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John Rumm John Rumm is offline
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Default Bathroom zones / regs

Colin Wilson wrote:

Just wondering how interpretive you can be of the new zoning regs for
bathrooms :-}

The light in ours would notionally fall under zone 2, being about 50cm
outside zone 1, however zone 2 only appears to apply up to 2.25m high.

Our ceiling is 2.30m high.

Looking at the pocket guide, i'm not sure if it becomes a zone 3 which
covers an additional 0.75m height, following the same 0.6m "radius"
from the bath as shown on the diagram, or if the zone 3 markings only
apply to adjacent walls as shown on the diagram...


If I understand what you are describing (i.e. a light offset to the side
of the bath , but less than 0.6m horizontally), the the space directly
above Zone 2 from 2.25m to 3m is Zone 3. Above that is out of the zones.

Either way, it looks like a standard 240V lamp would be ok unless you
start talking about the size of lamp fittings ! (which is likely to be
a slim profile enclosed fitting by the time the wife finishes anyway)


Mostly, in that the general requirements of BS7671 would apply. Those do
include a requirement that fittings selected are appropriate for the
location. So if it gets very steamy in there, something with better
moisture ingress protection than a bog standard light may still be a
good idea.

Has anyone fitted a whirlpool bath recently ? the regs say under the
bath is zone 1 if accessible without tools, but not what it's classed
as if you _do_ need tools :-}


Outside of the zones. i.e. you can fit anything you like including a
conventional socket.

...also, are they typically LV or 240V these days ? (just trying to
imagine the size of conductors required if it incorporated a heating
element !)


Mains (in my limited experience of them). They have relatively modest
requirements if they just have a pump, but can require fairly
significant power if they are electrically heated.

Last but not least, what classes as Class I or II equipment these days
for the purposes of cross-bonding ? - the wording of the regs seems to
suggest either:

a) local cross bonding should go to all terminals of protective
conductors within zones 1, 2 and 3


Well not all terminals, but that all the CPCs of all the circuits that
supply equipment within the zones should be included in the bonding.

So for example, if the only circuit was the lighting one, but there were
two lamp fittings in the room, you would need one connection between the
local eq bond, and the earth of the lighting circuit. This could be
taken from any appropriate place where the circuit earth is accessible.

b) i'm misinterpreting it and you need to take the cross bonding all
the way back to the consumer unit


No need for an explicit connection to the CU. (even though you get an
implicit one by virtue of the CPCs of any bonded circuits.

--
Cheers,

John.

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