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Sanitary provision

• Reference sources
• British Standard BS6465-1:2006 - Clause 6.1
• Guidance

Reference sources

Building Regulations (England and Wales)

• The provision of sanitary appliances in buildings is covered by Part G of the Building Regulations and, more particularly, by Approved Document G, Requirement G1. The Guidance states that the requirement can be met:

"... if there are provided: (a) sanitary conveniences in sufficient numbers of the appropriate type for the sex and age of the persons using the building..."

• Requirement G1, Paragraph 1.13, refers to compliance with BS 6465-1:1984 as one way of meeting the requirement. The Standards referred to on Page 15 of the current version of Approved Document G note that this has been "Withdrawn and superceded by BS 6465-1:1994." This has itself now been withdrawn and superceded by BS 6465-1:2006, although the 1994 version remains current where referred to in other legislation, e.g. this Approved Document.

Scottish Building Standards

• The situation is much clearer in Scotland where the provision of sanitary appliances in buildings is covered by Section 3.12 of the relevant Technical Handbook without reference to any British Standards.
• The Technical Handbooks, one for Domestic Buildings and one for Non-Domestic Buildings, are available as PDF downloads from this page of the SBSA website.

British Standard BS6465-1:2006

The most significant changes, from the 1994 version, are listed below although there are minor differences, generally an increase in provision, throughout the Standard. The changes were introduced primarily to reduce waiting times, particularly for female toilet facilities.

• 5.3.3 Self-contained toilets. This is most likely to affect what are colloquially referred to as "unisex" toilets. Under the 1994 provisions there could, in certain circumstances, be significant space savings by providing self-contained "unisex" toilets instead of segregated male and female toilets. The +25% increase in the 2006 provisions is likely to negate this advantage in many situations.
• 6.1 General. This clause warrants its own section below.
• 6.4 Workplaces. A significant increase in provision over the 1994 version.
• 6.5 Shops and shopping malls. The provision is no longer based directly on areas but on numbers of people (as Table 5) calculated by reference to areas as 6.5.(d), (e), and (f).
• 6.7 Schools. Provision for secondary schools increased.
• 6.8 and 6.9 Assembly buildings. The 1994 version is now split into two categories with increased provision in both categories.
• 7.2 (Toilets for disabled people). "Provision of an accessible toilet can count as part of the overall WC provision for the building." This is a new clause which may mitigate some of the increased provision required in Section 6, although it is not clear how the provision of one "unisex" disabled toilet in otherwise segregated accommodation would be counted. This should be discussed with the relevant authorities prior to making a firm design decision.

British Standard BS6465-1:2006 - Clause 6.1

"Calculations for the number of persons using the facilities for sanitary purposes should be the same as those used for fire escape purposes."

• This is considered, by many, as the most significant clause in the 2006 version as it potentially removes the long-standing anomaly which allowed one set of figures (generally a higher density) to be used in calculations for compliance with Part B - Fire Safety and another set of figures (generally a lower density) to be used in calculations for compliance with Part G - Hygiene.
• The use of the same number of persons for these calculations is not an issue for those building types, such as schools, where it is comparatively easy to calculate the actual numbers of people likely to be occupying the building at any one time.
• For speculative office buildings, however, it had long been common practice (prior to 2006) to design fire escape stairs on a theoretical maximum density, reducing this to the "anticipated" density when calculating the toilet provision. This allowed significantly smaller core areas than would have been necessary if both had been designed to the higher density.

Guidance

• Although there is, at present (July 2007), no statutory requirement to calculate sanitary provision in accordance with BS6465-1:2006, the implications of working to a superceded British Standard (BS6465-1:1994) should be carefully considered and confirmed with the client.
• Guidance on the implications of Clause 6.1 for Workplace buildings are dealt with in more detail on the Office Occupancy Rates page.

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