As I peruse the AMD2 files to see what else has changed I see that the requirements for 13A sockets in a bathroom seem to have magically shrunk from 3m to 2.5m to the edge of Zone 1.
(Edit For background the 3m rule came in formally in the 17th edition - prior to that there had been a blanket ban on sockets in bathrooms since 1950, and then in the 15th edition we had a special clause added to allow sockets at 2.5m in bedrooms with an en-suite, and then part way through the 16th edition the numbered bathroom zones 0, 1,2 and 3 came in, later to be simplified to the current 0, 1, 2 and 'outside the zones' system.)
I suspect this latest change is based on nothing very much other than the fact the rest of the planet manages them a lot closer than that and they have no issues in practice (outside zone 2, and in a location away from water and steam seems a lowest common denominator, though RCD requirements vary), rather than perhaps that hair dryers being sold with shorter cords than before, or people's ability to spread their arms is reducing as the general population becomes more overweight.
701.512.3
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Except for SELV socket-outlets complying with Section 414 and shaver supply units complying with BS EN
61558-2-5, socket-outlets are prohibited within a distance of 2.5 m horizontally from the boundary of zone 1.
Personally I think this is a move in the right direction, given the small risks with RCD protection, but until it reduces to about 1.8m, it is still no use in my own bathroom ?.
