electrics in bathroom
- Thread starter minmax89
- Start date
The fact that you can use them in tiny bathrooms which are so small that they don't have any walls in a suitable zone for switches.
Here they are many and varied, and far from simple.
But as you seem not to have noticed, this is the "Electrics UK" forum and you are not in the UK, so asking what the regulations are in foreign countries won't do you much good.
A normal switch can be made wet by condensation, spray and splashes of wet hands. This could result in the wet sirface of the switch becoming live resulting in electric shock for anyone touching the switch. A shock which could be fatal or cause serious injury if the person is on a wet floor or touching somethn that is earthed.
The pull cord even if damp reduces the risk of electrical shock.
The pull cord even if damp reduces the risk of electrical shock.
If the bathroom is big enough and on an RCD, it might be possible to install a conventional light switch. (Modern pull switches tend to be very noisy.)
In the UK, changing the type of light switch in a bathroom would be notifiable to local Building Control.
In the UK, changing the type of light switch in a bathroom would be notifiable to local Building Control.
P
Paul_C
As far as the U.K. is concerned, contrary to commonly held belief the I.E.E. Wiring Regs. have never had an absolute prohibition on regular wall switches in bathrooms - They just have to be suitably placed. It might not be possible to do that within some of our postage-stamp sized bathrooms though, which is probably why pullcord switches pretty much became the accepted convention in the first place. (And also as far as the U.K. is concerned, the I.E.E. Regs. have never been mandatory anyway.)
I was going by the Site Book "7.2.5 Requirement for RCDs" "iii for circuits of locations containing a bath or shower"
"Site Book"?
"The IEE On-Site Guide BS 7671:2008"
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Paul_C
The 17th edition specifies RCD protection for all circuits in a bathroom. There was no RCD requirement for a lighting circuit prior to that.
Where does 7.2.5 say that if the bathroom is big enough and on an RCD, it might be possible to install a conventional light switch?
You said that, BAS, and I'm not disputing it.
I just quoted the on-site guide about the RCD as it uses the vague word "locations" and I might have misunderstood. For instance, if you have an en-suite shower in an alcove without a door, how far does the 'location with a shower' extend?
My reasoning was that if anything outside zone 2 is not part of the "locations with a bath or shower" and both the light and switch are outside zone 2, there might not be a requirement for an RCD. However, if the light is within zone 2 but the switch is outside zone 2 then an RCD would be required.