Frequently asked questions for the Toilet Number Calculator

1. Where are toilets required?

WC pans and basins are required for use by people in buildings where they:

• live or are accommodated (eg in dwellings or motels)
• work (eg for staff in all building types)
• eat food or drink on the premises (eg coffee bars and restaurants)
• assemble (eg cinemas or schools)

For a larger list of examples see G1 Personal Hygiene Compliance Document paragraph 1.1.2.

2. Which part of the G1 Personal Hygiene Compliance Document does the calculator effect?

The calculator uses the methodology illustrated in Figure 1 of the G1 Personal Hygiene Compliance Document for determining the number of required pans, urinals and basins for use in buildings.

3. What does the calculator do?

The calculator works out the number of toilet pans, basins and urinals from:

1. The building use and the number of people using the building, if known, or
2. The building use, the occupant density and the floor area.

4. How do I use the calculator if the number of users of the building is known?

1. Select the building use
2. Click Yes and enter the number of people using the building if the number is known
3. Click the Calculate button
4. Choose one of the five options from the results page.

5. How do I use the calculator if I do not know the number of building users?

An example of how to use the calculator when the number of people using the building is known, or not known, is given in the examples that follow.

6. How do I interpret the results of the calculator?

The results of the calculator are presented as 5 options. Building owners can choose 1 of the 5 options. For each option, facilities are required for each line that contains a number greater than 0. That is, for the results in the box immediately below 1 unisex accessible facility is required.

In the example below 2 female pans, 1 female basin, 3 male pans, 2 male urinals, 2 male basins and a unisex accessible facility are required.

7. Does the calculator give users Building Code compliance?

The calculator is guidance information provided by the Department and is based on the methodology and contents of G1 Personal Hygiene Compliance Document, but does not generate a compliant solution for personal hygiene. The designer will also need to meet other requirements of the G1 Personal Hygiene Compliance Document, see FAQ 8.

8. What are the limitations of the calculator?

The calculator does not provide information for the following Building Code requirements contained in the G1 Personal Hygiene Compliance Document:

1. Allocation and distribution of accessible toilets
2. Definition of, or allowance for the distribution of unisex toilets
3. Provide a solution for toilet spaces, layouts or accessible layouts
4. Privacy
5. Calculate the number of showers required.

9. Early childhood centres

When selecting the Early Childhood Centre building use option, the calculator results differ from those provided in G1/AS1 Personal Hygiene. This is to comply with the Early Childhood Education regulations

Examples

Example 1 Bar with a seating area and a standing areas.

How do I calculate the number of required toilets for a building with different uses?

A number of steps are needed to correctly determine the number of facilities for a building with different uses. The following example is for a Bar that has two distinct functions: a seating and a standing area.

Building use	Bar	Results
Bar sitting areas	50 m2 floor area
Bar standing area	50 m2 floor area
Total population

1. Select the initial use for the building Bar and for ‘Is the number of people for the building known’ select No.
   
   
2. Select the ‘Bar sitting area’ from the Select the occupant density (people/m²) drop-down menu.
   
   
   
3. Insert 50 in the ‘Enter the floor area in m²’ box and click the Calculate button
   
   
   
4. At this stage you may wish to save your results for future reference by clicking the Save button at the bottom of the results, or note the number for the Population of the building use.
   
5. This process should be repeated for each of the different uses of the building. This is achieved by selecting the desired occupant density and entering its floor area.
   
   For example, our original calculation for the Bar sitting areas with a floor area of 50m² resulted in a Population of the building use of 50 people. A Bar standing area with a floor area of 50m² will result in 100 people for the Population of the building use. Adding the two numbers for the population of building use provides the information required to complete the calculation for the proposed bar.
   
   Example:
   
   

   Building use	Bar	Results
   Bar sitting areas	50 m2 floor area	50 people
   Bar standing area	50 m2 floor area	100 people
   Total population		150 people

   
   
   
   If the owner chooses Unisex facilities, the results are in Option 1 below.
   
   
   If the owner chooses single sex toilet facilities, using WC pans only, the results are in Option 2 below.
   
   
   
   If the owner chooses single sex toilet facilities, using WC pans for females and WC pans and urinals for males, the results are in Option 3 below.
   
   
   
   If the owner chooses single sex toilet facilities, using WC pans only for males and females and unisex accessible facilities, the results are in Option 4 below.
   
   
   
   If the owner chooses single sex toilet facilities, using WC pans for females and WC pans and urinals for males, and unisex accessible facilities, the results are in Option 5 below.
   
   

Example 2 Garden centre with a café

How do I calculate the number of required toilets for a building with different uses?

A number of steps need to be taken to correctly determine the correct number of facilities for a building with different uses. This example is for a garden centre and a café.

Building use	Number of people or floor area
Staff (garden centre) Staff (café)	12 people 4 people
Café (patrons)	100 m2 floor area

Toilets can be provided for each building use or can be shared. For this example separate facilities for the garden centre (staff) and café (staff and patrons) will be calculated.

We will also calculate shared facilities for both the garden centre and the café.

Separate staff facilities for the garden centre (12 staff)

1. Select the building use as ‘Staff facilities’
2. Click Yes and enter the number of people using the building, 12 for this example
3. Click the Calculate button
4. Choose one of the five options from the results page.

If we choose Option 1:-

1 unisex facility plus
1 unisex accessible facility are required.

Separate facilities for the café (4 staff and 100m² of café)

1. Select the building use as ‘Coffee bar’
2. Click No for ‘Is the number of people for the building known’ and select ‘Restaurant, dining rooms and lounges’ from the Select the occupant density (people/m²) drop-down menu.
3. Enter the floor area, ‘100’ for this example
4. Enter the number of staff working in the Café, ‘4’ for this example
5. Click the Calculate button

Summary

Providing separate toilet facilities for the garden centre staff and the café patrons and staff is:

Garden centre staff:

• 1 unisex accessible facility plus
• 1 unisex facility

Café staff and patrons:

• 1 unisex accessible facility plus
• 3 unisex facilities

Total 6 unisex facilities

Where separate facilities are provide for each building use, accessible facilities are required for each building use.

Shared toilet facilities between the garden centre staff and the staff and patrons of the café

Shared toilet facilities between the garden centre staff and the café staff and patrons of the café can be calculated as follows:

1. Select the building use as ‘Coffee bar’
2. Click No for ‘Is the number of people for the building known’ and choose the Select the occupant density (people/m²) as ‘Restaurant, dining rooms and lounges’.
3. Enter the floor area, ‘100’ for this example
4. Enter the number of café and garden centre staff that will use these facilities’, ‘16’ for this example
5. Click the Calculate button

The results are 3 unisex facilities and 1 unisex accessible facility, being fewer facilities than when the toilet facilities are not shared.

The toilet number calculator generates the number of facilities from 90 plus 16 staff, even though 90 is shown on the screen.