Pre- fabricated shower / toilet pod query

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Evans Electric

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Building company says a pre built  shower pod  constitutes a separate room ...therefore our bathroom Regs don't apply  when they drop one into a bedroom . 

They're self contained units for disabled use which come fully fitted out ...with connections for electrics , plumbing , waste .     Builder maintains all he needs to do is change wall switches to pull switches.  

My carpenter/plumber mate subs to this firm , he 's being told they can be fitted in a day .      I'm not involved but thought they were adjusting the Regs to suit themselves.  As in  ..........."rooms containing a bath or shower "      Stick one of these into a bedroom and it becomes ...."a room containing a bath or shower. " 

Any thoughts?

 
Wall switches are not disallowed in bath/shower rooms.

They must be suitable for the location though.

Also, they must have a door, else the whole room becomes the zoned area, as has been said.

Sounds like the “builder” is wrong, again, nothing new there though.

 
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Just to be pedantic, 701 refers to Locations containing a bath or shower therefore still applies.

If the pod is then a defined room then 701 only applies to that room. If the whole room is open plan then it would apply to the room as a whole.

Do you have any pictures or designs for these pods?

 
Do you have any pictures or designs for these pods?
I don't ,  as I'm not involved myself .   They are for disabled use and I'm sure my carpenter mate said they have a curtain .     These guys know sod all about our Regs  ,  the boss man is talking in terms of setting up  Plumber / electrician  2 man teams  to throw these in at one per day  ,  so he won't want to get involved with any regulations ,  typical builder .  

They install them in disabled bedrooms ...in my opinion that room becomes  a "  Room containing a bath or shower "    

I only ever saw one , it was fitted into an existing bathroom ...big ugly monstrosity  with flexible  plumbing & electrics hanging out .  This one had a small TV screen inside   :C     

 
So are we going to argue, that if the shower has a glass surround and a glass door, then the actual shower is a room in it's own right, and the rest of the space it opens onto (where the basin and WC are) is a separate room?  If not the argument that the cupboard is not in the bathroom gets a little weak.

I have only once installed a shower into a bedroom, and I had to point out to the owner that there was only one spot, right in the diametrically opposite corner that just met the 3M rule, so that was the only place he could have a socket in that bedroom.  Of course there is a long extension now lead plugged into that socket to power the tv sitting on a cabinet right next to the shower.......

I have installed a type of "shower pod" that did the rounds up here a few years ago, They were basically a packaged shower with jets that couls squirt at you from all angles, some fancy lights and a radio, all controlled by a touch panel.  They were hideous things. One went wrong 6 months after I installed it, only then did we find there was a control box on the back of it, and to get at that we had to pull the whole thing out from it's corner, and found a blown fuse in that box.  What a stupid design to put what need to be accessible servicable parts right where in most cases you cannot get at them.,

 
So are we going to argue, that if the shower has a glass surround and a glass door, then the actual shower is a room in it's own right, and the rest of the space it opens onto (where the basin and WC are) is a separate room?  If not the argument that the cupboard is not in the bathroom gets a little weak.
Personally I don't see the difference   between  plonking a pre built shower pod  into a bedroom   or  building a traditional  tray , screen , shower unit , tiles etc   .

Any sockets  & light switches would have to be dealt with  in the usual way .  

Its a bit like that case I had  where the architect /customer  built an extension with a jacouzi  & exercise  tank where you swim against the pumped current  without actually moving .  He  "demanded "  a multi gang light switch  and  sockets  set into the 12" deep skirting boards . 

After much arguing I offered to get the NIC guy involved  as I said...for electrical purposes..... it was a bathroom  , he said it wasn't , its an exercise pool .  

As the  then supervisor I considered the deciding factor was naked  wet people  with access to sockets & a stainless steel light switch .

                    However the NIC  proclaimed it wasn't a bathroom  ,   I  spoke to my boss ,  & he said we're not putting our name to it so we walked .    

 
Its a bit like that case I had  where the architect /customer  built an extension with a jacouzi  & exercise  tank where you swim against the pumped current  without actually moving .  He  "demanded "  a multi gang light switch  and  sockets  set into the 12" deep skirting boards .


imo its not a bath or shower so 701 doesnt apply. fits 702 quite nicely though

 
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