As part of Mayor de Blasio’s initiative, gender-neutral single-occupant restrooms have been required across the city since January 1st, 2017.
Local Law 79 of 2016 required all existing single-occupant bathrooms to be available to all genders. The intent was not for any physical alteration to be made to such restrooms except for updated signage.
The Department of Buildings recently published Buildings Bulletin 2019-003 to clarify these retroactive requirements. Additionally, the bulletin provides an example of gender-neutral signage. It is important to note that the code does not specify the exact content of this signage and that the bulletin simply provides an example.
Local Law 79 of 2016 included various amendments to the 2014 Administrative, Plumbing, and Building Codes. These changes were published as Update #17, which can be found here.
To see our original newsletter regarding gender-neutral restrooms click here.