ADA Washroom Checklist

Don't forget ANY of these!

{ checklist }

• Divide Stalls/Urinals (60" x 60" min for ADA, door swing out; 60" x length of wall, door swing in; 36" x 48" standard, door swing out)
• Doors are 30-32" in standard, 36" in ADA stalls
• Draw in wall-hung toilets & Urinals
• Draw in grab bars to scale and dimension length from wall and length of bar (36" behind toilet mounted 6" from nearest wall, 42-48" beside mounted 12" from nearest wall)
• Dimension stalls (width and depth!!) 
• Dimension center lines of toilets to stalls/walls; 18" from each side
• Dimension center lines of urinals to privacy screen/walls; 18" from each side
• Draw in Lavatory(ies)
• Indicate which one has ADA open space below; the width of open space
• Draw in mirrors, soap dispensers (1) per sink, hand dryer, trash receptacle 
• Draw turning circles 60" in common area, at door, and in ADA stall (not overlapping door swing!)
• Draw 30 X 48 clear floor space to scale (dotted rectangle) at sink and ADA urinal (NOT at toilet) and LABEL it as such.
• Tag all fixtures (!!!)

If you practice this (perfectly) often, you'll be able to do it in 10 minutes! I am not kidding! 

And that means... more time to spend on the less-predictable Millwork exercise!

Almost there,
Carlyn

Space Planning: 64 SF ADA Restroom

Me: Can the turning radius in an ADA restroom - with a closed door, not a stall - overlap the door swing or not?

Dad: It depends on the state and jurisdiction. 

Me: What about PA?

Dad: <insert confusing, but sensible answer(s)>

Me: So, I'm just going to be safe and assume it should not overlap. 

Dad: Yeah, that's a good idea. 

I had to... hehe. 

Reason for asking: the 2010 test did not mark candidates off, but the 2012 test did. 

After a little tweaking, I figured this is a safe layout for an 8x8 Accessible restroom. That's 64 SF, FYI, and required on the Space Planning exercise. It has to do with door placement. It also has to do with a wee bit of common sense. I placed the door in such a way that a person in a wheelchair could not sit on the pull side and actually open the door without trouble. And here's what I came up with... (Click image for larger)

{ Compliant }

{ Non-Compliant }

Incorrect overlay in red...

See how there is no room for the 30 x 48 accessible floor at the sink? And not much room at all to pull the door open if one's in a wheelchair? Even though I drew my toilet a wee-larger (oops), doesn't it seem like there's less room to pull up beside the toilet? 

Keep it spacious,

Carolyn

Sim Day Results: ADA Washroom

ADA Washroom is another easy-breezy section for me. Along with Systems Integration, I find it's less intense than Space Planning, Egress, and Life Safety. It's 30 minutes and it's pretty straightforward. It's always a men's restroom (as we must know urinal clearances) and it almost always has the exact same requirements. Below is a breakdown, not my actual results. Results follow and they're boring because I only missed one dimension.

{ The Deets }

• (1) Accessible min 60 x 60 toilet stall with 36W grab bar behind the toilet, a 42W grab bar beside the toilet, a 60" turning radius, side access, a 36W door, and dimensions/tags of all; door swings out.
• (1-2) Standard toilet stalls 36W by 48D with a 30W min door or a 32W door, dims to center-line of toilet and indication of the width and depth; door swings out.
• (1-2) Standard urinals tagged and dimensioned; TIP: min space between two urinals center-line to center-line is 32".
• (1) Accessible urinal tagged/dimensioned and a 30 x 48 clear wheelchair space.
• A degree of privacy from door sight line, screens between each urinal
• Tag all fixtures
• Fill in fixture schedule provided like this one
• Fill in finish schedule for substrate and finish:
• Cement backer board
• Ceramic tile (if you want to get fancy, glazed ceramic tile or glazed ceramic subway tile are also acceptable)

TIP: My dad's an architect - so I'm often calling him with questions. I was chatting with him about the ADA Washroom exercise and he said (which may be obvious to others and it's how I've been doing it, but still a good reminder!) to start with the ADA toilet stall in the corner and work your way over with the remaining space. 

[ start at wall furthest from door -> 60 x 60 -> 1.5 panel -> 36 x 48 -> 1.5 panel -> 36 x 48 -> 1.5 panel -> 16-18" to cL of urinal -> 1.5 privacy screen -> 16-18" to cL of next urinal -> 1.5 privacy screen -> 16-18" to cL of ADA urinal -> 1.5 privacy screen ]*

*this is just an example. Your actual test requirements for quantities of stalls/urinals may vary. 

I did very well on the 2010 PDP which I used for my Sim Day. However, the test is formatted differently now. All clearances were shown, tags added, and dimensions to fixtures. I saw one example where a candidate didn't tag any of her fixtures, but labeled a few. It was still a passing solution.

Good luck,

Carolyn

Space Planning Exercise: How I did!

FAIL

Funny, I passed this in the Spring 2012 Practicum. Here's how it went down:

I took the test yesterday during late afternoon 3:45-6:45 after a day of working from home. Working from home is, as you can imagine, delightful - the silence, the alone-time, productivity is amazing and my two 45-minute drives were eliminated. I didn't really take a lunch break, which - maybe I should have because I was low on fuel when I started my test. 

I started with confidence and an open mind. What the worst that could happen? I make mistakes and learn? Alas, I froze during the transition from bubble-diagram to hard-lining walls. This ate up the entire first 2 hours, leaving me just one hour to add FFE, electric, and notes. I also took a backwards approach to bubble-diagramming which I'll explain below. I finished everything in time, but my brain was whirling.

Despite, I felt really good about it. Until about 2:36 am when I woke up and started thinking of where I made mistakes. 

After making a *spoiler alert* organization device this morning (will post in detail later on), which took some anxiety off my shoulders, I intended to sit down and check my exercise. Instead, I took a(nother) 30-minute therapy session with my oh-so-patient husband. This, despite feeling like wasted time, really helped. 

This transitioned into him sitting with me to check my test together. Holy mistake-town (the test, not team-checking). Despite my  initial letdown, frustration, and embarrassment, I was able to reason the following and pep-talk myself into sharing my horrible solution with all of interested internet-land. 

• This is a practice test. This is where I'm supposed to make these mistakes so that I don't make them on test day. I now know exactly what I need to work on. In my experience, mistakes make us better, stronger. I will never forget that the infamous Daisy and Gatsby were drinking mint juleps in the garden with friends on a summer afternoon. Why such a strange detail? Because I got it wrong on a pop quiz in high school. I also now know that the 42" grab bar goes beside the toilet and the 36" goes behind. 
• How can I incorporate my lessons learned in the future to relieve anxiety rather than feed it?
• I'm not dumb. I'm not a bad designer. I don't get to do this as often as I want to. I just need to practice to be better, just as anyone must do in any field of work. 

A nice little note from Andrew ;)

{ Grading Breakdown }

• The practice test required a Janitor closet with a sink and shelf unit. I drew the sink right at the door and the incorrectly sized shelving to the right of it. Totally not accessible with the sink in the way. Sink location, wrong shelf: -2
• Re: Janitor closet, the door opens way into the corridor -1
• In two spaces I did not have the correct linear footage of upper and lower cabinetry once I accounted for my ADA clearance. For both spaces: -2
• My ADA restroom did not meet the minimum SF requirements -1
• My ADA restroom turning radius overlapped with my door swing -1
• My ADA restroom grab bars were reversed (42"L behind toilet, 36" beside toilet - should be flipped) -1
• My ADA restroom was missing the 30 X 48 designation at the sink -1
• The toilet was not directly on the plumbing trench -1
• A wall-mounted fixture (sorry, can't give specifics) protrudes more than 4" into a corridor -1
• I placed a piece of equipment within the required 18" on the pull-side of a non-accessible server room (not sure if this code applies to non-accessible spaces... anyone know?) -1
• I did not provide an outlet for the refrigerator -1
• I did provide one for the dishwasher, but I could have sworn I did! did not make it dedicated -1
• Didn't label the SF in a storage closet, but dimensioned it (and it met the minimum) -1 (I only saw the candidate get docked for omitting SF on the plan when they did it in a lot of spaces.. still, gotta label!)
• Missed a duplex in the Reception area by the guest seating, though I did provide it at the reception desk -1
• All of the adjacency requirements (as outlined in the test booklet) were met. However, I did not place two pairs of spaces close to each other. I guess I should have known better? But it didn't say to do so, so I did not. This is where general knowledge and reasoning comes in. I'm docking myself -2 for this mistake. 

Total discrepancies: 18

(The borderline pass sample had 17 errors)

{ A note on Bubble-Diagrams }

I only did one. Because for some reason, at the beginning of my 3 hours I was in some sort of crazy hurry. Then, like some sort of weirdo-brain, I went from bubble diagram to drawing in a conference table with chairs to determine my conference room layout. Uh? I had not one single wall drawn in. 

COOL. YOUR. JETS. 

Once I realized this was looney-tunes, I reverted to my bubble-diagram. Which kind of sucked since I only did one. Andrew told me to do at least 5 until I got the adjacency req's right, the plumbing limits in line, and the room sizes approximate. Which is so funny because his advice is how I always approach that first phase of space planning in "real life." So why not on my test? 

I swear I will do at least 5 on test day (I mean, unless my first one is bubbly perfection). 

{ What I'm taking away from this }

• Minimize the amount of corridors (SF) - what would a Realtor, Broker, or potential tenant think of your maximizing their usable square footage? 
• Minimize doors to enhance usable space (not all spaces require a door!) 
• TIP: Keywords like "Private" and "Secure" require a door.
• Pay more attention to the plumbing trench and how you can stretch it. 
• TIP: Not every plumbing fixture needs to be right ON the trench (with the exception of toilets and floor drains). Some fixtures can merely be located on a wall that touches the trench; a wall which overlaps or runs perpendicular to the trench while overlapping. They give you limits to which you can extend a line from the trench. Use this if needed and be sure to dimension your extension. 
• Remember you can share plumbing walls!
• Don't try to smush everything on one wall millwork-wise when you have an opportunity to wrap within a corner. 
• ADA Restroom... I actually rock the individual "ADA Washroom" exercise, but within these bigger scopes, I focus on it less. Bad call. 
• TIP: Symbols Pay attention to the symbols provided and what equipment requires what symbol. Here's a guide:
• Telephone: Telephone & data (the split triangle)
• Printer: Power*, Data (darkened triangle)
• Postage machine: Power*, Data
• Computer: Dedicated Power, Data
• Fax: Telephone & Data 
• Networked copier: Dedicated Power, Data
• Undercounter fridge, standard fridge: Dedicated power
• Dishwasher: Dedicated power
• Microwave, Coffee maker, small appliance: Power*, but provide (1) per appliance
• *Power translates to duplex in most cases, but consider the load. An office with a telephone, computer, and desktop printer requires (2) duplexes, telephone+data, and data.

Not sure why I feel the need to make this next part big, but heck - here goes!

If anything above could be interpreted differently, please feel free to comment below. Also, if you're taking this test for the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time - OR THE FIRST TIME - and you're struggling or have questions, please reach out. It's very easy to feel alone in this test prep. And remember, you can if you believe you can (and if you practice!).  ;)

Plan some spaces, 

Carolyn

A little re-cap (from memory)...

I'm springing a little pop-quiz on myself tonight. 

If you'd like to do this, read through my blog posts to date, let it all gel overnight and tomorrow. Tomorrow night, number a paper (or Word Document) from 1-10. Then write down the (10) tips from my posts that will help you (from memory!!). OR better yet, re-cap from your own test prep!

Directions:

List 10 tips, strategies, and facts that you've identified and retained over the past month. 

1. Lighting: Calculate wattage allowed before going all symbol-crazy on your plan (watts per SF X total SF) and keep track of watts as you add fixtures. 
2. Egress: To determine the travel distance to each stair, remember to add your farthest path traveled within the existing suite to to the common path of travel to each stair. 
3. ADA Restroom: 36H rim std lav, 34H rim ada lav, 15H t.o. seat std toilet, 17H t.o. seat ada toilet, 24H to rim std urinal, 17H to rim ada urinal, 34H t.o. grab bar, 40H to b.o. mirror, 40-44H to operating parts of wall-mounted accessories. Oh, and 30X48 access in front of sink/urinal. 
4. Systems Integration: Pay attention to ceiling height changes with regards to ductwork!
5. Millwork: draw blocking in the wall and OVER-label everything!
6. Egress: use the "grid-block" space planning method to divide your floor into designated spaces (find SF of a grid block and divide each required SF to determine roughly how many grid-blocks). 
7. Life Safety: 1-hour rated walls belong suite-suite, suite-public corridor/lobby, and assembly-suite corridor, should have acoustical properties, and extend to the underside of the deck. 
8. Lighting: Assign DLV (dimmer low voltage) to low-wattage fixtures when laying out switching plan. 
9. Life Safety: You need a Fire Extinguisher both in the shared lobby/corridor AND in the tenant space (usually they'll have a space with enough SF requiring TWO and they should be located no more than 75' from the further occupant. 
10. Space Planning: Pay attention to plumbing trenches, don't forget to locate required electrical outlets/data as required, and highlight the program as you go!

There are more, but these are my faves!

Happy re-capping! 

Carolyn

ADA Restroom Mounting Heights

Here's how I'm filling in my fixture schedule to meet all required ADA-compliant (and standard!) heights (sorry so teeny!):

These may vary, but I've found the above to be consistent and correct! For instance, mounting height to top of grab bars is 33"-36"; I'm choosing 34". The maximum height to the operable parts of wall-mounted fixtures such as soap dispensers, paper towel holders, hand dryers, feminine product dispensers, toilet seat cover holders, and trash receptacles is 44". I'm recommending 40" across the board. 

Keep it Simple,
Carolyn