Disabled toilets are the first thing most people think about in relation to Doc M, but when designing accessible bathroom facilities for commercial or hospitality settings, creating accessible showering spaces is another common requirement.
Whether it’s an accessible hotel suite, showers for a spa or gym, or even end of trip facilities in the workplace, every public building that offers shower facilities to non-disabled people has an obligation to also provide an accessible option.
At NYMAS Group, we strive to support our customers in providing compliant, well designed, accessible showering facilities for a range of different settings, and we offer a selection of convenient Doc M shower packs as well as individual products to make the process simple.
What’s in a Doc M Shower Pack?
NYMAS Group’s Doc M shower packs are designed for use by wheelchair users, ambulant disabled, infirm and walking impaired people. They come with all the items needed to create a compliant showering space. Specific pack contents may vary, but every pack contains a combination of the following:
- 1 x Shower seat
- 1 x Concealed or Exposed TMV3 Doc M shower valve
- 1 x Concealed or Exposed Doc M shower diverter
- 1 x Shower head and hose
- 1 x Anti-vandal overhead shower head
- 3 x 600mm stainless steel grab rails with concealed fixings
- 1 x 450mm stainless steel grab rail with concealed fixings
- 1 x 900mm stainless steel grab rail with concealed fixings (used as riser bar)
- 2 x 800mm stainless steel hinged support rails
- 1 x 1200mm x 1200mm stainless steel shower curtain rail
- 2 x Weighted shower curtains
- 1 x Sliding shower head bracket
- 2 x Single robe hooks
What’s the difference between concealed and exposed valve showers?
NYMAS Group Doc M Shower Packs are supplied with either a concealed or an exposed shower valve. But what’s the difference between the two? Let’s take a look.
Concealed shower valves
A concealed valve pack is designed for ‘in wall’ installation in buildings where there is pre-existing or planned-in ducting behind the wall. The shower valve is concealed behind the wall, and only the controls are visible on the outside. The pipework for the fixed, anti-vandal shower head (although not shown in the image above) is also concealed behind the wall and comes out directly into the back of the shower head.
Note how the shower controls have two separate face plates that sit on the wall surface – one for the mixer, one for the diverter (which diverts the water flow up to the fixed anti-vandal shower head).
Exposed shower valves
An exposed shower valve pack is designed for use on solid walls without ducting or recess panelling in the wall that can accommodate the depth required for the valve. The valve and controls project out from the wall and the two handles for the mixer and diverter are both located on the same control point. A fixed pipe carries the water supply up to the anti-vandal shower head, which enters via the underside of the head unit, with the rear entry hole blanked off.
Both systems can be installed with or without the fixed anti-vandal head, by blocking off the appropriate feed points using the nuts provided. The remaining shower head is height adjustable thanks to the slide rail with bracket and flexible hose so it can be hand held or wall mounted.
All NYMAS Group shower mixer/diverter controls are designed with lever operated handles to aid those with limb impairments or dexterity issues.
What is a TMV3 shower valve?
All shower equipment provided by NYMAS Group includes a built in thermostatic mixing valve (TMV) that mixes hot and cold water in order to prevent scalds.
Our TMV3 valves are preset from factory to a maximum of 41°C to comply with Regulation 4 of the Water Supply Regulations (Water Fittings) 1999 legislation – modifying the temperature above this point will result in a potentially dangerous, non-compliant installation.
This standard is sometimes referred to as ‘WRAS approved’, although the same level of approval is actually supplied by a number of bodies in the UK including NSF and KIWA.
Installing a shower seat
Disabled shower cubicles are required under Approved Document M to provide a shower seat – but in order to achieve compliance, it’s important to be aware of some specifics around the design of the seat itself, and the way it is installed.
Projection
The projection of a Doc M seat must be 650mm from the main wall it is mounted to – this is to allow a wheelchair user to pull up parallel to the seat and complete a left- or right-handed transfer just as they would onto a toilet pan. Learn more about transfers here.
The NYMAS Group shower seats shown above has an extended mounting bracket that ensures the seat projection achieves the required 650mm. However, some of our seats don’t have this bracket, and if mounted directly on the wall, these won’t strictly comply with Doc M. In these cases, the installer must install a wall ‘packer’ of a similar width to the seat, at a depth that makes up the difference to the required 650mm.
In the example below (Pack code 321104) a 242mm packer box is required:
Height
NYMAS Group shower seats often have adjustable legs, allowing for different mounting heights, but for Doc M the recommended height from floor to top of the seat (including any seat pad) is 480mm.
Safety
When specified within Doc M packs, the seat pad colours are matched as closely as possible to the grab rail colours, in accordance with the guidelines on Light Reflectance Value which are designed to optimise accessibility for people with impaired vision – for more information on Light Reflectance Value please read here.
Our shower seats hold themselves in the folded/stowed position either by a friction lift mechanism or a lift-and-lock mechanism – browse the range here.
Rail only shower packs
Already got shower fixings for your disabled shower cubicle? Then NYMAS Group’s ‘rail only’ Doc M Shower Packs are for you.
In fact, ‘rail only’ is a bit of a misnomer, because these packs contain more than just grab rails. Our Rail Only Shower Packs contain a shower seat, grab rails (including riser rail), hinged support rails, curtain rail, curtains, robe hooks, and shower head bracket.
They’re ideal for projects where the plumbing hardware is being sourced externally – for example, on large hospitality projects – or for smaller refurbishment projects where the existing shower hardware is being retained.
Need more information?
For further details about any of our Doc M Shower Packs, including help with selecting the correct pack for the requirements of your project or venue, get in touch.