Wet room, 3m wiring regulation rule 701.32.3 etc

[js.b1]

Wet room, 3m wiring regulation rule 701.512.3 etc

Whilst hospital #1 Op was perfect, hospital #2 made such a mess of the rehab a relative will be in a wheelchair for quite some time.

I suspected this, so refurbished their house, lastly all dirty work for a level access en-suite in the downstairs bedroom (biggest room).

- Level access means no 0.1m shower basin, so eliminating Zone 2 and replacing it with an extended Zone 1 - 1.2m from a fixed shower outlet.

- Additionally, no socket outlets may be within 3m of Zone 1.

- Light switches, cord outlets, (switched) fused connection units are ok.

The room is 365x425cm, so there exists a socket keep-out 4.2m arc.

Q1 - I presume 17th Amendment 1 has not altered this in any way (on the way to me)?

My updated 17AM1 & GN7 punctual arrival has been delayed by the b.holiday.

Q2 - How is the 1.2+3m distance measured, re handling of partitions & alcoves?

For example, does a 40cm partition perpendicular partition...

- a) terminate the 3m rule for its width?

- b) fold the 3m distance in an arc around its edge?

- c) fold the 3m distance strictly around its contours?

For design & access reasons I prefer an open design, nearly concealed fixed shower head (6L/min flow from ZIP ILX009 9.6kW on 240V). That is because the shower will not see daily use, at most bi weekly.

However, depending on how the 3m rule is applied, a small partition may be both useful (as well as desireable of course re water spray).

I believe one electrician is wrong when he says the 3m rule follows the contours of a partition strictly, because a 50cm partition of 5cm thickness would reduce its reach by 105cm; I need clarity.

The room has multiple alcoves, adding interest to the 3m rule interpretation.

[John Rumm]

Don't think so. Summary of the changes here:

Q2 - How is the 1.2+3m distance measured, re handling of partitions & > alcoves?

OSG Fig 8.3 gives the answer as zone 1 extends to 1.2 - S - Y metres, where S is the thickness of the partition, and Y is the radial distance from the fixed shower head to the inner corner of the partition.

So say you have

S

===========a partition | ===========b

Say the distance from S to a was 0.8m, and the partition was 100mm thick, then zone 1 would extend in an arc centred on b for 1.2 - 0.8 -

0.1 = 300mm

So basically the 1.2m wraps around the end of any partition. The longer the partition, the less it can wrap around.

Yup it could shorten the reach of zone 1 along a wall for example.

I guess the distances are as the bit of string is stretched... so taking the scenic route round the alcove does not really help.

[js.b1]

Which must be how the 3m rule is applied - unfortunately :-P

Aside: "6L/min is possible", Franke AQUA754 has a flow restrictor to 6L/min= , discrete and compact wall mounted... cats rear end stuck on a wall :-) He= y, this could become a new fashion - people do rear end of cars emerging fr= om a building (for free in some cases if you wet the road on a Friday night= ).

Not sure what happens when you put two 6L/min flow limiters in series re on= e in the ZIP ILX009 and one in the shower head... I can adjust the former u= pwards.

Could put the sockets in a cupboard requiring use of a tool :-)

I think the rule should have said "or 2.2m where sockets protected by 10mA = RCBO", but someone probably did not have one in their product range as it w= ent to press. The reason is someone will simply a) plug in an extension lea= d and b) appliance flex is not exactly limited (PAT imposes no limit IIRC u= nlike extension lead length v CSA).

Good analogy, a lot of CAD hours into the moonlight await...

[John Rumm]

3m from the (potentially truncated) 1.2m

They quote that flow rate at 3 bar however - which suggests its more of a dynamic pressure reducer rather than a true flow limiter.

The water heaters usually regulate the flow rate to control the temperature anyway, so you could leave the head unrestricted.

That would also work ;-)

Yes, 3m does seem rather and odd choice, and overly restrictive.

Enjoy ;-)