Installing Halogen downlighters under a bathroom?

[Sapper]

How much of a no-no is it to install halogen downlighters in a ceiling which is directly underneath a bathoom?

My hall is crying out for some downlighting but one lamp would need to be installed in a spot which is about four inches away from the bath (in the room above) and another lamp would need to go in a spot which in the room above is a few feet from any sink/bath...

The bathroom just has bare floorboards at the minute but will be tiled as soon as I get round to it (it's a new house). I was thinking if I used downlighter hoods and perhaps sealed the gaps in the floorboards it would to the job...?

 

[Steve]

Its not a no-no, perfectly allowable. No regs state "thou shalt not fit downlighters below a bathroom"

Dont use fire hoods, they'll shorten your lamp life. Do, however, make sure you get the bathroom floor covered ASAP. Lay some temporary carpet or something if you're worried.

 

[Diesel9a1]

Don't use firehoods - and break the building regs!?!?

 

[Steve]

Don't use firehoods - and break the building regs!?!?

What building reg would he be breaching by not using fire hoods in this scenario?

 

[philrosenberg]

This has seems a recurring theme so i've just had a quick skim of the regs

2.1 Few provisions are specified in this document beyond ensuring that means are provided for giving early warning in the event of a fire (see section 1) and that suitable means are provided for emergency egress from each storey.

so providing you have alarms and escape routes you are covered in a regular house!

Only if the house has one or more floors more than 4.5m above ground level do fire resistant barriers become involved

Houses with one floor more than 4.5m above ground level
2.13 The house may either have a protected stairway as described in (a) below, or the top floor can be separated and given its own escape route as described in (b)

(a) and (b) go on to describe 'protected' and 'separated' as being protected or separated by a fire resistant barrier. (30, 60 or 90 min burn time depending on the size of the house)

The end result is that you only need to worry about passage of fire if you have one or more storey 4.5m or move above the ground eg in flats or if you have a loft conversion above a two storey house.

if anyone wants to read further and correct me the approved documents are at www.planningportal.gov.uk/approveddocuments

I'm going to add this to the faq too
Phil

 

[Big_Spark]

I think the use of a fire hood in this instance is a bit of a red herring. The purpose of the hood is to prevent the propagation of a fire from below by means of the opening cut for the light, but this is a domestic installation and so long as he has smoke alarms fitted that actually work, the use of fire hoods is a moot point.

Further, as crafty pointed out, they have a seriously detrimental effect on lamp life expectancy.