(H. B. 1210) (No. 186) (Approved August 17, 2011) AN ACT To add a Section 1(B) to Act No. 168 of May 4, 1949, as amended, in order to require enclosed shopping malls with retail space greater than one hundred thousand (100,000) square feet or more; ports and airports with four gates or more; government centers and convention centers; sports stadiums and courts with capacity for seven thousand (7,000) people or more and public beaches, to establish companion-assisted restrooms or family restrooms; to empower the Permit Management Office to regulate the establishment of such restrooms permit; and for other purposes. STATEMENT OF MOTIVES As adults, it is our moral and legal responsibility to ensure the well-being and safety of our children, so we must provide them with proper supervision when they are under our care. The elderly and people with physical disabilities must also be provided with a safe and family-oriented environment. One inconvenience we encounter when visiting shopping malls or public places with small children is the use of restrooms. Oftentimes, parents and other caregivers with children of the opposite sex face a dilemma when it comes to using public restrooms, since they decide whether to take their child to the restroom for their own gender or let the child go into the restroom of his or her gender without supervision. This situation also arises when caring for the elderly or for persons with physical disabilities who need assistance in order to use restroom facilities.
The installation of companion-assisted or family restrooms shall allow for parents or caregivers to take and supervise children or the elderly or persons with physical disabilities into a safe and family-oriented environment. This Legislative Assembly deems it convenient to provide for the establishment of such restrooms in shopping malls, ports, airports, government facilities, sports stadiums, courts, and public beaches to achieve the abovementioned purpose. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF PUERTO RICO: Section 1.- A Section 1(B) is hereby added to Act No. 168 of May 4, 1949, as amended, to read as follows: Section 1(B).- Companion-Assisted or Family Restrooms.- 1. The Permit Management Office (PMO) is hereby directed to incorporate into the Puerto Rico Building Code to be provided prospectively that enclosed shopping malls with retail space greater than one hundred thousand (100,000) square feet; ports and airports with four gates or more; government centers and convention centers; sports stadiums and courts with capacity for seven thousand (7,000) people or more, and public beaches shall establish companion-assisted restrooms or family restrooms. For the purposes of the regulations to be adopted, the term companion-assisted or family restrooms shall mean restroom facilities equipped to be used by people of both sexes, by one or more persons with disabilities, elderly persons or children who need the assistance of another person or a relative when using restroom facilities.
2. Every Commonwealth and municipal government center offering services to the public shall be subject to the provisions of this Act prospectively. In the case of existing Commonwealth and municipal government centers, any necessary and pertinent measures shall be taken to establish companion-assisted or family restrooms, subject to the availability of their resources. 3. The Luis Muñoz-Marín Airport in all its terminals, the Mercedita Airport in Ponce, the Rafael Hernández Airport in Aguadilla, the Eugenio María de Hostos Airport in Mayagüez, and the Ports of San Juan, Cataño, Fajardo, Vieques, and Culebra shall be subject to the provisions of this Act prospectively. Those airports and ports not mentioned herein shall be excluded from the application of the provisions of this Act. The preceding notwithstanding, any terminal to be built in any airport with four (4) gates or more, in which restroom facilities are to be built, extended or modified by fifty percent (50%) or more based on its total area, shall comply with the provisions of this Act. 4. Any public or private facility that meets the characteristics set forth in subsection (1) of this Section, shall install one companion-assisted or family restroom for every two men s and women s restrooms with six or more stalls as provided in this Act. Such restrooms shall comply with any Federal or Commonwealth law or regulation that provide for easy access and convenience for persons with physical disabilities, especially with the provisions in effect of the American with Disabilities Act and the American with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines.
5. Any public or private facility described in subsection (1) of this Section, the structure of which is rebuilt, extended or modified fifty percent (50%) or more based on its total area shall establish family restroom facilities, as required under this Act, after the approval of the amendments to the Puerto Rico Building Code to be approved by PMO pursuant to this Act. This Act shall only apply to the area of the building to be rebuilt, extended or modified, and not to the entire building. 6. Any public or private facility that meets the characteristics set forth in subsection (1) of this Section, which is built after the approval of the amendments to the Puerto Rico Building Code to be approved by PMO pursuant to this Act, shall establish family restroom facilities for every two men s and women s restrooms with six (6) or more stalls. 7. All strip centers existing before the approval of this Act shall be expressly excluded from the application of this Act. However, any strip center in which restroom facilities are to be built, extended or modified fifty percent (50%) or more based on its total area, shall comply with the provisions of this Act. 8. The Permit Management Office shall be empowered to make any amendment that it deems necessary to the Puerto Rico Building Code in effect in order to comply with the provisions of this Act, as well as to create any forms that are necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this Act within six (6) months following the approval thereof, pursuant to the provisions of Act No. 170 of August 12, 1988, as amended, known as the Uniform Administrative Procedure of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Section 2.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
CERTIFICATION I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 186 (H. B. 1210) of the 5 th Session of the 16 th Legislature of Puerto Rico: AN ACT to add a Section 1(B) to Act No. 168 of May 4, 1949, as amended, in order to require enclosed shopping malls with retail space greater than one hundred thousand (100,000) square feet or more; ports and airports with four gates or more; government centers and convention centers; sports stadiums and courts with capacity for seven thousand (7,000) people or more and public beaches, to establish companion-assisted restrooms or family restrooms; to empower the Permit Management Office to regulate the establishment of such restrooms permit; and for other purposes. has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, on the 12 th day of September, 2011. María del Mar Ortiz Rivera, Esq. Director