Changing Places bathrooms
Changing Places bathrooms cater to users with high-care disabilities. Having this type of bathroom in public places would benefit not just the individual but also their families and associates. Such places are places everyone else takes for granted, like a day at the beach or watching a live football game.
Changing Places bathrooms originated in the UK and has been implemented on a voluntary basis in Australia since 2014. The uptake of Changing Places bathrooms in the state of Victoria, in particular, has been impressive.
From voluntary to code
The draft text of the 2019 issue of the National Construction Code (NCC) proposes including a suite of new requirements for the provision of Changing-Places-style bathrooms in Australia. The proposed changes signal an intention to shift from the current, purely voluntary regime to a code-mandated requirement.
The bathrooms will incorporate features that cater to users requiring carers. The prescribed components for these bathrooms include a wall-mounted change table, a ceiling-mounted hoist and larger circulation areas. The design features will be very different than those for standard AS1428.1 accessible bathrooms, which presume independent access.
Affected building types
The text of the NCC draft requires the provision of Changing-Places-style bathrooms in buildings of a class 6 building classification that have a design occupancy of greater than 1400, as well as within class 9b assembly buildings.
The class 9b classification covers a wide variety of uses and typologies, including libraries, places of worship, education buildings, stadia and public transport buildings. The current wording of the NCC draft text presumably means that the requirement will apply to new works for class 9b buildings irrespective of the scale of those buildings.
The Future
It remains to be seen whether the requirements for Changing Places toilets will be adopted into the final 2019 National Construction Code. Even if the changes aren’t adopted, there would be value in providing such facilities in public places.