Toilet Rough-In at 16"?

[pxlpshrsc]

I've run into a bit of a problem while renovating the guest bathroom of my 1941 bungalow, and am hoping someone can offer up some informed advice.

As part of this renovation I planned to re-locate the toilet by turning it 90-degrees and moving it back 10" to give a better layout (tub on one side, toilet and lav on the other side by side w/ a 36" walkway in the middle). Now that the subfloor is out, I have found a major structural beam that is preventing me from roughing in the flange at 12" or 14" off of what will be the finished back wall. It is looking like the closest I can get will be 16-17". This will give me a gap of 4-5" between the tank and the back wall if I use a 12" toilet or 2-3" for a 14".

I'm ok with the gap, as I can extend a narrow countertop over the tank to help hide this. My concern is, does this violate any codes if I am 16-17" off of both the side and back walls? Would this possibly lead to any damage to the toilet itself if the wall isn't stopping the tank from serious movements back and forth incase it is bumped? Are there any other reasons I should be concerned about having such a large gap between the tank and the wall?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[FlushMasta]

the largest concern i can think is that painters will be able to paint the area behind the tank

 

[pxlpshrsc]

I would think that an extra 4-5" would be a good thing for reaching behind the toilet to paint, instead of having to remove the tank to do the job properly.