`building=toilets` should trigger bathroom-related quests about streetcomplete

[mnalis]

That is normal, and unfortunately a source of common OSM newcomer confusion.

See FAQ: Building Type Quest - Why don't I see the right types? and #3868 (comment).

In short, building=* (i.e. the thing that Building type quest and Building overlay in StreetComplete update) only defines architectural style of the building. That building=* tag is very rarely of actual interest to the common user on the ground which tries to find some facility, and who thus would be interested in amenity=* or shop=* or heathcare=*.

It is separate from the purpose that building is currently being used for (if any). For example, you can have building=church which is being used as amenity=pub, or building=bunker which is used as amenity=nightclub. Or building=hangar of which half is being used as amenity=marketplace and half as amenity=food_court.

Of course, you can also have building=church which is being used as amenity=place_of_worship, and it does in fact happens quite often, but it is not given...

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In short, if you want to map missing toilets using StreetComplete, you should use Things Overlay and choose toilets from there. Then it will get tagged with amenity=toilets and you'll get all the followup quests.

(Building Overlay is of much less practical use, so I personally would use that only when I've completed everything else and am bored...)

[matkoniecz]

(Building Overlay is of much less practical use, so I personally would use that only when I've completed everything else and am bored...)

Or if you want to get address/building level/roof type quests on area with building=yes (though I enable building quest for that).

[matkoniecz]

So... the most correct way for this type of toilet building would be:

I would say that both are 100% correct, though second provide a bit more info. Though standalone toilets are rarely in repurposed buildings, so second tagging schema is also fine.

I would rate second as worth 1000 points and first as worth 1001 points :)

And that's how I stumbled across this initial issue. I was at the park, and one of the "generic gray rectangles" from satellite view turned out to be public bathrooms. I tagged it, then expected all the toilet quests to pop up too! :)

Oh, that is not really clear. Maybe it would be nice to suggest also marking is as in-use toilet? But it is tricky as amenity=toilets can be also present as standalone node within building....

[matkoniecz]

That is because you may have abandoned toilet building, in which case you do not have active toilet there.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/public-toilets-sold-newport-council-20683059

Note that with things overlay you can add missing active toilets.

[Tex2002ans]

@mnalis Ahh fantastic. Thanks again for the helpful links/info. :)

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So... the most correct way for this type of toilet building would be:

• building=toilets + amenity=toilets

vs. the more commonly tagged:

• building=yes + amenity=toilets

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(Building Overlay is of much less practical use, so I personally would use that only when I've completed everything else and am bored...)

Yes... so far, I've only used it to see some "red buildings" in the area, then tag:

• shed
• garage
• barn
• roof / picnic shelter
  • A roof with "picnic tables / benches / trash cans" underneath it.
  • "pavilion" is what we call those in the US... but according to UK/OSM... building=pavilion is something completely different.

A few buildings were impossible to tell with the satellite view or were in heavy tree cover, but in-person it was easy to see what kind it was. :)

(I caught a few gazebos too... or this weird "two-story viewing station" thing in someone's backyard... or in one town, there's this custom three-story "lighthouse" a person built! I had no idea that thing existed until I was exploring a nearby park and spotted it poking over some houses!)

And that's how I stumbled across this initial issue. I was at the park, and one of the "generic gray rectangles" from satellite view turned out to be public bathrooms. I tagged it, then expected all the toilet quests to pop up too! :)

[mnalis]

So... the most correct way for this type of toilet building would be:
building=toilets + amenity=toilets

Yes.

Although note that some might micromap that, e.g. have a polygon mapped as building=toilets, but then have separate nodes tagged amenity=toilets+male=yes+female=no on one side, and amenity=toilets+male=no+female=yes+changing_table=yes on the other side of that building, maybe with amenity=drinking_water (it I see that correctly on the picture) in the middle (and maybe other sorts of details too).

That might be considered even "more correct", although probably not too useful on such small buildings, but more common on bigger ones like on camping grounds etc. (where you don't want to have to walk all around long building to enter correct toilet).

But really, even just adding only single element as amenity=toilets is overwhelmingly the biggest improvement; all the extra effort after that is just icing on the cake... If you can detail-map 10 toilets, or add 11 bare-bones toilets, I'd recommend the latter (even if both actions took the same time, which is unlikely).