Bathroom Circuits

[STI]

Hi, We have just purchased an old house for a holiday retreat. Please dont mention the weather!!! The house still has the rewirable type fuses in the CSU. As far as i can see there is only one lighting circuit for the whole house.

I want to add a shaving socket. Other than the lights there are no other electric sources in the bathroom. My understanding is i can run the shaver socket off the lighting circuit in the bathroom( i do understand its notifiable and the zone regulations in the bathroom) My question is i also understand that the latest Regs require all bathroom circuits to be protected by a RCD. Does this include the lighting circuits.

If yes is it fair to say that to put the shaver socket in the bathroom the electrician will need to rigup a new circuit for the lights in the bathroom and add a RCD in the CSU for that circuit or put the whole of the light circuit on an RCD.

Thanks for any help.

 

[rebuke]

While yes the shaver socket MUST be RCD protected, there is no obligation to RCD protect existing electrical fittings such as the light etc unless work is being done to it. Having said that, it probably makes sense to protect it at the same time!

There are a few options:
* Entirely new circuit with RCD protection
* RCD protect the existing circuit
* Put in an RCD unit to protect the part of the circuit in the bathroom, this could be placed e.g. on the wall outside the bathroom, and would make the addition in the bathroom comply with the regs.

The first two options would require putting in a mini CU of some sort, since you can't fit an RCD to a rewireable unit, the final option would probably be easier.

One thing to say however, is it might be worth getting an electrician in to do a PIR (Periodic Inspection Report), as a rewireable unit often indicates old wiring, so you don't know what other problems there might be (a common one is inadequate earth)...

 

[Paul_C]

Frankly, this is an example of where following the precise letter of the new 17th edition will result in a totally disproportionate amount of work for something so trivial, assuming that the existing wiring checks out all right and the shaver outlet in the only addition needed.

Providing RCD protection for a transformer-isolated shaver outlet is also pretty pointless, since the whole purpose of the transformer is to provide isolation from earth. A fault on the secondary side won't ever trip the RCD.

 

[STI]

Thanks both for the replies. I agree sticking to the regs is going to create a lot of work for a little job, but i guess it protects me (insurance)in case anything does go wrong.

On the rcd requirment if i am not reading too much into the replies. An RCD is required even on the lighting circuit in a bathroom.

I think i am going to stick to a 3 pin adaptor in the bedroom.

 

[Paul_C]

On the rcd requirment if i am not reading too much into the replies. An RCD is required even on the lighting circuit in a bathroom.

Under the new version of BS7671, yes. Unfortunately, the 17th edition has completely lost what little of the plot was left and seems to regard the RCD as the magic panacea for all electrical ills. They've just gone completely overboard with it.

 

[ColJack]

sounds like you'd benefit from a new CU with rcd / rcbo's in it..
and might be a good idea to get a PIR done as it still has the re-wireable fuses..

there was a news article recently about a woman who bought a new holiday home and got herself electricuted due to a series of faults leading to the bathroom heater being live.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

While yes the shaver socket MUST be RCD protected, there is no obligation to RCD protect existing electrical fittings such as the light etc unless work is being done to it. Having said that, it probably makes sense to protect it at the same time!

Here's my take on it - the OP can decide what he wants to do.

1) The general principle is that only work that you do should comply with BS 7671.

2) The requirement in BS 7671 is that circuits supplying bathrooms have to be RCD protected.

3) Adding a shaver socket is not adding a circuit.

4) Therefore the work which you have done is not adding a circuit.

5) Therefore the work which you have done does not need to comply with the regulations for a circuit.

6) Therefore the shaver socket does not need to be on an RCD.

You do still need to comply with the regulations for concealed cables, so if you don't want them on the surface and don't want them on an RCD you will have to use one of the other methods of protection. A short drop of metal conduit would probably be easiest.

But as ColJack says, it'd be a good idea to get the whole thing checked out anyway....

Is the holiday home in England or Wales?

 

[Paul_C]

1) The general principle is that only work that you do should comply with BS 7671.

But as we've been discussing in another thread recently, there's absolutely no requirement for installations in a private home to follow BS7671 anyway.

If everything else is otherwise acceptable, I'd just add the shaver outlet onto the existing non-RCD lighting circuit.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

But as we've been discussing in another thread recently, there's absolutely no requirement for installations in a private home to follow BS7671 anyway.

Indeed not, but I thought the OP said he wanted to?