I don’t know if you have noticed that public toilets in all places seem to be similar in two aspects: first, the door panel of the toilet compartment is not completely closed, but there is a gap between it and the ground; second, in many tourist attractions, women always queue up in front of public toilets, but men can "come and go freely." How can these two points be “consistent across the country”? Let’s talk today.
The gap under the toilet door
First, let’s talk about why toilet doors across the country are not fully closed. Is it really to make it easier for people to pass paper?
The answer to this question is simple. It is actually a hard rule that the toilet door must be free.
In our country's "Urban Public Toilet Design Standards" (CJJ14-2016), it is clearly stipulated that between independent units of public toilets, a gap needs to be left under the door panels and partitions, and the gap size must be greater than 10 cm.
But why set such an interval?
There is no clear reason given in the "Urban Public Toilet Design Standards", but we can still find possible reasons from other information.
Requirements for door panels and partitions of cubicles in the "Design Standards for Urban Public Toilets"
In addition to our country, some countries also have requirements for the height of toilet door panels, such as the United States.
The Americans with Disabilities Act stipulates that a gap of 9 inches (approximately 23 centimeters) needs to be left between the independent unit door of a public restroom and the ground. This height is much higher than that in China.
The reason for such regulations is to facilitate the disabled people's assistive devices (such as wheelchairs) to have free space to move.
But the domestic door panel gap is smaller than this. Moreover, in public toilets next to shopping malls, stations, airports, parks, and streets with a large flow of people, it is mandatory to set up special toilet seats for disabled people, so this reason is not applicable in China.
But in addition to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the American Public Bathroom Association also gave an explanation for the phenomenon of "door panels not directly touching the ground", which can be summarized into the following two reasons:
1. Cleaning needs
Compared with fully enclosed partitions and door panels, door panels with gaps make it easier for cleaning staff to clean the floor. After all, the cleaning staff can easily put the mop under the door panel to clean, and it is not easy to clean the dead corners. This is the original intention of setting the door panel intervals.
But in actual use, people found that such door panels can also bring safety benefits.
2. Security requirements
It is also mentioned in the explanation of the American Public Bathroom Association that such a non-fully enclosed door panel can allow people to promptly detect the situation in the cubicle next to it.
If there are bad people doing bad things here (such as robbery or illegal transactions), people nearby can call the police quickly.
In addition, bad guys may consider that the airtightness of the compartment is not so good and give up doing bad things here, so this design can have a certain effect on reducing the crime rate.
Also, if someone secretly smokes in a non-smoking bathroom, the smell of smoke will soon spread out from the non-fully enclosed compartment, and the management staff can detect and stop it in time.
In addition to this, there is another safety benefit to having toilet cubicles that are not fully enclosed. This benefit is not mentioned in the American Public Bathroom Association's explanation, but it is very important - the gap under the toilet stall may save lives.
People can find out through the gaps in the cubicles whether someone has fainted inside, so they can rescue the fainted person in time.
This kind of thing does happen, and it happens many times every year. For example, in 2022, a girl fainted in a public restroom in Songyang Service Area, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province. It was because someone saw a foot sticking out of the gap under the toilet cubicle that the girl was rescued in time.
If the toilet cubicle is fully enclosed, it may take a long time for someone to be discovered after a person faints inside. This may miss the best opportunity for treatment, leading to tragedy.
Gaps under door panels and partitions have other benefits
1. Ventilation demand
For example, the "Design Standard for Urban Public Restrooms" CJJ14-2016 has clear regulations on the ventilation volume of each squatting position, seat and standing position in public restrooms.
If it is a fully enclosed compartment, the requirements for the layout of ventilation equipment will be higher, so the gap under the door panel can also meet part of the ventilation demand.
2. Durability requirements
In addition, the door panel is not perfectly connected to the ground, which saves materials during construction and is less prone to problems.
If it is really fully enclosed, the size of the door panel cannot be slightly different, otherwise it may cause friction with the ground and cause damage.
Having said that, such a gapped door panel can really provide hope to people who forget to bring paper when they go to the toilet. After all, when someone hands you paper, you don’t have to experience the embarrassment of making eye contact.
Women's restroom queuing problem
Why are there long queues in women’s restrooms in many places across the country? This is actually related to the 2005 version of the "Urban Public Toilet Design Standards".
In the previous standards, the ratio of male and female toilet seats was set from 1:1 to 1:1.5.
Moreover, this ratio only refers to the proportion of squatting seats, and men's restrooms often also have standing seats (that is, urinals), so the men's restrooms may have more toilet seats than the women's restrooms.
Considering that the average length of time men go to the toilet is shorter than that of women, this setting is obviously unreasonable.
Fortunately, the 2016 version of the "Urban Public Toilet Design Standards" adjusted the ratio of male and female toilet seats in public toilets: "In places with concentrated flow of people, the ratio of female toilet seats to male toilet seats shall not be less than 2:1."
More importantly, the men's restrooms here include not only squatting and sitting positions, but also standing positions for urinals.
Under such standards, in public restrooms newly built after January 1, 2016, women’s restrooms will have more toilet seats and a larger area than men’s restrooms.
The 2016 edition of the "Urban Public Toilet Design Standards" stipulates the number of male and female toilet seats in shopping malls.
Of course, many public toilets in current scenic spots and shopping malls were built before 2016, so there is still an issue of unreasonable proportions. But I believe that as more public toilets are built, the problem of long queues for women to go to the toilet will gradually be solved.