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International Plumbing Code changes facilitate all-gender restrooms

Stalled!

International Plumbing Code changes facilitate all-gender restrooms

2018 Best of Design Awards winner for Research: Stalled!, JSA (Courtesy JSA)

At the 2018 meeting of the International Code Council, the council approved two amendments that could facilitate the design and creation of gender-neutral restrooms. The changes will affect the International Plumbing Code, which has been adopted by 35 U.S. states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam, and are scheduled to appear in the 2021 version of the code.

The first amendment allows “for the installation of all-gender, multiuser restrooms in public buildings,” according to a statement from Joel Sanders Architect. The second amendment “requires that single-user restrooms display signage indicating that they are available to all users and not limited to a single gender,” according to the firm.

Joel Sanders advocated for the changes as part of Stalled!, an interdisciplinary initiative for inclusive bathroom design. Historian Susan Stryker and legal scholar Terry Kogan worked with Sanders as part of the initiative, and the National Center for Transgender Equality worked with Stalled! on the code amendments.

Stalled! won a 2018 Best of Design Awards winners for Research.


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