Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 — sanitary facilities (Tech Handbook, non-domestic, April 2026 ed., s.3.12)

In brief

In Scotland, building standards guidance says separate male and female sanitary accommodation is usually provided: a default, not an absolute mandate. Scotland regulates sanitary provision through the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, given technical effect by the Building Standards Technical Handbook (non-domestic), Standard 3.12. Scotland does not operate the English Approved Document system and is not within the Building Regulations 2010 / Schedule 1 framework that England and Wales share. Handbook 3.12.1 says that separate male and female sanitary accommodation is usually provided, based on the proportion of men and women who will use the building where that is known, or otherwise for equal numbers of each sex. Only Standard 3.12 itself is mandatory; 3.12.1 and the rest of the Handbook are guidance, so departing from them is permissible if the standard is otherwise met. Unisex accommodation is separately permitted where each facility is a separate space for use by only one person at a time, with a door that can be secured from within. Scotland has no Part T-style instrument, but it does have its own longstanding, functionally comparable default in 3.12.1: non-mandatory, and older than Part T's 2024 'must consist of' wording. So Scotland is not without sex-separation guidance. The current non-domestic Handbook is the April 2026 edition, which applies to warrants submitted on or after 6 April 2026 and superseded a January 2025 edition, which in turn followed the 2022 edition. Which edition applies turns on the date the building warrant was submitted, not on a single in-force date.

Key provisions

• • Std 3.12.1 [framework] Number and separation of sanitary facilities — • Std 3.12.1 [framework] Number and separation of sanitary facilities
• Separate male/female sanitary accommodation is usually provided, based on the pr — Separate male/female sanitary accommodation is usually provided, based on the proportion of each sex using the building (or equal numbers if unknown). Unisex accommodation is permitted only as a single-occupancy space, for use by one person at a time, with a door securable from within.
• Tactical: Maps to single-user universal (lockable, one person) ≠ multi-user mixe — Tactical: Maps to single-user universal (lockable, one person) ≠ multi-user mixed-sex. Guidance toward separation rather than an absolute statutory single-sex requirement — distinguish from England's Part T.

When relevant

Advising on toilet/sanitary facilities for non-domestic buildings in Scotland. Scotland has no Part T equivalent; Technical Handbook 3.12.1 favours separate male/female provision, with unisex permitted only as single-occupancy lockable space. Keep the three layers distinct: building-reg (this record, Scotland) ≠ workplace-welfare (WHSWR reg 20, GB-wide) ≠ equality law (EA 2010 and For Women Scotland; for services, the EHRC services Code 2026; for workplaces, EA 2010 Part 5 and the EHRC Employment Code, not the services Code).