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Council Introduced Bill to Mandate More Water Closets in Public Buildings to Ease Female Conveniences

Official:Amending Chapter 5 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Non-Residential Occupancies" by adding a new Section PM-504.5 entitled "Minimum Water Closets in Places of Public Assembly" to alleviate the unequal impact inconveniencing women.

Sponsor: Councilmember Rizzo

Introduced: June 9, 2005

: Committee on Licenses and Inspections

equality public health zoning

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2004–2007 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.

That is not unusual here. Of the 8,465 bills introduced between 2000 and 2025, 1,624 lapsed without a single recorded vote. Ninety percent of bills that became law carry a roll call. Three percent of lapsed bills do. How this works.

Plain-Language Summary

This bill requires new and altered buildings in Philadelphia to have a minimum number of water closets for both men and women to alleviate long wait times for women.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

New and altered buildings in Philadelphia must have a minimum number of water closets for both men and women.
The minimum number of water closets for women must be approximately twice as many as for men, as required by the 2003 International Building Code.
This requirement applies to places of public assembly, such as arenas, bars, concert halls, convention halls, motion picture theaters, public dance halls, stadiums, and theaters.
The bill aims to alleviate the unequal impact and long wait times that women experience when using restrooms, compared to men.