Bathroom electrical installation
Bathrooms and showers rooms are areas of high risk, because of the very low resistance of the human body when wet or immersed in water.
Precaution to be taken are therefore correspondingly rigorous, and the regulations are more severe than those for most other locations.
The relevant standard is IEC 60364-7-701.
Precautions to observe are based on three aspects:
- The definition of zones, numbered 0,1, 2, 3 in which the placement (or exclusion) of any electrical device is strictly limited or forbidden and, where permitted, the electrical and mechanical protection is prescribed
- The establishment of an equipotential bond between all exposed and extraneous metal parts in the zones concerned
- The strict adherence to the requirements prescribed for each particular zones.
Classification of zones
Sub-clause 701.32 of IEC 60364-7-701 defines the zones 0, 1, 2, 3 as shown in the following diagrams (see Fig. Q12 below to Fig. Q18)
Fig. Q12: Zones 0, 1, 2 and 3 in proximity to a bath-tub
Fig. Q13: Zones 0, 1, 2 and 3 in proximity of a shower with basin
Fig. Q14: Zones 0, 1, 2 and 3 in proximity of a shower without basin
Fig. Q15: No switch or socket-outlet is permitted within 60 cm of the door opening of a shower cabinet
Fig. QP16: Individual showers with dressing cubicles
Fig. Q17: Individual showers with separate individual dressing cubicles
Fig. Q18: Communal showers and common dressing room
Note: Classes of external influences (see Fig.Q46).
Equipotential bonding
(see Fig. Q19)
Fig. Q19: Supplementary equipotential bonding in a bathroom
Requirements prescribed for each zone
The table of clause 3 describes the application of the principles mentioned in the foregoing text and in other similar or related cases
