Electrical Regs Part P who is right?

lowbrim

Can anyone help?? I have just had a conversion done and in the downstairs toilet which has a small sink the electrician who is part P registered has put a light switch on the wall (It is approx .7metres from the centre of the sink). The building inspector says that it should be a pull cord rather than the switch but the electrician says that a switch is within the regs as there is no bath or shower in the room? Can anyone point me to a definitive answer there does not seem to be one in the regs so i am left being piggy in the middle!!

Thanks in advance for any help forthcoming.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

The building inspector is correct. It needs to be a pull cord.

There may be no shower or bath but the risk comes from operating the switch with wet hands.

Presumably you haven't paid in full, so its quite easy to demand that the electrician do as the building inspector instructs.

HugoSP

According to the regs a special location is a room that contains a bathroom or a shower. IIRC a location such as this demands a pull cord.

A downstairs loo contains neither - hence it is no more a special location in this respect than the kitchen that also has running water on tap!

Get the BCO to state the paragraph in the 16th edition (BS7671) that states that a pull cord is required in a downstairs loo - I bet he can't

baldelectrician

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

The building inspector is correct. It needs to be a pull cord.

There may be no shower or bath but the risk comes from operating the switch with wet hands.

Presumably you haven't paid in full, so its quite easy to demand that the electrician do as the building inspector instructs.

The electrician is right, Pew is incorrect

A room containing a bath or a shower is classed as a SPECIAL LOCATION IN bs7671.
So if the toilet room doesn't contain a bath or a shower then all is fine

Some inspectors are not aware of this, ask him what reglation number (or section of the regs) specifies this.

Hope this helps

red40

LABCO is wrong in this instance, they do seem to make there own judgement on certain types of electrics. When I did our extension the first BCO said I couldn't put a fused spare or a D/S by my sink unit, that BCO got a new job and I got one of the senior BCO who took over and he had no probem whatsoever with the positioning of the electrics.

brightontraveller

Ask the BCO for regulation number if he is stating it is a breach of regulations he must be able to quote the regulation number of which it breaches to you….. Many BCO use the regulations as a lucky dip if he cannot ask if his superior can… or ask if he would like to speak to one of the approved schemes and they will tell him the same as the electrician

babs

Just talked to husband who is a building inspector. He states that if the light switch is WITHIN 3 metres of the sink it needs to be a pull cord. Nothing to do with they type of room it is (this would still apply in a kitchen if the sink is withing 3 metres.) However, it can come down to a bit of common sense - bascially if you can stand at the sink and turn the light off then it needs to be a pull cord. If its not quite the 3 metres and you can't turn it off stood at the sink they may be a bit more lenient with you. All to do with health and safety - electricity and water!

Canucklehead

Hi

Aha, this one's got legs:rotfl:

I go with the switch. It's in a room that doesn't contain a shower or bath. BCO is wrong.

Corgi Guy.

moonrakerz

Plenty of other countries don't have pull cords anywhere and you don't seem to find bathrooms full of electrocuted people !

Also why do you have to have a pull cord in the bathroom for the light, when the isolator for the fan can be a switch ? please don't say because the rules say so !

lowbrim

Thanks to all that replied much appreciated. I have now had a response from the NICEIC and it seems the electrician is correct it does not need a pull cord the response from NICIC was

If it is only a utility room and not a room containing a bath or shower it is not regarded as a special location under BS7671 and normal requirements of BS7671 apply.

I will now forward this ti the building inspector and it will save me re-tiling the room!!

andrewmoorcroft

I had a similar problem. To the left side of my front door i had a dead end corridor leading to a front corner of my house. As you looked into the corridor the front wall was on the left, the house side wall was infront and the stairs to the right. The end (side wall) sited the gas meter, the electric meter and the consumer unit (all up high). I fitted a downstairs toilet and wash basin and put a door entrance making a 3'x4' room.
When i came to sell the house last year the chartered surveyor reported that it didn't meet regulations and insisted on an electrical inspection. The electrical inspector agreed and said that you were not allowed a consumer unit in a bathroom.
I explained that it was not a bathroom. They then said that you were not allowed electrics other than lights with pull cords in any room with running water.
I explained that such a rule would rule out every kitchen in the UK and was accused of taking it too literally.
They both said that they would send me a copy of the specific rule that prohibited my consumer unit in a room containing a toilet or wash basin. My solicitor also asked for the evidence but never got it either.
It's hard to believe but both highly qualified professionals were ignorant of the rules and incompetent to do their job. The purchaser got his electical inspection money back, no evidence was ever delivered but neither admitted their error.