Drinking fountain requirements in Surprise, AZ: the 50 occupant rule and water coolers

Surprise's amendments show each change as struck and underlined text. Three sections touch drinking fountains.

IPC 410.2, Small occupancies. The model code reads "Drinking fountains shall not be required for an occupant load of 15 or fewer." Surprise struck 15 and wrote in 50.

IBC 2902.6, Small occupancies. The building code carries the same sentence, and Surprise made the same change there, from 15 to 50. The two codes now agree, so a plan reviewer reading either one gets the same answer.

IPC 410.4, Substitution. The first sentence stays: "In restaurants that provide drinking water in a container free of charge, drinking fountains shall not be required." The second sentence is struck. It said water coolers or bottled water dispensers "shall be permitted to be substituted for not more than 50 percent of the required number of drinking fountains." Surprise replaced it with: "In other occupancies where drinking fountains are required, bottle water dispensers or water coolers shall be a permissible substitute." The new sentence names no percentage.

Section 410.3, which asks for one fountain for people who use a wheelchair and one for standing people where fountains are required, is not on Surprise's list of amendments, so the model text still applies wherever fountains are required (a reading).

• Occupant load: the number of people the building code says a space is designed to hold, worked out from its floor area and use. It is on the plans, not a head count on a busy day.
• Drinking fountain: a plumbed fixture with a bubbler you drink from directly.
• Water cooler or bottled water dispenser: a unit that pours water into a cup or bottle. Surprise's wording does not say it must be plumbed, so a jug cooler reads as allowed (a reading; confirm it with the plan reviewer).
• Bottle filling station: a plumbed unit that fills a bottle. It fits the dispenser wording in practice (a reading).

Commercial and public buildings in Surprise built or altered under the 2024 codes: offices, retail, restaurants, schools, gyms, churches and tenant improvements. Single-family homes are not covered; these sections are written for commercial and public buildings.

• A 2,500 square foot insurance office. At the building code's 150 square feet per person for business use, its occupant load comes to about 17. Under the model code's limit of 15 it would need a fountain. In Surprise it does not.
• A gym moving into a former grocery suite. Its occupant load is well over 50, so fountains are required. The owner wants bottle fillers and a water cooler instead of bubblers. Surprise's wording allows the swap without a cap. Any fountain the owner still puts in is built to the ADA, and the plan reviewer settles the count.
• A sit-down restaurant. Servers bring water to every table at no charge, so the dining room needs no fountain under the first sentence of 410.4.

1. 1Find the occupant load on your plans. If it is 50 or fewer, Surprise does not require a drinking fountain.
2. 2If it is over 50, work out the required number from the plumbing code's fixture table for your use.
3. 3Decide whether coolers, bottle fillers or fountains will meet that number, and show the choice on the plumbing plan.
4. 4If you install any fountain, plan it to the ADA: a wheelchair height unit and a standing height unit, or one unit that serves both.
5. 5Submit the plans through the City's permit process and ask the plan reviewer to confirm the substitution before you order fixtures.

• "Every business needs a fountain." Not in Surprise below 51 occupants.
• "A cooler can only cover half." That is the model code and Chandler's rule. Surprise struck the 50 percent limit.
• "A bottle filler makes the fountain ADA compliant." The Access Board says a bottle filler cannot replace the wheelchair or standing fountain.

A fountain or bottle filler needs a water line, a drain, and a spot on the wall where the ADA clearances work. That is easiest to plan before the walls close. A plumber who does commercial work in Surprise can read the fixture count off your plans, tell you where a cooler can stand in for a fountain, and rough in the lines for the units you keep. HQ Plumbing & Air does commercial plumbing in Surprise. See our commercial plumbing and Surprise plumbing pages, our guide to drinking fountain and bottle filler rules in other Valley cities, or contact us to talk through a project.