Bathroom Zones 1 and 2

[JohnW2]

What are people's feelings about the upper boundary of Zones 1 and 2 when there is a 'sunken' bath surrounded by flooring raised to the level of the top of the bath - is it 2.25m from the bottom of the bath tub, or 2.25m from the level of the adjacent raised floor? The former would seem more in keeping with the spirit of 701.32.3 & 701.32.4 (i.e. thinking in terms of people standing in the bath), but I suspect folk are going to say that the answer is the latter!

This is not a hypothetical question. I have such a bath which has just under 2.6m of 'headroom' when I am standing in it, but just under 2.2m relative to the surrounding raised floor.

Kind Regard, John.

 

[1john]

Zones are measured from FFL, so the bath could be 6 foot in the air.

 

[JohnW2]

Zones are measured from FFL, so the bath could be 6 foot in the air.

Yes, I realise that's what the regs say, but the question is which FFL when, as in my case, there are two - any thoughts?

As you point out, the regulation appears to technically leave a potentially dangerous 'loophole' - since, if the bath were '6 feet in the air' (or even just 2 or 3 feet in the air), it would be possible for someone standing in a bath of water to touch something that was more than 2.25m 'above FFL'.

Kind Regards, John.

 

[ebee]

I did contact IEE a few years ago with this vey scenario - ie bath being built up/long legs thereby making the heights from basin of bath being the best dependant datum to apply measurements from but they stuck to their guns about finished floor level.

Even so, I hope most of us finding a bath 6 foot in the air would add a bit to zone heights

 

[1john]

Finished floor level is finished floor level, the base of a bath or shower tray is not finished floor level.

The regulations are minimum guidelines, make a judgment based on your experience and knowledge.

 

[RossR]

Like 1john says, it's not just about the zones. All equipment must be selected to be appropriate for the environment it's installed in.

A common example is a light above a shower. It might be high enough to be outside the zones. However, if the shower head is removable, it can be expected that the light would be subject to sprays of water, so a suitable IP rated fitting should be chosen.

 

[JohnW2]

Finished floor level is finished floor level, the base of a bath or shower tray is not finished floor level.

OK. Although I thought I was being clear enough, maybe I should have spelled out the situation at greater length ....

The bathroom in question has a 'real' floor and the ceiling is about 2.8m above the 'FFL' of that. The base of the bath is about 0.2m above that floor, hence there is about 2.6m from bath base to ceiling. However, there is an area of 'raised flooring' around the bath, with its FFL about 0.6m above the 'real' floor FFL (and level with the rim of the bath), so that the ceiling is about 2.2m above that raised area. There is no shower facility in the bath.

Hence my question about 'which FFL' (really 'which floor'). If the bath had a very wide rim, that presumably wouldn't count as a 'floor'. If I had described the area around the bath as a 'surround', rather than 'a raised floor', you may not have thought of it as a 'floor' whose FFL had to be used to determine the upper boundary of Zones 1 and 2. I therefore guess that there is a 'line in the sand' somewhere, as one goes from 'wide rim', through 'narrow surround' and 'wide surround' eventually to a completely raised floor.

I thought that the intention and spirit of the regs related to what people standing in a bath or shower could touch, and what could get sprayed with water. The latter does not apply in my situation (no shower facility). As for the former, if one works from the 'raised' FFL, the ceiling is currently (just) in Zones 1 and 2 (about 2.2m). If I were to remove that surround/raised floor, the ceiling would be well outside of the zones (about 2.8m), yet absolutely nothing would have changed in terms of what could be touched by someone standing in the bath. In common sense terms, and in keeping with what I assumed to be the spirit of the regs, I don't think the ceiling should be in any zone, but it seems likely that an obsessive follower of the word of the regs would think otherwise.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

I did contact IEE a few years ago with this vey scenario - ie bath being built up/long legs thereby making the heights from basin of bath being the best dependant datum to apply measurements from but they stuck to their guns about finished floor level.
Even so, I hope most of us finding a bath 6 foot in the air would add a bit to zone heights

By sticking to their guns, the IEE seem to put themselves in the category of people more concerned about the word of their regs than common sense safety considerations.

OK, I'm talking about the opposite situation, but if I did have a raised bath (rather than raised floor), I would certainly feel that anything not more than about 2.1m (most bath bases are about 0.15m from the floor) above the base of the bath should be considered as Zone 1 or 2, even if the IEE's obsession with 'FFL' said that it wasn't!

Kind Regards, John.

 

[RossR]

Is the surround wide enough to stand on? If so I'd call it a floor.

If you're not sure then assume the worst case interpretation.

What are you planning on fitting in the disputed zone?

 

[JohnW2]

Is the surround wide enough to stand on? If so I'd call it a floor.
If you're not sure then assume the worst case interpretation.
What are you planning on fitting in the disputed zone?

The surround is plenty wide enough to stand on. Mind you, I've been known to stand on the rim of a standard bath when decorating, so I'm not sure that's a very good test!

I'm not planning on fitting anything. I'm looking at a light fitting above the bath which has been there for years, and wondering whether it would be compliant under current regs. I need to look at it more carefully, but it may well not have an adequate IP rating for Zone 1/2. I'm certainly comfortable that it's 'safe', in that one cannot get anywhere near touching it whilst standing in the bath and, as I said, it's at no risk from any sprays - but it could be technically non-complaint.

Kind Regards, John.

 

[RossR]

I'm certainly comfortable that it's 'safe', in that one cannot get anywhere near touching it whilst standing in the bath and, as I said, it's at no risk from any sprays - but it could be technically non-complaint.

As you say, safe, but possible not compliant. If, hypothetically, I was designing such an installation, I'd go for an IP rated luminaire, just to cover myself.

 

[JohnW2]

As you say, safe, but possible not compliant. If, hypothetically, I was designing such an installation, I'd go for an IP rated luminaire, just to cover myself.

Definitely. If it were being installed now, one would want to avoid any accusation of non-compliance with the fairly poorly thought-through regulation. I'm certainly in no rush for it to be changed, but might consider that next time some decoration or ceiling work is being undertaken.

Kind Regards, John