Sink in Toilet

[katogrove]

Can anyone tell me if it is a legal requirement to have a wash hand basin in a separate toilet in the UK? Thanks in advance.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Building regs state adequate hand washing facilities in 'rooms containing water closets' or '*rooms or spaces adjacent to rooms containing water closets*'.

So basically yes, or at least in the entrance annex thereof or in some room immdeiately off...but watch out for fire regs if you have too many doors to get through as you run from the burning urinal etc etc.

[Malc]

Those curries can be lethal.

-- Malc

[dg]

Do you mean for new build? If so, it is not required to have a basin in the WC. But if not, then a hand washing facility must be in an adjacent room accessed from the WC.

If you mean for an existing WC, then there is no legal requirement under any Housing law for a basin .

dg

[Christian McArdle]

The rules recently changed. Before, they wanted you to have multiple doors between the kitchen and toilet in the belief that airborne particles were responsible for food poisoning. However, recent scientific studies show that this is unnecessary. Almost all contamination is from failure to wash hands. This is why you are now permitted to have a toilet adjacent to a kitchen, provided that you do install the washbasin.

In any case, a toilet without a nearby washbasin (NOT THE KITCHEN SINK!) is quite a disgusting idea.

Christian.

[Mary Fisher]

I can't see why. Kitchen sinks are used to wash everything including the ... oh well, you know what I mean.

In our small and old caravans there is only one washing point - the sink.

Mary

[Christian McArdle]

In any case, the contamination probably isn't because you've contaminated the sink, but because by the time you've actually got as far as the kitchen, you've forgotten the need (or your kids have) or have been tempted to touch things (such as food) along the way.

Christian.

[Ian Stirling]

For a moment, glancing at the subject, I'd imagined a (rather disgusting) combo appliance.

[G.W. Walker]

You get all-in-one appliances in Japan, though probably not in the way you were thinking of :-) The "sink" bit is a cold water tap, mini-basin and drain on the top of the cistern.

G.

[N. Thornton]

naa, you can wash your hands in the toilet bowl :)

NT

[katogrove]

[N. Thornton]

that idea struck me as of possible value, as the used sink water is reused for the next flush, reducing water use and increasing bowl cleanness (the detergents). And incidentally less plumbing is needed.

but at first sight that appears to create sink access problems: how do they deal with that?

NT

[roger]

katogrove writes

That must be almost unique now! I remember the prefabs in East Lane, Wembley being demolished [even tho they were in good shape] in the late 60's, and I believe thousands have had brick shells put round them.

Is it Listed?

[Ian Stirling]

Top of the seat is a kneeling mat?

[Jo]

Ian Stirling wrote in news:417f924f$0$33635$ [e-mail]:

My thoughts were it might relate to the problem expressed in Peter Kaye's opening line in his recent beer ads on TV: "I don't care whose it is, it's floating".

[The Natural Philosopher]

And, in extremis, I do.

Let's face it after a bad curry experience, its more than your hands that need washing isn't it?

I takke a tip from the Latin and Asian communities: After a toilet expereince of any sort, you should wash everything involved.

[The Natural Philosopher]

That figures. The moment it is modernised, teh BCO will insist on adequate washing facilities.

[Owain]

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote | Building regs state adequate hand washing facilities in | 'rooms containing water closets' or '*rooms or spaces | adjacent to rooms containing water closets*'.

The specification of 'water' for the closets seems to leave a loophole in the regs wide open, especially for the environmentally-friendly composting type of household.

Owain

[Mary Fisher]

I want our household to be like that but can't find a supplier.

Mary

[The Natural Philosopher]

Building regs are specifically couched in a way that precludes loopholes.

In essence each reg has a 'reason for existence' and 'spirit of interpretation' followed by 'regulatory guidelines for common cases'

I.e. if you chose to line your chineny with molten volcanic lava pured into EX NASA ceramic space shuttle tiles, its up to pu to show this meets the requirements of the regs in terms of heat transfer and resistance to heat: The BCO will let you do it, but require an engineers report. OTOH when using double insulated flue liners, he can pass them on the nod.

It is perfectly clear that the regulations require a means of washing or oherwise sterlising your hands after they have wiped your arse.