- Feb 25, 2011
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- If you're a qualified, trainee, or retired electrician - Which country is it that your work will be / is / was aimed at?
- United Kingdom
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- Practising Electrician (Qualified - Domestic or Commercial etc)
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- Richard Burns
I was just reading the Building regs (as you do when you are a very sad person:drunk
and there is a difference in the definition of special location for bathrooms; the building regs state it is within the zones in BS7671, and approved document P states that it is the entire room.
This may mean that if you are installing equipment as an addition to a circuit inside a bathroom but outside of the zones you may not need to notify.
I think I would not take the risk and would notify work in a bathroom thinking that Adoc P might take precedence, but did wonder what the rest of you think?
This is the text extracted from the relevant documents (key bits in bold).
The Building regulations state:
4. For the purposes of this Schedule (Descriptions of Work where no Building Notice or Deposit of Full Plans Required)
"kitchen" means a room or part of a room which contains a sink and food preparation facilities;
"self-contained" in relation to a fixed building service means consisting of a single appliance and any associated controls which is neither connected to. nor forms part of, any other fixed building service;
"special installation" means an electric floor or ceiling heating system, an outdoor lighting or electric power installation, an electricity generator, or an extra-low voltage lighting system which is not a pre-assembled lighting set bearing the CE marking referred to in regulation 9 of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994(a);
"special location[SUP]"[/SUP] means a location within the limits of the relevant zones specified for a bath, a shower, a swimming or paddling pool or a hot air sauna in the Wiring Regulations, seventeenth edition, published by the Institution of Electrical Engineers and the British Standards Institution as BS 7671: 2008(b).
Approved document P states:
Table 2 Special locations and installations (a)
Special locations
Locations containing a bath tub or shower basin, Swimming pools or paddling pools, Hot air saunas
Special installations
Electric floor or ceiling heating systems
Outdoor lighting or power installations
Solar photovoltaic (PV) power supply systems
Small scale generators such as microCHP units
Extra-low voltage lighting installations, other than pre-assembled, CE-marked lighting sets
Additional notes
Tables 1 and 2 above give the general rules for determining whether or not electrical installation work is notifiable. The rules are based on the risk of fire and injury and what is practicable. The following notes provide additional guidance and specific examples:
a. Notifiable jobs include new circuits back to the consumer unit, and extensions to circuits in kitchens and special locations (bathrooms, etc) and associated with special installations (garden lighting and power installations, etc).
b. Replacement, repair and maintenance jobs are generally not notifiable, even if carried out in a kitchen or special location or associated with a special installation.
c. Consumer unit replacements are, however, notifiable.
d. In large bathrooms, the location containing a bath or shower is defined by the walls of the bathroom.
e. Conservatories and attached garages are not special locations. Work in them is therefore not notifiable unless it involves the installation of a new circuit or the extension of a circuit in a kitchen or special location or associated with a special installation.
f. Detached garages and sheds are not special locations. Work within them is notifiable only if it involves new outdoor wiring.
and there is a difference in the definition of special location for bathrooms; the building regs state it is within the zones in BS7671, and approved document P states that it is the entire room.
This may mean that if you are installing equipment as an addition to a circuit inside a bathroom but outside of the zones you may not need to notify.
I think I would not take the risk and would notify work in a bathroom thinking that Adoc P might take precedence, but did wonder what the rest of you think?
This is the text extracted from the relevant documents (key bits in bold).
The Building regulations state:
4. For the purposes of this Schedule (Descriptions of Work where no Building Notice or Deposit of Full Plans Required)
"kitchen" means a room or part of a room which contains a sink and food preparation facilities;
"self-contained" in relation to a fixed building service means consisting of a single appliance and any associated controls which is neither connected to. nor forms part of, any other fixed building service;
"special installation" means an electric floor or ceiling heating system, an outdoor lighting or electric power installation, an electricity generator, or an extra-low voltage lighting system which is not a pre-assembled lighting set bearing the CE marking referred to in regulation 9 of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994(a);
"special location[SUP]"[/SUP] means a location within the limits of the relevant zones specified for a bath, a shower, a swimming or paddling pool or a hot air sauna in the Wiring Regulations, seventeenth edition, published by the Institution of Electrical Engineers and the British Standards Institution as BS 7671: 2008(b).
Approved document P states:
Table 2 Special locations and installations (a)
Special locations
Locations containing a bath tub or shower basin, Swimming pools or paddling pools, Hot air saunas
Special installations
Electric floor or ceiling heating systems
Outdoor lighting or power installations
Solar photovoltaic (PV) power supply systems
Small scale generators such as microCHP units
Extra-low voltage lighting installations, other than pre-assembled, CE-marked lighting sets
Additional notes
Tables 1 and 2 above give the general rules for determining whether or not electrical installation work is notifiable. The rules are based on the risk of fire and injury and what is practicable. The following notes provide additional guidance and specific examples:
a. Notifiable jobs include new circuits back to the consumer unit, and extensions to circuits in kitchens and special locations (bathrooms, etc) and associated with special installations (garden lighting and power installations, etc).
b. Replacement, repair and maintenance jobs are generally not notifiable, even if carried out in a kitchen or special location or associated with a special installation.
c. Consumer unit replacements are, however, notifiable.
d. In large bathrooms, the location containing a bath or shower is defined by the walls of the bathroom.
e. Conservatories and attached garages are not special locations. Work in them is therefore not notifiable unless it involves the installation of a new circuit or the extension of a circuit in a kitchen or special location or associated with a special installation.
f. Detached garages and sheds are not special locations. Work within them is notifiable only if it involves new outdoor wiring.
