Socket 1.5m from bath but outside bathroom

Pat Eardley

OK. Thanks for the reasoning behind your statement.

However, I disagree with you.

I didn't quote the whole of the reg but that still doesn't change its possible meaning. It is ambiguous and can be taken to mean what I said depending on how you read it. It's badly worded and not clear to exactly what it means. I agree, thought, that the idea being conveyed is not likely to be restricted to the position of the bath within the zones.

Regarding your point on and isolator. An isolating switch above the door outside the bathroom does not need to be at least 3m from the bath, so within regs. It is outside the zones as well. The 3m is only for sockets as described in 701.512.2 last para.

Regarding the other point. The door may be closed. But it also may be open as in a flat occupied by only one tenent who does not close the door when taking a bath as no one else is there.

Yes a trailing lead can be used from anywhere but there is a limit to what the regs can do to protect people from their own stupidity. The 3m rule is to stop someone from plugging in an appliance with its own lead. Most bathrooms this would not even occur as 3m is a very big bathroom. However, exactly the same risk is there whether you have a big bathroom with a socket less than 3m from the bath or a small bathroom with a socket in the hallway less than 3m from the bath.

In my own flat I have exactly the same situation. The socket is directly outside the door on the opposite wall. The same will be for all 24 flats in the block. Half the block is occupied by single people and the other by couples. At least with couples if one of them is stupid enough to plug the portable TV in to watch in the bath the other will likely tell them not to be so stupid. However, how many couples have one person in the bath while the other is at the mirror with the hair dryer or clippers.

This is not the first time I've come across this situation with others saying it's not in the bathroom so it doesn't count but this still does not sit well with me. We are supposed to be inspecting for potential dangers and I see this as being one.

As far as going by the "letter of the law" so to speak, I still think two things about the term "location". To me the reg 701.1 should be better worded as it can be taken to mean the actual location of the bath within the zones. Personally I think that location does not just mean "room" but includes, the area outside "when" it refers to sockets at 3m. Location can mean more than just "room". It's flexible in it's meaning depending on the context in which it's being used.

Pat Eardley

OK. Thanks for the reasoning behind your statement.

However, I disagree with you.

I didn't quote the whole of the reg but that still doesn't change its possible meaning. It is ambiguous and can be taken to mean what I said depending on how you read it. It's badly worded and not clear to exactly what it means. I agree, thought, that the idea being conveyed is not likely to be restricted to the position of the bath within the zones.

Regarding your point on and isolator. An isolating switch above the door outside the bathroom does not need to be at least 3m from the bath, so within regs. It is outside the zones as well. The 3m is only for sockets as described in 701.512.2 last para.

Regarding the other point. The door may be closed. But it also may be open as in a flat occupied by only one tenent who does not close the door when taking a bath as no one else is there.

Yes a trailing lead can be used from anywhere but there is a limit to what the regs can do to protect people from their own stupidity. The 3m rule is to stop someone from plugging in an appliance with its own lead. Most bathrooms this would not even occur as 3m is a very big bathroom. However, exactly the same risk is there whether you have a big bathroom with a socket less than 3m from the bath or a small bathroom with a socket in the hallway less than 3m from the bath.

In my own flat I have exactly the same situation. The socket is directly outside the door on the opposite wall. The same will be for all 24 flats in the block. Half the block is occupied by single people and the other by couples. At least with couples if one of them is stupid enough to plug the portable TV in to watch in the bath the other will likely tell them not to be so stupid. However, how many couples have one person in the bath while the other is at the mirror with the hair dryer or clippers.

This is not the first time I've come across this situation with others saying it's not in the bathroom so it doesn't count but this still does not sit well with me. We are supposed to be inspecting for potential dangers and I see this as being one.

As far as going by the "letter of the law" so to speak, I still think two things about the term "location". To me the reg 701.1 should be better worded as it can be taken to mean the actual location of the bath within the zones. Personally I think that location does not just mean "room" but includes, the area outside "when" it refers to sockets at 3m. Location can mean more than just "room". It's flexible in it's meaning depending on the context in which it's being used.