Accessible shower Equipment

Wheelchair-accessible shower: The requirements of DIN standard 18040-2

Walk-in showers have become the standard in barrier-free bathrooms. There is hardly a new building in which they are not installed. And rightly so: a floor-level shower looks elegant and easy to walk on, for everyone. The fact that barrier-free showers are same with the floor, there is no cumbersome threshold or tripping hazard when entering. If the shower area is big enough, even wheelchair users can take a shower for themselves. People with reduced mobility thus gain a great deal of self-determination or get back through barrier-free showers. However, not every floor-level shower is automatically barrier-free in the sense of the DIN standard 18040-2. In addition to ground-level access, other aspects must be considered. Although the following requirements of the DIN standard are sometimes not necessary for private households, they address the needs of users and thus offer maximum comfort and safety when showering.

Dimensions of the shower enclosure for barrier-free / wheelchair-accessible shower: The shower area is considered to be barrier-free if it is a minimum of 120 x 120 cm, non-slip coated and can be used with a rollator. It is considered wheelchair accessible if it is at least 150 x 150 cm in size, has an anti-slip surface and can be used with a wheelchair.

Floor-level shower access: barrier-free and wheelchair-accessible showers require a floor-level transition, which is a maximum of 2 cm in height and preferably inclined.

Equipment of the barrier-free and wheelchair-accessible shower: To earn the name barrier-free shower, seat and grab handles must be present or at least the possibility of retrofitting them given. In the wheelchair-accessible shower this looks a bit more complicated. If not available, at least the possibility of retrofitting a shower seat with a depth of 45 cm and a seat height of 46 - 48 cm must be given. The same applies to double-sided folding support handles with a length of 15 cm plus the seat depth, a distance of 65 - 70 cm and a height of 28 cm above the seat.

Barrier-free fitting: Barrier-free showers should be equipped with a single-lever mixer or, ideally, with a non-contact fitting including temperature limiter. This ensures easy operation and protection against scalding. With the wheelchair-accessible shower it is no different. Here, however, care should be taken to ensure that the shower mixer can be easily reached from a sitting position at a height of 85 cm.