Rules & Regs For Bathrooms

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Swampus

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Rules & Regs for bathrooms,

Could someone please give me the lowdown on what can or cannot be done with bathroom lighting by a home DIY'er?

My story, I have knocked down the wall in between my bathroom and airing cupboard, as I am wanting to turn the old cupboard into a shower. I have an extractor already installed in the bathroom but want this moved to the cubicle and I also want to replace the lighting with either 240v with LED lights or low voltage lights, I haven’t decided as yet. If I did it myself I wouldn’t be running any new cables to the consumer unit but would be from the lights power cables to the lights/transformers.

Can I legally do this myself or do I have to get a qualified electrician in to do it, to be all above-board? I was going to go down this route but a friend said that the electrician won’t just sign off the work done in the bathroom as they have to test the whole house, and TBH with you the house was probably rewired last in the 60’s or 70’s by the local council and with an extension to the rear and loft done some 20 years ago I very much doubt it up to today’s spec.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
240 volts is low voltage. What other voltage did you envisage?

You can legally do it yourself.

An electrician should not sign off work he didn't do whether in a bathroom or elsewhere.

Regulations for existing wiring are not retrospective.
 
Swampus said:
Could someone please give me the lowdown on what can or cannot be done with bathroom lighting by a home DIY'er?
Click to expand...
Anyone can do any electrical work but it is unlikely you will have the necessary testing equipment or, from your questions, the necessary knowledge.

My story, I have knocked down the wall in between my bathroom and airing cupboard, as I am wanting to turn the old cupboard into a shower.
Click to expand...
Electric shower?

I have an extractor already installed in the bathroom but want this moved to the cubicle and I also want to replace the lighting with either 240v with LED lights or low voltage lights,
Click to expand...
Why 240V LED but 12V other lights?

I haven’t decided as yet. If I did it myself I wouldn’t be running any new cables to the consumer unit but would be from the lights power cables to the lights/transformers. Can I legally do this myself or do I have to get a qualified electrician in to do it, to be all above-board?
Click to expand...
Any alterations or additions to circuits within the bathroom zones (near the bath or shower) are notifiable to the Local Authority.
This involves a hefty fee so to avoid that a registered electrician will probably be required.

I was going to go down this route but a friend said that the electrician won’t just sign off the work done in the bathroom as they have to test the whole house,
Click to expand...
Rubbish.
However, he won't 'sign off' work that you have done unless he has supervised you throughout.

and TBH with you the house was probably rewired last in the 60’s or 70’s by the local council and with an extension to the rear and loft done some 20 years ago I very much doubt it up to today’s spec.
Click to expand...
That probably doesn't matter but new work must be done to the latest regulations and as you don't know what they are I would recommend you at least discuss it with a registered electrician.
 
winston1 said:
240 volts is low voltage. What other voltage did you envisage?

You can legally do it yourself.

An electrician should not sign off work he didn't do whether in a bathroom or elsewhere.

Regulations for existing wiring are not retrospective.
Click to expand...


Many Thanks Winston1 :)
 
Thanks for your reply EFLImpudence,
The new shower will not be electric, (boiler heated).
I would prefer getting an electrician in to do all the work, but as mentioned before I heard that they would not do it unless the current spec of wiring of the rest of the house was up to todays standard, as this would be very unlikely in my view that is why I asked if I could do it legally or not.
If in your or someone else's opinion they could then great I'll arrange one for a quote.

Regards Swampus


EFLImpudence said:
Anyone can do any electrical work but it is unlikely you will have the necessary testing equipment or, from your questions, the necessary knowledge.


Electric shower?


Why 240V LED but 12V other lights?


Any alterations or additions to circuits within the bathroom zones (near the bath or shower) are notifiable to the Local Authority.
This involves a hefty fee so to avoid that a registered electrician will probably be required.


Rubbish.
However, he won't 'sign off' work that you have done unless he has supervised you throughout.


That probably doesn't matter but new work must be done to the latest regulations and as you don't know what they are I would recommend you at least discuss it with a registered electrician.
Click to expand...
 
Swampus said:
I would prefer getting an electrician in to do all the work, but as mentioned before I heard that they would not do it unless the current spec of wiring of the rest of the house was up to todays standard, as this would be very unlikely in my view ...
Click to expand...
As you've been told, as a generalisation that is rubbish. I would imagine that a very high proportion of work undertaken by electricians is undertaken on installations which are not fully "up to today's standards" (i.e. fully compliant with current regulations - which have only been in force for a few months).

There might be specific aspects of your current installation which would have to be addressed in order for new work to be done (by anyone - electrician or yourself) (such as provision of RCD protection for new things in a bathroom), but that's a different and specific matter which you should discuss with electricians from whom you get quotes.

Kind Regards, John
 
JohnW2 said:
As you've been told, as a generalisation that is rubbish. I would imagine that a very high proportion of work undertaken by electricians is undertaken on installations which are not fully "up to today's standards" (i.e. fully compliant with current regulations - which have only been in force for a few months).

There might be specific aspects of your current installation which would have to be addressed in order for new work to be done (by anyone - electrician or yourself) (such as provision of RCD protection for new things in a bathroom), but that's a different and specific matter which you should discuss with electricians from whom you get quotes.

Kind Regards, John
Click to expand...

Thanks John, your comments make sense so I shall track one down, do you know if there is a list of qualified electricians eg like Gas Safe as I wouldn't like to get one that's says they are but not ?


Swampus
 
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