HB 23-1057

HB 23-1057, titled "Amenities For All Genders In Public Buildings," requires public buildings in Colorado to provide gender-neutral restrooms and baby diaper changing stations starting January 1, 2024. This means that newly built or renovated public facilities must include non-gendered restroom options on every floor where restrooms are available, along with easily accessible diaper-changing stations. The law also mandates clear signage for these amenities by July 1, 2026. It applies to buildings owned or leased by state departments, agencies, institutions of higher education, and local governments. The bill has been signed into law and is now effective as of August 7, 2023.

Official Summary

Effective January 1, 2024, the act requires each newly constructed building and each building with qualifying restroom renovations that is wholly or partly owned by a state department, state agency, state institution of higher education, county, city and county, or municipality (public entity) to: Provide a non-gendered restroom facility or a multi-stall non-gendered facility on each floor where restrooms are available in a newly constructed building and wherever a restroom is accessible to the public in a building in which a restroom is being renovated; Ensure that all single-stall restrooms are not gender specific restrooms; Allow for the use of multi-stall restrooms by any gender if certain facility features are met under the International Plumbing Code and the Colorado Fuel Gas Code; Provide at least one safe, sanitary, and convenient baby diaper changing station that is accessible to the public on each floor where there is a public restroom in a newly constructed building and wherever a restroom is accessible to the public in a building in which a restroom is being renovated, in each gender-specific restroom if only gender-specific restrooms are available, and in each non-gendered single-stall or multi-stall restroom or provide such a changing station in an easily accessible location with equivalent privacy and amenities as a restroom; Ensure that each baby diaper changing station is cleaned with the same frequency as the restroom in which it is located, or restrooms on the same floor or in the space if it is not within a restroom, and maintained, repaired, and replaced as necessary to ensure safety and ease of use. Beginning July 1, 2024, but no later than July 1, 2026, a building that is wholly or partially owned or leased by a public entity must ensure that signage for the building or the portion of the building leased or owned by the public entity complies with the following signage requirements, subject to available appropriations: Include signage indicating the presence of a baby diaper changing station with a pictogram that is void of gender in all restrooms with baby diaper changing stations, include signage with a pictogram void of gender in all non-gendered restrooms, and include signage with a pictogram void of gender in all single-stalled restrooms; and Indicate in the central building directory, if such a directory exists, the location of any baby diaper changing station and of any non-gendered restroom with a pictogram void of gender. The act requires the department of personnel to complete a survey that determines the number and locations of signs needed to comply with the act signage requirements and requires the survey be provided to the general assembly and the capital development committee. The requirements of the act pertaining to baby diaper changing stations and providing a non-gendered single-stall restroom or a non-gendered multi-stall restroom in specified locations do not apply: To the extent that compliance with a requirement would result in failure to comply with applicable building standards governing the right of access for individuals with disabilities; To a project that has already progressed through the design review process, budgeting, and final approval by the governing body that has final approval over capital construction project expenditures as of the effective date of the act, or to a building designated as a certified historic structure. Beginning on July 1, 2025, the act requires a building that is wholly or partially owned by a public entity that is a newly constructed building that is accessible to employees or enrolled students, or a building undergoing a qualifying restroom renovation to: Provide a non-gendered single-stall restroom or a non-gendered multi-stall restroom; Ensure that any single-stall restroom is not a gender-specific restroom; and Allow for the use of a multi-stall restroom by any gender if certain facility features are met pursuant to the International Plumbing Code or the Colorado Fuel Gas Code as adopted by the state plumbing board. The act clarifies that an employee with a designated workplace in a public building may undertake the complaint process for alleged discriminatory or unfair practices including the failure to comply with providing the required amenities to all genders, as required, with the Colorado civil rights division charged with the enforcement of the Colorado anti-discrimination act. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $450,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of personnel for use by the office of the state architect. To implement the act, the office may use $400,000 for statewide planning services and $50,000 for a restroom survey of state-owned buildings. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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