With Local Authority cuts in the headlines, it might seem that now is not the best time to introduce a new standard for public toilets. However, public toilets are still being opened in large new developments such as shopping malls, as part of Town Planning Section 106 Agreements, and a public toilet policy should be part of a planning strategy. Perhaps then this is the time when planners and operators most need to review their policies and facilities, to ensure that provision and operation is best meeting the needs of the public, particularly since a recent change in the law now allows Local Authorities to charge for the use of urinals as well as the use of WCs. The new Sstandard, BS 6465-4, 'Sanitary installations: Code of practice for the provision of public toilets', published at the end of 2010, is the first comprehensive guidance that operators and designers in Britain have had for this facility, and, as such, was referenced in draft by the House of Commons Select Committee Looking at the subject.
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