Restaurant restroom requirements
 

My wife recently had surgery that affected her mobility and she was disturbed to find that restroom handicapped stall of a local restaurant did not have a grab bar. Does NH or Moultonborough have any code requirements regarding public restrooms?

The federal guidelines, as set by the Americans With Disabilities Act, would be the basic standards. States and towns can set higher standards, of course.

http://www.ada.gov/

This link, above, should give you a starting-point.

They also have a free information line: http://www.ada.gov/infoline.htm

Seems like if it were a handicap stall, it would supposed to have a grab bar. If it is just an over sized stall put in years ago they might not have thought about a grab bar.

I think with many venues the issue becomes when do they have to up date the facilities to comply with the standards.... which change all the time. Most likely not unless they updated the bathrooms themselves....

Restaurants and many public places are only required to upgrade their handicapped facilities when the establishment changes ownership or to code when they are newly constructed.

Many old New England buildings are unable to install handicapped facilities due to the age or design of the building and may be deemed exempt.

That being said, there may be a good reason there's no support bar in the stall but it's more likely something that's been overlooked and you should make a suggestion to the management -- the next person in there may appreciate it.

sign me,
the possible next person!