Any event that requires a portable restroom also needs an ADA-compliant porta potty. You need to have sanitation sections that accommodate all your users, whether it is for an event or on a jobsite.
The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) made it a requirement to have these specific restrooms and helped to improve outdoor environments, making them more inclusive and considerate. Below, we’ve listed six interesting facts about ADA-compliant porta-potties that you should know.
ADA Regulations
The Americans with Disabilities Act is a civil rights law passed in 1990 by the 101st US Congress. One of its articles focused on public bathrooms, enforcing regulations that ensure proper access and convenience to people with disabilities.
When a disabled person needs to access a restroom in a place of public accommodation, that bathroom must adhere to ADA-compliant standards. The ADA-compliant portable restroom requires specific accommodations to ensure the safety and comfort of the user.
Portable Restroom Regulations
For any situation that requires portable bathrooms, 5 percent of them must be ADA-compliant. If necessary, these restrooms must have ramps and entrance landings built for the porta-potties. The entrance landings should offer enough space for mobility and entry to the restroom.
If you design the ADA-compliant porta-potties at ground level, you eliminate the need for ramps. These restrooms must follow the same accessibility guidelines that permanent buildings do. Therefore, ADA-compliant bathrooms need adequate clearance for doors and fixtures, and the portable unit must have enough space for wheelchair users to perform a 360-degree spin.
For additional safety, ADA-compliant restrooms must have reinforced grab bars to provide support when maneuvering around the porta-potty. Lastly, ADA-compliant portable bathrooms need spring-loaded or magnetic doors.
Handicap-Accessible and ADA Portable Restrooms
A handicap-accessible porta-potty requires a wider than normal door so that a wheelchair can fit through. As previously stated, the bathrooms need to provide enough space for the wheelchair user to perform a three-point turn.
It’s important to remember that not every handicap-accessible restroom is ADA-compliant. ADA portable restrooms offer a larger interior and interior side rails. Floods Royal Flush handicap-accessible portable bathrooms adhere to the ADA-compliant regulations. We ensure our ADA bathroom rentals are flush to the ground with additional accommodations.
Our restrooms include:
- More than 16 square feet of open interior floor space
- Oversized self-closing door
- Roll-in ground level floor access
- Interior handrails
All of these features help make the restroom experience easier for the user. They don’t need to concern themselves with shutting the door, having enough space to maneuver, and the ability to enter and exit without difficulty. Plus, we eliminate the requirement of ramps because we install our portable bathrooms on the ground floor.
ADA-Compliant Sanitation Needs
Specifically, on construction sites, OSHA requires employers to provide all workers with sanitary and immediately available toilet facilities. The sanitation standards ensure that workers don’t suffer adverse health effects.
When you have to provide portable sanitation, you must take care to ensure that the equipment and services are consistent with important ADA laws.
Construction Industry Exemption
In the construction industry, employers can’t discriminate against people with disabilities, and employers have much to gain from taking on a diverse workforce. Most would assume that construction seems inaccessible for someone in a wheelchair since the industry requires working in confined spaces. However, that’s not always the case.
While construction sites do provide ADA-compliant portable restrooms for their disabled workers, it isn’t a requirement. The construction industry gets an exemption when it comes to ADA-compliant porta-potties.
If construction personnel doesn’t require handicap accessibility, the employer does not need to provide handicap-accessible portable bathrooms. However, this exemption becomes void once an employer hires a disabled worker. All other workplaces have a responsibility to provide ADA-compliant bathrooms for their workers, regardless of if they have a disabled worker or not.
Structure and Size
When it comes to ADA-compliant bathrooms, they all must follow the same basic structure and size guidelines. That even includes portable restrooms. The layout and dimensions need to accommodate your users for all situations.
Doors
According to ADA regulations, doors may not swing into the space required for a wheelchair to maneuver. This requirement helps to ensure the safety of the user. A door that swings into the user can knock into the wheelchair and possibly jolt the disabled patron.
Toilets
ADA standards toilet dimensions are very clear. Toilets must be between 17 and 19 inches high, and the center of the toilet must be at least 16 to 18 inches from the side walls. The interior handrails inside these portable bathrooms help the user navigate from their wheelchair to the toilet seat.
Toilet Paper Dispenser
The toilet paper dispenser needs to be between 7 and 9 inches in front of the toilet. The dispenser should be 13 inches and 48 inches above the floor. Do not locate the dispenser behind the side grab bar. You don’t want to make the toilet paper impossible for the user to access.
Special Feature
ADA-compliant portable bathrooms have a spacious interior for patrons to navigate through easily. The interior also comes equipped with interior handlebars to further assist the disabled user.
Grab Bars
The grab bars with circular cross-sections must have an outside diameter of 1 ¼ inches minimum with 2 inches maximum. In a compartment, the grab bar must be a minimum of 42 inches long. Manufacturers recommend 48 inches to eliminate any installation compliance issues.
Position the grab bars no more than 12 inches from the rear wall. Complicated or incorrect placement can result in severe consequences for the disabled user. Precise measurements help to prevent any potential accidents.
Floods Royal Flush Rentals
Shop with Floods Royal Flush and check out all our rentals. We provide our customers with exceptional service and portable bathrooms to accommodate all users. Any concerns you may have, we can take care of them.
Aside from ADA-compliant porta-potties and the six interesting facts we provided you, we also have a variety of products designed to make the portable restroom experience more than tolerable. For more information, visit our website.
