Light fittings in bathrooms

[pippay]

Does anyone know if a bathroom needs a special light fitting? i.e. does the fitting need to allow for an enclosed bulb and bayonet fitting or will an ordinary open ceiling rose and fixed (not hanging) bayonet fitting be sufficient.

Reason i'm asking is the my neighbour's (a tenant) original enclosed glass fitting fell down and the Letting Agent got a contractor to come and replace it, which he has done with an ordinary celing rose (from which to hang an ordinary light shade) and has told them this is OK (we're not sure if he's a qualified electrician as he waas doing other little non-electrical jobs as well, such as shaving doors to fit properly). My neighbour seems to think oterwise and I'm sitting on the fence !!

Any help /advice would be useful as this is an obvious Health & Safety query.

[Ericthelobster]

Basically it depends on the height of the bathroom ceiling and the location of the light fitting relative to the bath/shower etc - ie, in electrical parlance, which "zone" the light is in. Have a look at the diagram in the following link, which should make it pretty clear:

//www.diydata.com/electrics/bathroom_electrics/bathroom_electrics.htm

If the fitting does come within one of the zones, then it needs to have a particular IP rating, as stated in the above article - any fitting with a rating will be labelled accordingly.

There's a good clear explanation of IP ratings at: http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/DataSheets/IPNumbers.htm.

(PS - think it's time I started applying a disclaimer to my posts.... thanks to PPilcher for the one below!)

________
Any information given in this post is based on my personal experience as a landlord, what I have learned from this and other boards and elsewhere. It is not to be relied on. Definitive advice is only available from a Solicitor or other appropriately qualified person.

[pippay]

Thanks Eric .. that was REALLY useful !!!

[P.Pilcher]

My pleasure Eric - you are welcome to use it!

P.P.