Tag:amenity=toilets

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amenity = toilets
Description
A publicly accessible toilet Show/edit corresponding data item.
Rendering in OSM Carto
Group: amenities
Used on these elements
may be used on nodesshould not be used on waysmay be used on areas (and multipolygon relations)should not be used on relations (except multipolygon relations)
Useful combination
See also
Status: approvedPage for proposal

Use amenity=toilets to identify the location of a toilet open to the public. Public toilets are commonly referred to as restrooms, washrooms, bathrooms, or toiletrooms.

How to tag

Place a node centrally at the location of the toilet amenities and tag it amenity=toilets. Alternatively draw an area over the toilet area and tag it with amenity=toilets, and if located in a dedicated building with building=toilets.

Following tags maybe useful to mark important properties:

Toilet equipment

Disposal method


Toilet seating

  • toilets:position=seated/urinal/squat - specify sitting position, use a semicolon to separate multiple values.
Image Description Tag
seated toilet Only seated toilets toilets:position=seated
urinal toilet Only urinal toilets toilets:position=urinal
squat toilet Only squat toilets toilets:position=squat
seated toileturinal toilet Seated and urinal toilets; i.e., more than one type. toilets:position=seated;urinal

(types listed separated by semicolons)

Tagging access to toilets

Public vs private access

Toilets can have complex access rules. Those rules useful to toilets include:

  • access=yes - explicitly public and open to whoever walks up (a fee=* may still apply).
  • access=customers - while open to the public, the clear policy is to require a purchase prior to use. You may need a key or code to get in. Some people also use access=destination, and a few use locked=* for this.
  • access=private, access=no use room=toilets because amenity=toilets is for toilets "open to the public".
  • centralkey=* is used, if a toilet can be opened by a central key, that is distributed only to a limited group of persons (such as the Euro key).

Gender-based access

The male/female access details might be tagged simply for the overall amenity=toilets object:

  • female=yes/no - whether women can use this toilet.
  • male=yes/no - whether men can use this toilet.
  • unisex=yes - unisex toilet.
  • child=yes/no - children (seats and urinals for children).

Use gender_segregated=yes/no to unambiguously state whether a toilet is gender segregated or not.


It can be useful to map entrances or even areas of a toilet separately.

  • entrance=yes would typically go on a node on each entrance
  • female=yes/no, male=yes/no, unisex=yes/no tags go on the same entrance nodes or even on an area within a building.

Detail like this may be particularly useful for visually impaired users. Individual entrances/areas can also be individually mapped for wheelchair accessibility.


Wheelchair accessibility

Information for tagging wheelchair-accessibility can be found here.


Toilets within places

Facilities such as shops and pubs often have toilets inside them for customers, and sometimes free for the public as part of a scheme (e.g. Richmond Council). On the usual tags of amenity=pub, building=yes, shop=* add the following tags and use the 'toilets' namespace.

  • toilets=yes/no - refers to toilets accessible to the public
  • toilets:access=* - refers to toilets accessible to a member of the public. Note that for example toilets:access=customers means that a toilet exists but is only available to customers.

All other tags described above can be used in this case, prefixed with toilets:=*

Avoid using toilet=* (singular).

In general don't map toilets that are inaccessible to the public. Many buildings have toilets inside for workers or owners, but mapping these could create needless conflict or unrealistic expectations. Use toilets=no for places you might expect to find a usable toilet (e.g. a railway station or trailhead) but no public toilets are made available.

Do not use toilets:access=* on toilets tagged as a separate object with amenity=toilets, use access=* instead.

See also

  • drinking_water=yes/no - if a drinking water source is immediately associated with (usually outside) the toilet and/or the water in the sink is drinkable. Note: for micro mapping, it is better to create a separate node with amenity=drinking_water.
  • shower=yes - Are shower facilities in the toilet. However, it might be better to add an extra node with amenity=shower
  • building=toilets - An independent building built to house toilets.
  • man_made=septic_tank - Use for a nearby septic tank e.g., under the soil in the garden. The toilet itself is likely a "flush" type.

Examples

Maps using this tag

See the project listing on taginfo

Possible tagging mistakes

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!
If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!