Electric towelrail in the bathroom

[skvsn]

Hello,

I want to install a new electric towel rail in the bathroom. It's going to be on the wall which is more than 60 cm away from bath so I suppose it is not in any "special zone".

At the moment there are no electric circuits in the bathroom apart from lighting circuit behind the ceiling.

The closest mains connection to the bathroom is spur connection in the airing cupboard which used to power electric heater in hot water cylinder (now replaced with indirect cylinder so spur is not used any more). So it could be possible to put a wire from this spur under the floor boards and into the bathroom and then put another spur/timer to connect the towel rail heating element. As our consumer unit does not have any RCD protection at the moment this spur in the cupboard could be replaced with RCD spur to protect the new circuit.

Does such a plan conform to current regulations? Is it notifiable work (thus must be done by a certified electrician)?

Thanks a lot for your help

 

[skvsn]

UPDATE: forgot to mention - there is a washing basin there which is close than 60cm to the proposed location of the towel rail - does it mean that it is actually Zone 2?

 

[EFLImpudence]

Firstly, basins/sinks don't count.

Not notifiable.

Yes, what you suggest is fine.

Just use a Flex outlet connector plate in the bathroom and put all the 'works' in the airing cupboard.
You should use an RCD FCU.

However, the circuit and RCD should be tested prior to energising but you won't be able to so not really done to regulations.

 

[skvsn]

EFLImpudence
Thanks, although the last sentence is a bit confusing. Does it mean that the work has to be done by certified electrician anyway but no notification is required?

 

[EFLImpudence]

Well, strictly speaking, yes, but that's life.

You will have no way of verifying that the circuit, Fuse/MCB and RCD work properly.

 

[skvsn]

"Test" button on the RCD is not enough?

 

[securespark]

That's part of the check, but there are others, like using a machine to make sure the RCD trips within the correct time parameters.

Surprisingly, I have had brand-new equipment straight out of the box that has failed this test!!