilet. Therefore, should an adjoining wall be the definition adopted for bank, then the trigger will only apply to such.
Based upon the understanding of the trigger and the definition of what constitutes as a bank, the requirement for the powder room is null. In other words, the powder room does not have an adjoining wall with an accessible toilet. There is an accessible toilet on the ground floor, however, this is not at the same location (or bank) as the powder room and thus the NCC 2.4 (c) trigger is not met and the provision of this toilet as an ambulant toilet is not required.
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