Significant changes to restroom privacy in the 2021 International Building Code

An addition to Section 1210.3 (Restroom Privacy) of the 2021 International Building Code states that concerns regarding privacy within public restrooms have been addressed by requiring a screening element at the entry to the restroom.

For some time, Section 1210.3 has required sidewall or partition urinal privacy in restrooms but has not previously addressed privacy from passersby outside restroom facilities. A requirement for a screening wall or other obscuring measure in the entry to the facilities has been added. The placement of mirrors within the facility has also been addressed to deal with reflections from within the room to the outside area.

See Chapter 29 of the 2021 IBC for additional changes to public restrooms addressing the installation of fixtures and water closets.

Read the full significant change.

The 2021 Significant Changes guides are available for the International Building, Fire, Residential, Energy Conservation, Plumbing, Mechanical and Fuel Gas Codes. This valuable series can help any code user save time by zeroing in on the most critical changes in the 2021 International Codes. The Code Council’s technical experts provide summaries, analysis and graphics for these changes making them clear and easy to understand. Each edition provides a comprehensive analysis of significant changes since the 2018 edition, offering key insights into its contents and implications. Each change analysis features the affected code sections and identifies the change with strikethroughs and underlines to show modifications to the existing language. Each change is accompanied by a quick summary, detailed illustrations, and a discussion of its significance, which brings the technical jargon of the code to life in a real-world setting.

Significant Changes to the International Building Code, 2021 Edition is available in the ICC Store or through Digital Codes Premium.