I'm sure it *shouldn't* be allowed... but I can't work up a specific reference in BS7671. The bathroom in question isn't actually a bathroom at the moment - it is a utility room - but someone I've previously done some work for is intending to convert it into a (admittedly quite large) bathroom.
Of course, it isn't just the consumer unit either; there's the incoming supply, fuse, meter and a switchfuse feeding a CU elsewhere in the building too.
Tell him not to be so silly? Put it in a cupboard? What about humidity?
The incoming supply and meter will be subject to the supply regulations, not BS7671, and the supplier might refuse connection if the metering is in a bathroom.
Put it in a cupboard that needs a key or tool (i.e. screwdriver) to access.
Bathrooms these days (and this is a new one, so this definitely applies) usually require forced air ventilation. With a properly designed system, there should be very little condensation.
Unlikely to be water jets present outside the shower cubicle.
Not sure about suitable for external influences... could cure this one by enclosing in a cupboard probably. Might recommend a vent to the outside world for condensation clearing purposes.
Doesn't normally stop CUs being put in cupboards :-)
Yeah, could get that one perhaps though as CUs by their nature have holes all over them...
DNO? Do you mean the supplier (Western Power in this case)?
It's an internal wall.
Neither do I. Also the current installation is very messy and it would take a huge cupboard and/or a lot of tidying up for it to look good in a new bathroom.
However, despite your brilliant research, you've not really come up with any more definite guidance than I did. Ideally I'd want something which would say "special locations (e.g. bathrooms) are not suitable locations for switchgear and distribution equipment".
You could seek advice (or at least an opinion) from the CU manufacturer.
True, and I think some sort of cupboard is essential, really, and your idea of [trickle] ventilation to outside is a good idea.
As Owain pointed out the requirement for access needs to include access for emergency switching, which you could argue is not satisfied if someone is ensconced in the bath with the door locked.
Small ones, though (IP2X, and IP4X on an accessible top surface [412-03-01 & -02]).
Distribution Network Operator - newspeak for what used to be the distribution arm of the old electricity board; the people you contact when you want a main fuse pulled or re-sealed.
The supply regs. BTW (i.e. the ESQC regulations) require the cut-out and meter in a safe location, mechanically protected and where they can be safely maintained.
I know, but if there was a specific reg. (or something in the OSG) saying "main switchgear shall not be installed in a bathroom" you'd know about it already.
601-06-01 (iii) "in zone 3 [electrical equipment shall have at least the following degrees of protection] "where water jets are likely to be used for cleaning purposes in communal baths or communal showers IPX5 or [two water drops] if the equipment is not IP coded."
I read that to mean that if water jets are *not* likely then there is no requirement for a particular IP rating in zone 3. See also table 8.1 in the OSG which confirms this.
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