Windows In Public Toilet Entrance Doors

[madmaz50]

Is it legal to put a clear window in the main door into a toilet area with 6 actual toilets and urinals within it ?
My son's college is going to install windows in all main toilet block doors and it seems a gross invasion of privacy to me.

[Old_Geezer]

No legal expert but: I would figure it is a good idea to stop folk getting hit in the face when the door unexpectedly opens, but it should not allow sight of folk actually using the urinals. The layout should prevent that.

[ToraToraTora]

yes, doesn't even need a main door at all.

[hc4361]

I found this but it is specific to public toilets:
Section 307
Privacy
307.1 Public toilet entry.
Entry to public toilets should be designed with offset entries, cubicles, vestibules or lobbies capable of allowing entry and exiting without making physical contact with surfaces such as walls, doors or people. Occupants
in waiting areas or halls should not be able to see through such entry area into the actual toilet. Toilet cubicles, urinals and mirrors should be sited away from the line of sight from the main entrance. Mirrors should be sighted away from sanitary fixtures (water closets, urinals, etc.) whenever possible.


In my opinion clear glass windows could be a good idea to prevent people opening a door into someone's face. Providing the window doesn't give visibility to the actual toilet area this would be perfectly acceptable.

[Zacs-Master]

Is there a lobby, i.e. another door after what you call the main door?

[BlackadderV]

Such things don't seem to bother the French!

[hc4361]

Anyone remember the public urinals in town centres that were hidden only by a metal screen? You could see the feet underneath :D

[Zacs-Master]

Good God man, we're not French and never will be !!! ;-)

[BlackadderV]

Yes, at one time they were ubiquitous in France but all gone now.

[theshedman]

I remember many years ago when I was in the Royal Navy and the captain warned the crew a number of times about people writing on the walls and doors of the toilets. He said either it stops or all the doors would be removed. It didn't stop so he was true to his word and all of them were taken off and it stayed that way for a long time. As this was on the old Ark Royal you can imagine there were many doors as the crew numbered over 2500.

[Dizmo]

You think that's bad, you want to see the toilets in Romania, and I'm not talking the tourist area (if there actually is a tourist area in Romania). You have to fit your own cubicle door and lock if you want privacy. They just have open traps for the toilets in some 'dinners'. You have to roll your trousers up as well to make sure they don't soak up the urine on the floor. The French have it luxury compared to them!

[BlackadderV]

Toilet graffiti was rife when I was at university, most of which was extremely witty. There was a certain protocol, e.g. one always wrote in pencil, never ink, out of consideration for the cleaner.

[Dizmo]

...but if like me and you've been living in a car for 4 days and haven't been to the toilet for 4 days you really don't mind where you go, especially in Romania because no one else cares if you just squat at the side of the road to defecate.

[hc4361]

Apologies to the OP for going off topic.

[BlackadderV]

My mother once came across a four year old boy squatted over a drain by the kerb. When she said, "What are you doing?", the lad replied,
"I'm having a s***, what does it f****** look like?"

[jourdain2]

Blackadder - that type of urinal may now be rare in France, but others remain (quite a few in 'aires' on the motorways) where there is a clear view into the urinals from most angles. There remains the difficulty of the restaurant toilets where you pass the urinal to reach the cubicle.... one peeps in to check that it's not being used and scuttles in to the cubicle, but on exiting, oops!! The horrible 'holes in ground' are still plentiful and even some new motorway areas have a long row of 'normal' cubicles (in the ladies toilets) and one of the old sort at the end - often obscured by a large plant as they remain unused. Still build them though. A strange notion - and nation.

[jourdain2]

Sorry I meant hc461

[Dizmo]

methyl: Is that to help ventilate the toilet area? It would make sense if that was the reason for it.