Towel rail ip 21

[bobsmate]

I've recently done a periodic report for a friend of mine who is selling his house. When i was looking round the bathroom i noticed that the electrician who had previously done the work had installed a towel rail in zone 2 of the bathroom, which originaly i thought would be ok as the switch for it was located outside the bathroom and was rcd protected.

Then when i took a closer look at the towel rail i can see that it is made by a company called BASICS (who apprently are run by the wholesalers Denmans) and that the towel rail is only ip21 rated.

So my question is would it possible to change the heating element on the towel rail so that it is an ipx4 or should i tell my friend to buy a new towel rail (which he'll hate as he's tight)?

 

[bongos]

If it's in zone 2 and was installed under the 17th it needs to be IPX4. At a guess I would think you need to buy a new heater. I don't think it could be easily or economically adapted to the required ingress protection.

It may have been installed before the 17th came out and the regs are not retrospective. But i'm guessing the heater probably wouldn't meet the requirements of the 16th either?

EDIT: Just had a look at the 16th and it seems IPX4 was required in zone 2 of a bathroom too.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Who the hell would make a towel rail only proof against solid objects over 12mm across, or water sprayed or splashed on it?

Doesn't sound like it could be described as being of satisfactory quality or fit for all purposes for which towel rails are commonly supplied....