• According to the Florida Building Code, all food service establishments must provide restrooms.Restaurant in Gassin image by Weimar from Fotolia.com
  
  All restaurants and fixed food service establishments in Florida must provide employees and customers with restrooms that comply with Florida Building Code: Public Food Service Establishments (Chapter 4, Section 426) and Florida Building Code: Plumbing. In addition, restaurant restrooms must comply with standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which are duplicated in Chapter 11: Florida Accessibility Code for Building Construction of the Florida Building Codes.
  
  

Access and Location

• All Florida food service establishments must have restrooms that are completely enclosed and separate from all other areas of the restaurant. Restrooms may not be accessible by the public through any cooking, cleaning or storage areas. The restrooms must also provide privacy in the way of a tight-closing or self-closing door.
  
  

Number

• According to Chapter 4 of the Florida Building Code for plumbing, the restaurant must provide one male and one female water closet (an enclosed, private toilet), and one service sink for every 75 customers of its rated occupancy.
  
  

General Plumbing

• In addition to the restroom requirements specific to food service establishments, restaurants must also comply with the general plumbing requirements outlined in the Florida Building Codes: Plumbing, Chapter 3, Sections 310 and 311. These require that the restroom be made of sanitary fixtures, kept in sanitary condition, have partitions or single-occupancy restrooms for privacy, and follow specific requirements for fixtures, interior finish, lighting and ventilation. Restaurants must also comply with all of the other general plumbing requirements applicable to all commercial and public buildings outlined in the other chapters of the Florida Building Code: Plumbing.
  
  

Accessibility

• The restaurant's restroom must also comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by providing an accessible restroom for customers and employees with disabilities. To meet this requirement: there must be an accessible, clear route to the restroom and its fixtures; the route to the restroom must be at least 36 inches wide. The doors must follow ADA guidelines, as with all other doors in the establishment, and there must be at least 60 inches of turning space inside the restroom. If the restroom has stalls, at least one must comply with the measurements and specifications of ADA Standard 4.17. Sinks, mirrors, dispensers and urinals must also follow ADA specifications.