All-gender washrooms can cut waiting times and make commercial buildings more inclusive. But washrooms for employees and members of the public are subject to a number of rules and regulations.
As well as building codes and regulations, architects and commercial building managers need to have a clear understanding of equalities legislation and what it means in practice.
This guide will cover the most important legal rules that apply to workplaces, hospitality venues and other public buildings. It also looks at an ongoing consultation into the provision of male and female bathrooms and how it could affect commercial operators.
This guide is for architects, building designers, employers and anyone else with an interest in commercial property and gender-neutral washrooms.
For the purposes of this guide, commercial property includes:
Because schools are subject to a different set of regulations, we’ve created a separate guide to some of the legal issues relating to gender-neutral washrooms in schools.
A gender-neutral washroom is a washroom that can be used by a person of any gender or gender identity.
Gender-neutral washrooms are legal in offices and other workplaces.
The Workplace (Heath, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 details what facilities should be supplied by employers.
Although it does say that separate mens and womens facilities should be provided, it makes an important exception for gender-neutral washrooms. The regulations say that unisex washrooms are ok, as long as the toilet is provided in a room (not a cubicle) with a lockable door.
Where space and budget allows, it’s recommended that workplaces provide a combination of gendered and gender-neutral washrooms.
Employers are also recommended to consult with different elements of a workforce before making any changes to facilities.
Gender-neutral washrooms are legal in hospitality venues.
Under the Local Government Act 1967, councils have the power to require the provision of sanitary facilities in places open to the public. This act doesn’t specify what kinds of sanitary facilities should be provided, so councils generally refer to British Standard BS 6465: Part 1: 2006 Sanitary installations.
These standards include requirements for a certain number of WCs per the number of male and female users, but there is no requirement that these facilities be separate genders.
Echoing the requirements laid out in the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, the standards say that any unisex WCs should be in self-contained rooms with full height walls and doors.
Although gender-neutral washrooms are legal in hospitality, they will not be suitable for every venue.
Gender-neutral washrooms are generally legal in a variety of public buildings. But gender-neutral washrooms are not suitable for every public building.
It is recommended that public buildings provide a combination of gendered and non-gendered facilities to meet everybody’s preferences.
A diverse set of rules and regulations covers the provision of washrooms in commercial buildings, below are some of the most important that you need to pay attention to.
Laws governing accommodation standards in nearly all workplaces. The 1992 regulations go into detail about facilities needed in workplaces. Regulation 20 says that ‘suitable and sufficient’ sanitary conveniences should be provided in readily accessible places.
It says that separate conveniences should be provided for men and women, except where “each convenience is in a separate room” which can be locked from the inside.
Some people argue that it means that the whole washroom, including hand washing facilities, need to be self-contained. This type of washroom is called a superloo.
Others say that only the toilet bowls need to be “in a separate room”. This interpretation allows for several fully-enclosed cubicles to share handwashing facilities.
To ensure broad compliance with this legislation, it’s recommended that commercial buildings provide a combination of gendered and gender-neutral facilities. Employers are also recommended to consult with different parts of their workforce before making any changes to facilities.
Under the Equality Act, organisations need to make provisions for all employees with protected characteristics. From the perspective of toilets, the key protected characteristics are sex, disability and gender reassignment.
Equality Act protection doesn’t just apply at work. These groups are also protected when using public services, transport and business premises.
The Equality Act covers indirect discrimination as well as direct discrimination. Indirect discrimination is when there’s a practice, policy or rule which applies to everyone in the same way, but it has a worse effect on some people than others.
If a new building does not have an option for gender-neutral toilets, this could be interpreted as indirect discrimination, according to the NHS Gender Identity Development Service.
Provides information on the types of facilities that should be provided in buildings open to the public. It specifies that any gender-neutral facilities should have floor-to-ceiling partitions and sanitary hygiene bins.
Best practice inclusivity design standards. These specify facilities that accommodate a diverse range of needs, including people whose gender doesn’t match their biological sex at birth.
Established the Gender Recognition Panel, which can legally recognise a transexual person’s acquired gender and issue a new birth certificate.
Says that washbasins can either be in a self-contained room or in an adjacent room, which has implications for gender-neutral superloos.
Specifies additional standards for accessible toilet facilities to accommodate those with a disability (as well as wider needs such as those of people of either sex with small children).
In 2021, the government launched a review on the provision of toilets for men and women. The review notes that: “Women often have to face excessive queues for toilets or don’t have access to appropriate facilities that meet their needs when out.”
It continues: “there has been a trend towards the removal of well-established male-only/female-only spaces when premises are built or refurbished, and they have often been replaced with gender-neutral toilets”.
The consultation aims to look at the ratio of female to male toilets, taking into account the needs of other members of the community to ensure there is “fair provision of accessible and gender-neutral toilets.”
The outcome of this consultation is difficult to predict and some rumours from sources working on the project have been confusing and contradictory.
Union House, Unit 2A,
Altrincham Business Park,
Stuart Road, Altrincham, Manchester, WA14 5GJ
