Requirements for Baby Diaper Changing Stations in Public Restrooms. The federal Bathrooms Accessible In Every Situation Act, or BABIES Act, was enacted in 2016 and requires baby changing facilities in public restrooms of all publicly accessible federal buildings. A public restroom in such building that does not have a baby changing facility must contain clear and conspicuous signage indicating where a restroom with a baby changing table is located on the same floor of such building.
Some states that have enacted legislation requiring baby diaper changing stations in public restrooms of public and private entities include California, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, and New York. Laws passed in Arizona and Utah require changing stations in public entity buildings only.
State Building Code. The State Building Code sets minimum requirements for safety, design, construction, quality of materials, and maintenance of building systems throughout Washington. The State Building Code, as well as most other state building codes in the United States, are based on International Code Counsel model codes.
Building code standards are adopted at the state level and are then required to be adopted and enforced locally by counties and cities. Local governments can amend standards, but local amendments are subject to certain conditions, including that they cannot be less strict than State Building Code standards.
Building code standards are enforced in the processing and issuance of building permits. Building permits are required for almost all types of construction, including new construction, repairs, alterations, additions, and demolition of existing structures.
Requirement for Baby Diaper Changing Stations in Certain Public Buildings with Public Restrooms. A public building in which a public restroom is required must provide a baby diaper changing station in at least one restroom that is accessible to women and one restroom that is accessible to men, or in one gender-neutral restroom.
If multiple restrooms accessible to women, restrooms accessible to men, or gender-neutral restrooms exist, each restroom that does not include a baby diaper changing station must contain clear and conspicuous signage indicating where a restroom with a baby diaper changing station is located.
The requirement applies to any public building constructed after the effective date of the section created by the bill, and to any existing public building upon the issuance of a permit for a remodel or renovation of a public restroom within the building with an estimated cost of $15,000 or more.
A public building is defined as any building required to have a public restroom by the State Building Code or local regulations. A public building does not include an industrial building or commercial building that does not permit anyone who is under 18 years of age to enter the premises.
A baby diaper changing station is defined as a table or other device suitable for changing the diaper of a child weighing less than 50 pounds that is in compliance with the International Building Code standards as amended and adopted by the State Building Code Council.
A gender-neutral restroom is defined as a restroom that is not restricted by gender including, but not limited to, restrooms available for use by families.
Exemptions. These requirements do not apply to:
A health care facility is defined as a hospital, clinic, nursing home, laboratory, office, or similar place where a health care provider provides health care to patients.
Penalties. For a first violation, the city or county attorney must issue a warning letter to the owner or operator of the public building.
An owner or operator of a public building that violates the above requirements after receiving a warning letter is guilty of a class 2 civil infraction, which carries a maximum penalty and default amount of $125, not including statutory assessments.
A building owner or operator that has installed a compliant baby diaper changing station but is no longer usable to the standards established by the manufacturer may remove the baby diaper changing station, and no penalty may be issued.
PRO: It's important for family members and caregivers to have options that aren't relying on finding a place in the corner of an establishment or the back of a car when a baby needs to be changed. The bill was developed in collaboration with the business community and there were many changes made over the course of previous versions of this legislation. Such concerns included increasing the amount that we considered a major renovation triggering the bill's requirement. The bill affects new buildings and major renovations, at which point the cost of adding a diaper changing station is quite minimal relative to the overall cost of the renovation.
There have been significant changes made to the bill to get the Washington Hospitality Association's support. The $15,000 mark was important due to the cost of installing a diaper changing station. There is one more clarifying change we'd like to see to help us protect customers and employees in instances where this equipment is being misused.
The Washington Food Industry Association supports the bill but also supports a clarifying amendment allowing changing stations that are being used for nefarious activity to be removed from our stores. We see a lot of high crime and illegal activity in our convenience stores specifically, so they want the option, if they do a remodel, to not have to install a changing station.
The bill represents a more equal partnership of child care responsibilities across genders in public. Passing the bill would also increase patronage of businesses from single dads, two-dad households, grandparents, and so on. As a public health nurse, I see a lot of infections and diaper rashes from babies and toddlers. Increasing the amount of time between diaper changes can make infections worse. This will help reduce those concerns.