Loadcenter in Bathroom

Just for clarification I believe it's actually the overcurrent protection device and not the load center that is prohibited and they are still allowed in some "commercial" bathrooms. (See 240.24)
I checked the few older editions I have and can't pin down when they were prohibited in residential but I believe it was the 1993 Code that fist addressed the issue..
 
ptonsparky said:
IDR when it changed, but yes they were allowed at one time. The ones above the tub or shower were a stretch though.
Click to expand...
Agreed.........however I get a lot of work from real estate agents and after the home inspectors come through and flag panels in bathrooms in houses built prior to 1990, the chaos begins. I realize however that in reality, even though the house is prior to 1990, it's actually when the bathroom was constructed. It could have been part of the original house or added several years later. Hard to prove without some kind of documentation.
 
And another possible scenario would be, if there are overcurrent devices in a bathroom, could the location be framed in with an access door to basically create a room within a room to make it code compliant?
 
A/A Fuel GTX said:
And another possible scenario would be, if there are overcurrent devices in a bathroom, could the location be framed in with an access door to basically create a room within a room to make it code compliant?
Click to expand...
It's either in the bathroom or it isn't. If it's in a separate room then IMO it's not within the bathroom.
 
The 1993 NEC prohibited overcurrent devices in bathrooms in dwelling units and guest rooms of hotels and motels. The 1987 NEC didn't have that prohibition. The 1990 version is not available online.

The prohibition was expanded to dormatories in 2011, and to all bathrooms, showering facilities and locker rooms with showering facilities in 2023.
 
A/A Fuel GTX said:
And another possible scenario would be, if there are overcurrent devices in a bathroom, could the location be framed in with an access door to basically create a room within a room to make it code compliant?
Click to expand...

IMHO, to create a room within a room you would need to create a separate region large enough that a person could enter and have all required working space without having to stand in the bathroom.
 
jaggedben said:
Working space violation makes the OP question moot for that one. 😆

I wonder if the inspection sticker or the toilet was there first.
Click to expand...

Believe it or not it was actually quite comfortable kneeling my left knee down on the toilet to work on the panel :cool:

The toilet was definitely there for a long time, long before that sticker was put on the panel. Making it even worse, the wall to the right is only a half-wall forming a stall shower area.
 
This reminded me of a service call 10 years ago with a loadcenter over the toilet. Bus bars were pretty corroded.

Edit : I just noticed for the first time those two bus taps at the bottom of the 2nd photo. I was in a hurry to get out of there.

abfe1ec2dfd3aa568050b48c4ff181f7.jpg


8f7cc8408de25700b8fe87d7ecbc4dfc.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top