I need some help to one up an insufferable know it all

[happyroo_bunji]

Hey everyone

I need to know if any Tarjay stores in Australia have public toilets?  I have never been in a Tarjay that had thier own public toilets, yet an insufferable know it all co-worker says that most stores do.

[happyroo_bunji]

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@the_great_she_elephant wrote:

I can't recally ever being in a Target store that had public toilets. As others have said - they are nearly all in shopping centres which have them.

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same here.  The ones that aren't in Shopping centres, usually Target Country Stores don't have them.  If they do, they certainly don't advertise them.

Btw, we have let little kids and their parents use a staff toilet a couple of times, so we/me aren't total monsters.  The only stores that have public loo's are the cafe's and restuarants because they have to.

[grace.under.water]

Well, nobody's forcing you to speak...

[i-need-a-martini]

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@gleee58 wrote:

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@i-need-a-martini wrote:

I am afraid your friend is correct.

By law any stand alone store has to have public accessible toilets. And even if they are in a complex, some would have to have them depending on the size of the store and the proximity to the nearest public ones.

On saying that I have never been into a Target that had a 'Toilet this way' sign anywhere. But I have been to my local when my daughter had to go, and they didn't have a problem taking me to one that was locked but not sign posted.

The law varies state to state and depending on store size though, doesn't it?

A couple of stand alone Target stores I know of only have staff toilets and the size of the store was the determining factor (in not having to provide public toilets).  The huge newish one at Belconnen has toilets nearby but not in store.

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Nope. The BCA covers all building in Australia regardless of state.

The law came into effct in 2001 so any building either new or renovated after that time follows same rules.

It also needs regulatory signage but the signage doesn't include "here are toilets" signs in public spaces. So in theory you can (and they usually do) hide their loos in an area close to back of house. 

The toilets don't have to be visible but they must be available.

[i-need-a-martini]

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@happyroo_bunji wrote:

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@i-need-a-martini wrote:

I am afraid your friend is correct.

By law any stand alone store has to have public accessible toilets. And even if they are in a complex, some would have to have them depending on the size of the store and the proximity to the nearest public ones.

On saying that I have never been into a Target that had a 'Toilet this way' sign anywhere. But I have been to my local when my daughter had to go, and they didn't have a problem taking me to one that was locked but not sign posted.

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never heard of that law martini.

The only toilets we have in the store are the staff ones and I for one would not be happy if the public had access to them.

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Maybe not. But you are legally obliged to have them installed and share them. Depending on how old the store is and where the nearest public toilets are, you probably have a unisex accessible toilet for people in wheelchairs, plus separate male and female toilets.

They are most likely just at the entrance of the warehouse or within a couple of metres of your back of house area. The accessible toilet may even be locked but within the front of house area.

[poddster]

Tsk Tsk Grace, do I detect a sweeping statement there?

Just hang around here for a while and you will see that the ratio of male to female, of what are classed as 'know it alls' are heavily weighted towards the female end of the scale 🙂

[lloydslights]

There is some sort of ratio in the Building Codes that reflect the number of toilet facilities for a store of 1000m2(?) of customer floor space for a stand alone shop.  There are ratios too for shopping centres, say, 2 toilets each male(+5 urinals) and  female per 500 shoppers. Restaurants have a customer number ratio too.

Please note these numbers may not be accurate, but there is a formula.

I think some shenanigans used to happen in cubicles of stores in the past

DEB 

[gleee58]

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@i-need-a-martini wrote:

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@gleee58 wrote:

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@i-need-a-martini wrote:

I am afraid your friend is correct.

By law any stand alone store has to have public accessible toilets. And even if they are in a complex, some would have to have them depending on the size of the store and the proximity to the nearest public ones.

On saying that I have never been into a Target that had a 'Toilet this way' sign anywhere. But I have been to my local when my daughter had to go, and they didn't have a problem taking me to one that was locked but not sign posted.

The law varies state to state and depending on store size though, doesn't it?

A couple of stand alone Target stores I know of only have staff toilets and the size of the store was the determining factor (in not having to provide public toilets).  The huge newish one at Belconnen has toilets nearby but not in store.

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Nope. The BCA covers all building in Australia regardless of state.

The law came into effct in 2001 so any building either new or renovated after that time follows same rules.

It also needs regulatory signage but the signage doesn't include "here are toilets" signs in public spaces. So in theory you can (and they usually do) hide their loos in an area close to back of house. 

The toilets don't have to be visible but they must be available.

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Some businesses obviously ignore the rules then because there was a huge backlash in Tassie a few years back about a Harvey Norman store that was built just the right size to avoid having to provide toilets and a Target that did the same.  The council allowed it.  The Harvey Norman eventually allowed their toilets to be used by the public.   I've no idea about the Target as I don't go there.  

The Belconnen Target has no toilet in store but there is a full range of public toilets very near the store entrance, so would pass for Target toilets.

[gleee58]

Thinking about it. It was probably that I had heard about the BCA that caused me to take note of the Harvey Norman battle.  I could not believe what I was reading at the time. That a store would build a shopping centre with no toilets.  They were basing the argument on the fact that the stores were not internally contained in a shopping centre and were in effect a line of shops that each had external access of their own.  

[Anonymous]

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@i-need-a-martini wrote:

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@gleee58 wrote:

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@i-need-a-martini wrote:

I am afraid your friend is correct.

By law any stand alone store has to have public accessible toilets. And even if they are in a complex, some would have to have them depending on the size of the store and the proximity to the nearest public ones.

On saying that I have never been into a Target that had a 'Toilet this way' sign anywhere. But I have been to my local when my daughter had to go, and they didn't have a problem taking me to one that was locked but not sign posted.

The law varies state to state and depending on store size though, doesn't it?

A couple of stand alone Target stores I know of only have staff toilets and the size of the store was the determining factor (in not having to provide public toilets).  The huge newish one at Belconnen has toilets nearby but not in store.

---

Nope. The BCA covers all building in Australia regardless of state.

The law came into effct in 2001 so any building either new or renovated after that time follows same rules.

It also needs regulatory signage but the signage doesn't include "here are toilets" signs in public spaces. So in theory you can (and they usually do) hide their loos in an area close to back of house. 

The toilets don't have to be visible but they must be available.

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are private store owners allowed to charge 

a fee for using the toilets?

[happyroo_bunji]

@i-need-a-martini wrote:

Maybe not. But you are legally obliged to have them installed and share them. Depending on how old the store is and where the nearest public toilets are, you probably have a unisex accessible toilet for people in wheelchairs, plus separate male and female toilets.

They are most likely just at the entrance of the warehouse or within a couple of metres of your back of house area. The accessible toilet may even be locked but within the front of house area.

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The store will be a year old in April, completely new innards.  The only toilets we have are behind the locked door leading to the managers office and tea rooms. The towns public facility is approx 500mtrs down the road.

The store I work in is quite small, its in a small country town.