GFCI for tub lighting

[electricguy61]

I recently missed a final inspection by one item: the inspector required that the recessed light over the bathtub be GFCI protected.

Instead of calling him & debating the issue, I installed a single gang device that had a single 110v GFCI protected outlet and a single pole switch. I configured the wiring so the GFCI protected the switch. He was happy, and it was easy to fix.

But I cannot find an NEC reference other then 551.53(B) (Article 551 applies only to recreational vehicles) that requires lighting above a tub be GFCI protected. Am I missing something?

Thanks

PS: what happened to the spell checker?

[Minuteman]

Might be a local ruling. The AHJ here has Code amendment that requires GFCI protection on all switches within 5' of a tub & shower.

[infinity]

You're not missing anything. Unless the shower fixture explicitly requires GFCI protection you do not need any. The NEC does not require GFCI protection for shower lights.

[romexking]

Most shower rated fixtures will have a statement on the inside of the can like "listed for use over a tub when protected by a GFCI".

Rich

[infinity]

Most shower rated fixtures will have a statement on the inside of the can like "listed for use over a tub when protected by a GFCI".

Rich

Really? I have yet to see one. But I will say that most shower fan units contain a similar note.

[77401]

I thought the inspector was correct.
And I am having a hard time finding the art#.
It is in there! Unless its old code & was removed.
Although I always thought it was a stupid requirement but we have to protect people from themselves.

Now I'm going crazy, I'll find it

Why would it be required for a mobile home & not a residential unit?


Spell checker is only on IE not Firefox

[iwire]

Why would it be required for a mobile home & not a residential unit?

Why is it that only Mobile Home service disconnects have a minimum mounting height when nothing else in the NEC does?

I think this is unfair to mobile home owners. ;)

[infinity]

I thought the inspector was correct.
And I am having a hard time finding the art#.
It is in there! Unless its old code & was removed.
Although I always thought it was a stupid requirement but we have to protect people from themselves.

Now I'm going crazy, I'll find it

Why would it be required for a mobile home & not a residential unit?


Spell checker is only on IE not Firefox


You won't find it. ;)

[Kessler4130]

Yeah a friend told me that a gfci was required by code for lighting over showers and tubs a few months back, and I looked for it for quite some time. Ofcourse I never found what isn't there.

[e57]

Look all you like, it aint there.... I too get the same from inspectors here, who have a whole slew of ammeded codes in writing locally, except this... What it boils down to is it sounds like a neat idea to them, and the only reason I do it is to appease the power trip. So I ask, "So no code refferance, but I'll put it on my billing as your suggestion"? ;)

[77401]

So where is the article for Showers?
Same thing?

[celtic]

So where is the article for Showers?


410.4 (A)
410.4(D)

...closest you'll find.

[electricguy61]

Thanks. It's good to know I still know how to read the "Code".

I could have argued with him, I might have won. But one can "win the battle & lose the war". What I did was a cheap fix, and in the long run, made everyone happy

[celtic]

....remember, there is nothing in the NEC that says you can't GFCI the lighting.

[crankshaft]

thats great a light in the shower on a gfci. so when a nuisance trip occurs you will have someone in the shower have to open the door or curtain and journey over to the reset button in the dark, barefoot, wet and naked. yeah baby. what if the gfci outlet is a 12/2 homerun and goes to another bathroom outlet, but the lighting was picked up by a 14/2 lighting circuit that was thrown on a gfci to appease one of these overzealous inspectors, you know the ones with there own code, the gfci reset does not have to even be in that bathroom. double yeah

[Kessler4130]

Could have been a county/city code as well, some will give you a list of thier code adendums when you activate your license with them, but some look at you like parked your flying saucer out front when you ask them if they have anything regarding thier local codes. Some counties here require a seperate circuit for a refrigerator, and I would like to see that in the NEC, another county in Maryland will not let you run aluminum wire inside a dwelling for anything, not even a subpanel.