A restaurant needs at least one dedicated hand sink, plus as many more as it takes for staff to wash conveniently in every food preparation, food dispensing and warewashing area, and one in or right next to each toilet room. The FDA Food Code does not give a fixed count per square foot or per employee, so the real number comes from your layout and your local health department.
If an older hand sink needs a new faucet, see this commercial hand sink faucet for 4 in. centers.
Once you know how many you need, check the right hand sink height for each one.
What the Food Code says
Two sections of the 2022 FDA Food Code do most of the work. Section 5-203.11 sets the count: at least one handwashing sink, and enough of them for convenient use by employees in the areas listed in section 5-204.11. Section 5-204.11 sets the locations: sinks must allow convenient use by employees in food preparation, food dispensing and warewashing areas, and must be in, or immediately adjacent to, toilet rooms.
The Food Code gives no distance
The Food Code uses the word “convenient” and stops there. It does not say how many feet a hand sink may be from a work station. Some jurisdictions fill that gap with their own number. Washington State’s food rule, for example, calls for a hand sink within 25 feet of food preparation, food dispensing and warewashing areas, or as approved. Several county health departments in other states publish the same 25 foot figure as their own rule or as their reading of “convenient”.
Where no number is written down, this is what inspectors commonly look for. Treat it as common practice, not code text:
- A sink staff can reach in a few steps without going through a door.
- A clear path, with no equipment, carts or stock in the way.
- A sink in each separate room or zone where open food or clean utensils are handled, including the bar.
- Protection between the hand sink and nearby food, clean dishes or prep surfaces, either by distance or by a splash guard.
Your local health department has the final say on how many hand sinks you need and where they go, so confirm the plan with your inspector or plan reviewer before you buy anything.
Common inspection problems
Most hand sink violations are about use, not about the count. Section 5-205.11 requires a hand sink to be accessible at all times and bars using it for any purpose other than handwashing. Section 2-301.15 says employees may not wash their hands in a food prep sink, a warewashing sink or a mop sink. Typical write-ups include:
- A hand sink blocked by a trash can, a rack or boxes.
- Utensils, wiping cloths or a drink pitcher sitting in the bowl.
- Staff dumping ice or drinks into the hand sink.
- No soap or no paper towels at the sink.
- Water that does not get warm. The 2022 Food Code lowered the minimum hand sink water temperature to 85 degrees F, but many states still enforce 100 degrees F from older editions.
- A bar or server station with no hand sink of its own.
What to buy
Count your work areas first, then match a sink to each one.
- Wall mounted hand sinks for the cook line, prep area and dish area. Models with side splashes help when the sink sits beside a prep surface.
- A separate hand sink for the bar. Many underbar sinks are built for washing glassware or dumping, and those bowls do not count as a hand sink.
- Faucets that deliver mixed warm water. If you choose a metering or self closing faucet, the Food Code expects at least 15 seconds of flow per activation.
- Prep sinks and compartment sinks for food and dishes, so the hand sink is never borrowed for those jobs.
Express KitchQuip’s own stainless steel sinks are NSF certified, and freight to the 48 contiguous states is included in the price. No product can guarantee an inspection result, so get your sink count and locations approved first and order to that plan.