Plumbing Codes on Fixture Clearances in Virginia

Fixtures

• The Virginia Plumbing Code considers plumbing fixtures to be installations with smooth, impervious surfaces that are free of defects and concealed fouling surfaces, such as porcelain. These include water closets (toilets), lavatories (sinks), bathtubs and showers, and drinking fountains. The code defines the minimum number of fixtures for such structures as assembly halls, businesses, educational facilities, factories and industrial structures, institutions such as hospitals and prisons, retail stores, residences and storage areas. For example a one-family dwelling requires at least one water closet, one lavatory, one bathtub/shower and one kitchen sink.

Clearances

• Water closets, urinals, lavatories or bidets must be level and aligned correctly with respect to adjacent walls. These fixtures must be at least 15 inches from its center to any side wall, partition, vanity or other obstruction. The fixture must be spaced at least 30 inches away from any adjacent fixtures as measured to and from the centers of the fixtures. The minimum clearance from the front of any water closet, urinal, lavatory or bidet to any wall, fixture or door must be 21 inches. This makes water closet compartments a minimum of 30 inches wide and 60 inches deep.

Showers

• Shower compartments must contain a minimum of 900 square inches in their interior finished spaces. Walls must be at least 30 inches from the opposite wall as measured from their interior finished surfaces. These clearances must continue from the top of the threshold to at least 70 inches above the drain outlet. If a compartment has a minimum clearance of 1,300 square inches in its interior cross section, then it can have a minimum space of 25 inches as measured from the surface of one interior wall to the opposite one.

ADA

• The Americans with Disabilities Act can modify these codes to make plumbing fixtures accessible to the disabled, especially those in wheelchairs. For example, the ADA increases clearances around water closets. It states that toilets must be 16 to 18 inches from a side wall or partition for wheelchair access, and from 17 to 19 inches for ambulatory access. Clearances around a water closet must be 60 inches minimum as measured perpendicular from the side wall and 56 inches minimum measured perpendicular from the rear wall.