Ventilation Fan In Wet Area

**Tab Wilcox** · 01-10-2016, 10:09 AM

Even though I cannot locate any code reference prohibiting installation of a ventilator in a "wet" area, I am reporting it as a safety hazard. I spent about an hour of my life reading a thread on another forum about proximity of the fan switch to the enclosure. I believe that per the code, the switch location is allowed. Open to comments. Thanks.

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**John Kogel** · 01-12-2016, 11:42 AM

Call the fan location out for too wet and possible shock hazard such as if the grill is removed.
Also cheap fans mounted on their sides like that often develop bearing problems. It is a cheezy installation and your clients will agree.

The switch location must be outside the footprint of the enclosure so I think it is probably acceptable by your code standards. There may be a requirement for GFCI on that circuit.

In Canada switch needs to be 3 feet away from the shower.

**Markus Keller** · 01-12-2016, 05:05 PM

Something you should consider doing in this type of situation is pull the cover off the unit so that you can get a picture of the manufacturers label and model number. Then you can look up the unit and see if it is approved for wet locations by the manufacturer. If it isn't well then its a slam dunk. If it isn't GFCI protected write it up as D&H.
Sometimes its better to spend an extra minute verifying than spending more time later guessing. Not trying to sound snarky, just my glowing personality.