To think that building regulations for ladies loos should be changed?

[Anquin]

This is a constant source of disgust for me, and yesterday it happened again in a very “naice” garden centre. The new toilets have been open for only a short time, but have been built to existing regulations, which stipulate that there should be a 300mm space each side of the toilet bowl and the side of the cubicle.
Which would be fine, except that they then stick a sanitary bin in that space - meaning that when someone can’t fit their used towel in, it’s sticking out close to my backside when I sit down - uuurrrggghh!
Why can’t they change the regs to allow for a bigger space between the loo bowl and the wall, if the intention is to take some of that space up with a bin?
WDYT?

Agree!

I was in a toilet where there were two cubicles and 4 washbasins. The only ladies toilet for a meeting hall designed to hold about 50 people, which by the nature of the events held would all be wanting to relieve themselves in the same 10 minute break. Clearly not designed by a woman. Or anyone who applied any thought to the problem.

And I hate having to straddle the toilet pan to open the door because the designer has allowed space for the door to open but not while there's a person in there.

Than goodness it's not just me who has this problem! I'm registered disabled and have a radar key,so thankfully,I can use disabled loos the majority of the time. But on the rare occasions that the disabled one is out of order/occupied and I can't wait,I will use a non-disabled one. But I hate doing so,because I feel as if there is no room to move. I practically have to stand on the toilet to get the cubicle door closed behind me,then once I've sat down,I can hardly move because of a sanitary disposal bin jammed up against me! I have painful shoulders due to arthritis and my right shoulder is frozen,so I can't move that arm very much. Sometimes,I've ended up pushing the bin forwards out of the way to give me more room. But no one else I've mentioned this problem to seems to find it an issue. Seems I'm not alone after all!

Also, have you noticed that the door into the toilets (as opposed to the cubicle door) is one you can push, avoiding touching it. But as you leave, where we all know some people haven’t washed their hands, you have to hold the handle and pull.

One of the worst loos I have ever been in for this is the McArthur Glen outlet in Bridgend, after they were refurbished. I'm a broad woman with a fair sized bosom, and I'm not kidding, One shoulder was crushed in between the toilet roll dispenser and another metal thingummy a bit to the right of it, whilst trying not to position my right arse cheek on the sanpro bin.
The cubicle was the same width as the whole door frame, which itself was only about an inch wider than the door either side.
The only plus side was that at least I didn't have to stand straddling the toilet bowl to open the door to let me out, which I have had to do in other public toilet facilities.

I don’t understand why every loo cubicle needs a Sani bin , building regs ?
Not every woman needs one , why take up the space
I’d rather have somewhere to hang my bag , and space to turn round

Of course every loo needs a sani-bin

YANBU!

Was at Wimbledon today and was a challenge to clamber over the toilet in order to close the door! (Although there was a hook for bags.) And everytime I needed the loo I had to queue. It's quite simple, women need twice as many loos as men!

Glyndebourne Opera House is pretty good - wire mesh racks on the backs of doors for your clutch bag, and long enough cubicles that you can open the doors. Rarely had to queue much, even at the end of an act.

Recent Guardian article about potty parity: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2018/mar/21/why-women-face-longer-toilet-queues-and-how-we-can-achieve-potty-parity

Oh, and at least one sturdy hook should be mandatory.

This has been a bugbear of mine for years.
Another issue of mine is when the baby changing table is outside the cubicles or folds down over the actual toilet. Fine for changing a nappy but what am I supposed to do if I need a wee while I'm in there?

YANBU!! Women need:

As many cubicles as men have cubicles & urinals
Doors that open outwards
Offset toilet with a good 300mm space between toilet & sanpro bin space (which do need redesigning too)
Sanpro bins should always be simply operated without hands
Wash hand basins ideally in toilet too so you have clean hands to exit
Proper hooks (multiple) for coats & bags
Separate well lit mirrors and shelf space for make up reapplication
Excellent ventilation
Efficient hand dryers
Ideally carer & child cubicles with more space, etc

Have I missed anything????

artfool i once read an article about gender equality and how in order to give both genders equal access to the loos you need to build double the number for women. We take an average of just over 60 seconds to pee and men take about 30 seconds. Just because of how our bodies are constructed.

James Dyson couldn't redesign a sani bin. All his inventions lately have been of the "put a massive supercharged motor in it and turn it sideways" variety.

Plus every bin would cost three thousand pounds and you'd have to empty it by digging around inside with your bare hands.

Inward doors are good, you can push to stop someone coming right in when it turns out the lock is dodgy.
But yes they need total redesign.

Inward doors also stop you opening the door into a person oitside. But yes to hooks and yes to offsetting the loo to make space for the san pro bin. Although the bin would be less grim if people would wrap their used san pro in tissue or the new sanitary towel wrapper before putting it in the bin.

There needs to be separate baby change loos so that both sexes can change a baby and guys don't have to go into women's half the time if alone or use a disabled toilet

Agree, agree, totally agree! For advancing countries we might as well be in the dark ages where female loos are concerned. So unhygienic.

Just put the sanpro bins in the main area but the cubicles and put little paper bags in the cubicles , job done

But outward doors can just have a simple twist shut mechanism that has an extremely minimal risk of going wrong. E.g like a v pointy egg, or a circle with a rectangle laid across it and off to one side, then the long side of the rectangle ends up parallel to the floor and voila, door is locked.

YADNBU. Sends me nuts. And YY to annoying doors opening onwards. When I have 18mo DS and 5yo DD with me it's like on of those sliding puzzles where you have to get a piece out by switching different tiles around, totally ridiculous

The problem with inward facing doors is they build the door exactly the same with as the frame which means there is no space to get around the door, if they made cubicles wider (to accommodate Sam pro bin) and kept the door the same width as it is now that would allow space for the door to swing with a person there.

Train stations are the worst for this, lovely big door then toilet..no space for a human let alone a suitcase which they have clearly accommodated for with the size of the door. I think the person who designed public toilets has clearly never been to the toilet!

Yanbu
In this day and age I’m dumbfounded as to how they have not mastered this.

I’ve posted this here before but my new local cinema has offset toilets! I was so excited by that I started a thread on it.

As was said on a previous thread we are taught that man is the default and everything else is just an awkward aberration.

And of course there should be a bin in every cubicle.

Thanks for all your comments - I am not as alone as I thought! And agree also with the point about cubicles where the door can’t open while there is a person between the loo and the door!