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New edition of IEC 60364-7-701 (Special locations containg a bath or shower)

-2400-
Just posting in case it is of interest...

IEC have recently published IEC 60364-7-701:2019. This is the standard that Section 701 of BS7671 is based on, so the changes might or might not roll through in a future update of '7671.

The Abstract is free to view (along with a longer preview) on the IEC website at https://webstore.iec.ch/publication/28906 and is pasted below:

Abstract



IEC 60364-7-701:2019 applies to electrical installations in indoor or outdoor locations where a bath tub and/or a shower is intended to be permanently placed in a specific location.
The extent of the location containing a bath tub and/or a shower is limited by:

– the lowest finished floor level;

– a horizontal plane 3 m above the lowest finished floor level;

– a vertical circumscribing virtual surface at a distance of 4 m from the fixed water outlet for the bath tub or shower; and

– the volume within the walls, floor and ceiling that border the location containing a bath or shower, measured to a depth of 6 cm.

The requirements of this document also apply to fixed electrical installations in mobile applications, for example caravans, mobile homes, shower containers. This document does not apply to emergency facilities, for example emergency showers used in industrial areas or laboratories.

This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition published in 2006. This edition constitutes a technical revision.

This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:

– the scope gives precisions relevant to the application of this document;

– the description of zones is improved;

– relevant terms are defined.


  • 0
    Horizontal plane 3 m above finished floor level.


    The norm for ceilings in UK seems to be 2.4 m for the simple reason that plasterboard sheets are 2.4 m tall. So with a 2.25 m limit to zone 2, luminaires can be placed above it. If that is no longer the case, there may be problems.


  • 0
    well nearly all UK bathrooms are limited by walls and ceilings, not the 3m vertical or 4 horizontal distance limit, so no change there.

    However, the idea that the bathroom extends for 6cm into the walls and floor is a slightly new take on things, as far as I know the boundary was just the wall or floor, and most of us assumed to refer to the inner skin of the wall tiles or whatever.  The zones 0,1,2 are well inside that as well. This outer boundary is in effect a non-existant zone 3.

    However the use of suitably IP rated fittings in  the inner zones is allowed.
  • 0
    So the down lights in my kitchen ceiling and their wiring are in the bathroom?


    Andy B
  • 0
    If your bathroom is above the kitchen, and the wiring in the floor-ceiling void is near the bathroom floor, then it seems so yes.

    Not wildly dissimilar to the wiring in walls being within 50mm of the surface sort of counting as being in the room for the purposes of RCD protection etc.

    More interesting will be if the inner zones 0,1,2 stop at the surface of the wall or floor as they do now in BS7671, and in the 2006 IEC doc too
  • 0
    The space under a bath is out of zones if there is a bath panel that requires a tool to remove it.


    But it won't be if I read the extract above correctly. 


    Andy B 

  • 0
    "The extent of the location containing a bath tub and/or a shower is limited by:

    – the lowest finished floor level;

    – a horizontal plane 3 m above the lowest finished floor level;

    – a vertical circumscribing virtual surface at a distance of 4 m from the fixed water outlet for the bath tub or shower; and

    – the volume within the walls, floor and ceiling that border the location containing a bath or shower, measured to a depth of 6 cm."


    The virtical circumscribing circle of 4m will take the bathroom zone well beyond most bathroom spaces. That's if I understand it correctly, which will include accessories on the outside of the bathroom partitian walls.such as socket outlets.

    4" (100mm) Partition walls are now included in the zones. Why is this necessary?


    Legh
  • 0
    I'm curious as to why they specified the lowest finished floor level.


    There are some posh places where the bath is raised up from the normal floor level.  You could have a situation where the (high) ceiling is more than 3m above the lowest floor level, but low enough that someone standing in the bath could touch it.  Any downlights and fans in that ceiling would be outside the bath zone, because they are considered to be 3m above the floor..
  • 0
    I would like to know more but at £170 for the document my curiosity will have to go unsated.
  • 0
    "fixed water outlet" presumably means the water supply to the bath or shower, although in plain English, it suggests the plug hole where water is allowed out. ?
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member

    Chris Pearson:

    "fixed water outlet" presumably means the water supply to the bath or shower, although in plain English, it suggests the plug hole where water is allowed out. ?




     

    So is a fixed socket outlet intended to let the electrons out - or in ? ?


    Regards


    OMS

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