Electricity power outlets in Bathrooms..

[tony sayer]

Now my French missus has taken to using a hair straightener in the bathroom most of the time, and to that end has an extension lead going in there!.

Now the greatest risk that is when in the dark I tripped over the lead and went arse overhead!.

Now over en France, there its common practice to have power sockets in bathrooms and no one it seems has been killed while using them. Now as we have RCD protection etc why cannot we have them here anybody any real reasons or is it just nanny state UK?......

[dom]

The next (17th) edition of the wiring regulations will allow this - probably coming into force about a year from now.

[Owain]

Under the forthcoming 17th Edition IEE Regs such continental perversities as sockets in bathrooms may be permitted.

Next people will be expecting telephones in colours other than black, in places other than a draughty hall...

Owain

[Doctor Drivel]

With RCD protection I'm sure. And then the bodge it DIYer will connect one without and kaboom.

[:Jerry:]

Only if they then do something as equally stupid, Darwinism will be alive and healthy though...

[Andrew Gabriel]

As people have said, it looks like 17th edition regs will allow this. The RCDs we have nowadays do seem to be quite reliable (quite unlike the ones in the US which seem to routinely fail unsafe).

[Doctor Drivel]

Why?

[ARWadsworth]

Lack of a BS number.

Adam

[dennis]

As the wiring regulations are not laws they might be allowed now. But which zone as Part P is a law that says what can be put in a bathroom.

[Andy Wade]

But such sockets must be 3 m or more horizontally beyond the boundary of zone 1 (i.e. at least 3m away from the edge of the bath and/or shower tray. Many bathrooms simply will not be big enough to be allowed a 13 A socket.

The relevant 17th edition regulation in the public draft is 701.512.3.

[Doctor Drivel]

The building regulations are law. If they point to the 17th, then that is law too. British Standards are recommendations only and you don't need to follow - if the Building regs point to a BS it is law in that context.

[Mogga]

Is it where the best mirror is upstairs? Solution would be to put a nice mirror somewhere where she can sit and do it.

[tony sayer]

In article , Mogga writes

In the bathroom and shes female .. I know better than to argue these things as I never win;!....

[Andrew Gabriel]

The [lack of] quality of US electrical accessories has been covered in this newsgroup before.

[Mogga]

You can win by sorting out a better place. It might have to be much nicer and prettier than the bathroom though :)

Or at least feigning injury for a week so she has to wait on you - as long as you constantly reassure her it's not really her fault.

Or tell her you want her to refresh her will as you're concerned about the safety risk. :)

[Hugo Nebula]

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 16:23:30 +0100, a particular chimpanzee, "Doctor Drivel" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Not quite. The Building Regulations are law, but in this case the requirement Part P of Schedule 1 to the Regulations says, "reasonable provision shall be made in the design, installation, inspection and testing of electrical installations in order to protect persons from fire or injury". That is the only legal requirement.

The Approved Documents details _how_ the requirement can be met, and AD P references BS7671: 2001 Chapter 13. The preamble to the Approved Document, however, also says, "however, if [a named standard] has been revised or updated by the issuing standards body, the new version may be used as a source of guidance provided it continues to address the relevant requirements of the Regulations". If the 17th edition has been published as a 'proper' standard, then it can be used as guidance.

[dennis]

You should also remember that the wiring regs are the /minimum/ standard and a competent person may well do it a different way that is safer. The basic rule is that the regulations are there to guide the people that don't know how to do things which is why they have clauses like "shown by calculation" in them so that people can vary them if they wish. I personally have never wired 30/32A rings in 2.5mm as in my judgement the cable should *always* be larger than the breaker, its not to the average electricians understanding of the "regs" but it is safer, the cost saving is minimal these days.

[Owain]

Without going down the rings/radial argument, 2.5mm is the *minimum* for a 32A ring final circuit in PVC, 1.5mm in MICC IIRC, and larger cables might well be required with derating factors.

Owain

[zikkimalambo]

Why?

My father used his electric shaver attached to a 2 pin unsheilded socket in the bathroom for at least 20 years. It was arranged in such a way that he could have rropped the other end of the lead into a basin full of water. There was no RCD in the whole house. Never was there a kaboom. I don't say it couldn't have happened, just that the presence of a socket doesn't mean it will.

[:Jerry:]

Exactly, in other countries people learn to respect electricity (or what ever) and take care, in the UK we legislate for idiots and then wonder why we have so many people who can't see a tone weight swinging their way - of course, this is not helped by the ambulance chasers...