Supermarket: Do stores have to have a customer toilet installed?

There are toilets in many shops - usually for staff and not for customers. In which cases are there also toilets for guests?

You're out shopping or strolling around - and suddenly your bladder is pressing. This is not an unusual situation. Looking for a public toilet can take too long. And stopping at a café or restaurant just to relieve yourself is not an option for many people. It costs money and doesn't always fit into their schedule. So is it possible for customers to use the store's employee toilets? And in which cases do customers need to have toilets in the store?

Large shopping centers and malls usually have a customer toilet. These can be used for a certain fee. Whether or not one is available does not only depend on the operator's service philosophy. The state building regulations of the individual countries also play an important role.

In Berlin , for example, sanitary facilities must be available in retail stores if the sales area exceeds 400 square meters. In other federal states, the sales area must be over 800 square meters for a customer toilet to be installed.

Smaller shops, on the other hand, usually only have one toilet for their employees. This is partly due to a lack of space. On the other hand, a customer toilet also means additional work (cleaning) and additional expenses. The owners of small shops are not legally obliged to offer a toilet for their customers.

A restaurant or café must have a customer toilet if the dining room has space for more than 200 guests. In this case, the dining room is legally considered an event space. Toilets are then legally required.

However, a guest toilet does not have to be available if the guest room is smaller than 50 square meters, only non-alcoholic drinks are offered and/or if there are only take-away food and drinks, i.e. there are no tables.

There is no federal law that regulates whether a toilet must be available for customers or not (see above).

Since food and drinks are sold in a supermarket but are not intended for immediate consumption, the catering aspect does not apply. However, the situation is different if the supermarket (or hardware store or furniture store) has a type of food court and the corresponding requirements (size; see above) are met.

There is no right for customers to use the toilet. There are various reasons for this.

In some cases, the staff toilet may be too far away from the sales area. Customers would then have to go through the warehouse, the shop's break room or other internal rooms. And that, in turn, is not permitted for data protection reasons. Customer traffic in the back areas of the shop should also be avoided so that the privacy and rest periods of the employees are protected and maintained.

Nevertheless, in an emergency situation (for example, pregnant women) customers can ask the store if they can use the toilet as an exception. An exception may be made.