Usually, but not in small spaces. Phoenix and Mesa don't require drinking fountains at 50 occupants or fewer. Above that, the fixture table sets one per 100 people in offices and more in other uses. In Phoenix, bottle fillers can replace up to half, but never the ADA-accessible units. Scottsdale requires one at every fountain.
When is a drinking fountain required?
The model code ratio is one drinking fountain per 100 occupants in an office or other business use, one per 500 in a restaurant and one per 1,000 in retail. Phoenix layers exceptions on top:
- Small occupancies: drinking fountains aren't required for an occupant load of 50 or fewer. Phoenix wrote that into both its International Plumbing Code amendment (Section 410.2) and its Uniform Plumbing Code amendment (Section 415.2), and Mesa's plan checklist lists the same 50-or-fewer exception.
- Restaurants: where a restaurant provides drinking water in a container free of charge, fountains aren't required in that restaurant (Phoenix UPC 415.2).
- Location: fountains, water coolers and water dispensers can't be installed in toilet rooms (Phoenix UPC 415.4).
So a 40-person office suite needs none, while a 120-person office needs the count from the table. For how the ratios work, see how many plumbing fixtures a commercial space needs.
Can a bottle filler replace a drinking fountain?
Partly. Phoenix's Uniform Plumbing Code amendment says water dispensers can replace up to 50 percent of the required drinking fountains, and that bottle filling stations can replace fountains up to 50 percent of the requirement. Chandler goes a step further for other occupancies: a water dispenser connected to the potable water system can stand in for the first required fountain, and dispensers can replace up to half of the total.
Scottsdale runs the opposite direction. Its plumbing amendments add a section reading "Water dispensers shall be an integral part of or installed adjacent to all drinking fountains." In Scottsdale the bottle filler comes with the fountain, not instead of it.
| City | Small-space exception | Bottle filler or dispenser |
|---|---|---|
| Phoenix | Not required at 50 occupants or fewer | Can replace up to 50 percent of required fountains |
| Mesa | Not required at 50 occupants or fewer | Not addressed on Mesa's plan checklist |
| Chandler | Model code: 15 occupants or fewer | Can replace the first fountain, up to 50 percent overall |
| Scottsdale | Model code: 15 occupants or fewer | Required at every drinking fountain |
What does the ADA add?
When fountains are provided, the 2010 ADA Standards say "no fewer than two drinking fountains shall be provided": one for wheelchair users and one for standing users. A single unit that meets both standards, a high-low fountain, can do both jobs. Past two units, half must be the wheelchair-accessible type and half the standing type.
The Access Board is direct about bottle fillers: "If a drinking fountain is provided, a water cooler, bottle filler, or nearby sink cannot substitute for either the wheelchair accessible or the standing height drinking fountain." Wheelchair-accessible spouts sit no higher than 36 inches, and standing-height spouts between 38 and 43 inches.
Children's units are a separate case. If a facility serves children 12 and under, the standards allow a unit with a spout at 30 inches or lower, so a school or child-care tenant should ask the reviewer about it.
The practical result: if your table count is one fountain, you'll likely install a high-low unit or a pair, and a bottle filler is an add-on. Where local rules let a filler count toward the requirement, ask the plan reviewer how they want the accessible units shown.
### What are the ADA dimensions for a fountain?
The Access Board's ADA Standards set the numbers a plumber and designer rough in around (Chapter 6, Section 602, and Chapter 3, Sections 305 and 306). The first table covers the wheelchair-accessible unit.
| Item | Wheelchair-accessible unit (ADA 602) |
|---|---|
| Spout height | 36 inches maximum above the floor (602.4) |
| Clear floor space | A forward approach, centered on the unit, using the 30 by 48 inch space from Section 305 (602.2) |
| Knee clearance | At least 11 inches deep at 9 inches above the floor and at least 8 inches deep at 27 inches above the floor (306.3.3) |
| Toe clearance | Extends 17 to 25 inches under the unit. Space more than 6 inches beyond the knee clearance at 9 inches high does not count as toe clearance (306.2.2 to 306.2.4) |
| Spout location | At least 15 inches from the vertical support and no more than 5 inches from the front edge (602.5) |
| Water stream | At least 4 inches high, with the spout no more than 5 inches from the front of the unit (602.6) |
| Controls | Operable parts must comply with Section 309: usable with one hand, without tight grasping, pinching or twisting (602.3) |
The standing-height unit is simpler. Its spout outlet must be between 38 and 43 inches above the floor (602.7), and it also needs operable parts that comply with Section 309 and an accessible route to reach it.
Two more rules matter to the layout. A unit whose leading edge is higher than 27 inches cannot stick out more than 4 inches into a walkway, so a fountain in a corridor is set into an alcove or given cane-detectable protection. And a bottle filler, when provided, has to meet the same operable-parts rule, but it still cannot stand in for the accessible or standing-height fountain.
### Does every floor need its own?
The ADA rule is written around where fountains are provided. Section 211.1 applies where drinking fountains are provided "on an exterior site, on a floor, or within a secured area." The count that follows, at least two fountains or one that serves both users, is judged for each of those areas, not once for the whole building. The plumbing code sets how many fountains a building needs. The ADA sets how they must be built and how they split between wheelchair and standing users. When the counts are more than two, half must be wheelchair-accessible and half standing, and fractions may be rounded up or down as long as the total still reaches 100 percent.
### What plumbing does a fountain need?
A fountain is one more fixture on the rough-in. It needs a potable water supply, a drain with a trap, and a spot where both can reach the wall or floor cavity behind the unit. Recessed and semi-recessed units need a framed opening. A refrigerated unit or filter also needs an electrical outlet within reach. Because an accessible unit has open knee space beneath it, the supply and drain lines have to be routed so they do not intrude on that space. The plumber and the architect should agree on these points before the wall is closed.
What should you do for a tenant improvement?
- 1Get the occupant load first. At 50 or fewer in Phoenix or Mesa, you're done with the fountain question.
- 2Above 50, run the ratio (IPC Table 403.1 in the cities on the IPC path) for your use, then decide whether a high-low fountain plus a bottle filler is simpler than two separate units.
- 3Ask the reviewer whether your tenant space or the whole floor counts for the ADA minimum, since a shared corridor fountain may already serve you.
- 4Look at the fountain's water supply and drain location before the walls close. It's one more fixture on the rough-in, and it can't sit inside a restroom. Confirm the finish and the final location with the architect, because the wall behind it holds both water and drain lines and is expensive to open later.
HQ is licensed and insured and gives free estimates on commercial build-outs. Restroom layout, including accessible fixtures, is in ADA commercial restroom plumbing, and the wider scope is in commercial tenant improvement plumbing.