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Bathroom Boiler Question

Ok, so… I am hoping someone can help, I have googled to the end of days and receive conflicting feedback

 

In my bathroom I have spun the bath 45 degrees which means the end of the bath is now facing the airing cupboard door, this cupboard houses the combi boiler.  The door now opens over the back of the bath but is only accessed for maintenance, you can still get good access to the boiled despite this layout.

After making this change I realised that this means the front of the boiler front is now 35mm from the back edge of the bath, the switches etc are on the back wall to the side of the boiler which is c700mm from the edge of the bath and protected by RCD downstairs… In the regs (BS7671) the boiler is now in Zone 2, the regs state that any electrical item in zone 2 must be IPX4 rated, which is ok as my Boiler is rated to this level.  However the regs also state that the boiler switches and controls must not be reachable from within the bath… I think this is where my issue lies.

My plan is to make the airing cupboard lockable, with a key (twisty security key that can be removed from the room), I believe this makes the cupboard exempt from the zoning issues I am concerned about, but I am not quite sure… whilst it will be a nightmare to move the bath somewhere else (plastering and plumbing are complete), I want to avoid nasty surprises like someone coming in later and stating that the layout of the bath and boiler breach regs, subsequently I would then need to remodel my already new bathroom.

Any thoughts / guidance on this would be greatly appreciated

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  • 701.32.1 applies. Doors etc. limit the extend of locations and zones.

    Agreed - so any door will do as far as BS 7671 is concerned as long as it effectively limits the extent of the location - it doesn't necessarily have to be locked. The main door to the bathroom itself wouldn't be locked to prevent people reaching a socket on the landing and there's a long history of plate switches for immersion heaters in airing cupboards that would be in easy reach of someone using the bath if the cupboard door were open.

       - Andy.

  • Thanks Andy, appreciate your comments! 

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