Bathroom extractor fan

[ban-all-sheds]

What if the switch is on the wall?

 

[EFLImpudence]

the ceiling rose probably is.

Q.E.D.
To what would the fan cable be connected?
Would you be adding to or altering the circuit?

Downlighters, no. Cables, no.

So, with downlights, the bathroom does not have a lighting circuit.

Do you think the BR intended to distinguish between, and does it make a difference circuit-wise, whether you wired the downlights by sitting in the loft or standing in the room?

If I cared enough, I could do all the wiring in the loft, but I don't think I've seen a bathroom ceiling so low that the position of the rose is a concern.

Wiring a rose from the loft is very clever.
Pendants do.

 

[JohnD]

So, with downlights, the bathroom does not have a lighting circuit.

Do you think the BR intended to distinguish between, and does it make a difference circuit-wise, whether you wired the downlights by sitting in the loft or standing in the room?

Well that's a conundrum.

If all the wires, and the lamp fitting, were in the loft, and the lights just shone through holes in the ceiling, could you sensibly describe the circuit as being in the bathroom? Surely the reason for the rules is that while sitting in the bath (or maybe standing on the WC seat) you might touch some electrical item that's in the bathroom?

If the ducted fan was in the loft, and there was not even a switch for it in the bathroom, you couldn't really describe it as being in the bathroom. In my house, the bathroom is on the second floor, and the lighting circuit feeds several rooms, of which only one is a bathroom. I would not consider fitting a new lighting rose or switch in one of the other rooms, or the loft, as having much to do with the bathroom circuit. A few houses still have the bathroom lightswitch outside the bathroom door.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Well that's a conundrum.

Or a way round the rules if you're that bothered.

If all the wires, and the lamp fitting, were in the loft, and the lights just shone through holes in the ceiling, could you sensibly describe the circuit as being in the bathroom?

Probably not.

Surely the reason for the rules is that while sitting in the bath (or maybe standing on the WC seat) you might touch some electrical item that's in the bathroom?

Yes, but it is not likely that no part of the light is in the room.

If the ducted fan was in the loft, and there was not even a switch for it in the bathroom, you couldn't really describe it as being in the bathroom.

That's irrelevant.

It says "any addition or alteration to existing circuits in a special location"

Which I read as meaning what it says; not
"any addition or alteration in a special location to existing circuits"[/quote][/QUOTE]

 

[JohnD]

It says "any addition or alteration to existing circuits in a special location"

but the lighting circuit might supply a bathroom light and also some other lights. If you make an alteration to the lighting circuit, and the alteration is not in the bathroom, is it relevant?

 

[EFLImpudence]

but the lighting circuit might supply a bathroom light and also some other lights. If you make an alteration to the lighting circuit, and the alteration is not in the bathroom, is it relevant?

It could be.

I would agree that if adding bedroom lights I would not consider that as relevant but then why would adding bathroom lights be?
Conversely, if adding bathroom lights is, then why not bedroom lights?

If not, what is the purpose of the rule?

 

[JohnD]

If not, what is the purpose of the rule?

I think, bearing in mind the zones, that it must have been intended to reduce the risk of people in the bathroom touching badly installed apparatus.

In which case, tinkering in the loft or other rooms is irrelevant.

 

[EFLImpudence]

We may have to conclude that it is yet another poorly written regulation...

...but it doesn't include installing apparatus which may not involve addition or alteration to a circuit.


Clearly though, if installing a fan by adding its wiring to a ceiling rose which is within the zones then I can't see a way that that would not be included in the notification requirement.

 

[John D v2.0]

Well I suppose in theory you could mess up the wiring in an upstream ceiling rose and connect the earth to the live. Then you have to rely on the rcd or the supplementary bonding to keep you safe when touching relevant metalwork in the bathroom, if any.