Thread: Service Panel in bathroom closet

I know there are not supposed to be electrical panels in bathrooms but what about it being in a utility closet in the bathroom? Does the closet door make it Ok?????

//Rick

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From the 2006 IRC

a. Equipment, piping and ducts foreign to the electrical installation shall not be placed in the shaded areas extending from the floor to a height of 6 feet above the
panelboard enclosure, or to the structural ceiling, whichever is lower.
b. The working space shall be clear and unobstructed from the floor to a height of 6.5 feet.
c. The working space shall not be designated for storage.
d. Panelboards, service equipment and similar enclosures shall not be located in bathrooms, toilet rooms and clothes closets.
e. Such work spaces shall be provided with artificial lighting where located indoors.

Any towels or washcloths?
Working space?
Light?

Originally Posted by Rick Bunzel

Does the closet door make it Ok?????

Nope.

Nope - towels, wash clothes etc. Some cleaning supplies. No light....

//Rick

Jerry, before the recent code change it was determined that lighting in a closet did not need AFCI protection as the closet was not in the bedroom. Using the same line of thought the closet in the bathroom is not part of the bathroom. And yes I know that closets are now included in the list for AFCI protection.

I agree that other considerations like the ignitable material storage, lighting and workspace clearances would still need to be considered.

Originally Posted by Jim Port

Jerry, before the recent code change it was determined that lighting in a closet did not need AFCI protection as the closet was not in the bedroom.

It was "determined" by whom?

The NEC did not "determine" that the closet did not need AFCI protection, it was up to the AHJ, and all the AHJs I have been in determined that the closet was indeed part of the bedrooms.

In fact, the NEC ultimately did determine that the closet was part of the bedroom, as you noted below.

Using the same line of thought the closet in the bathroom is not part of the bathroom. And yes I know that closets are now included in the list for AFCI protection.

In those AHJs which determined that the closet was not part of the bedroom, maybe that would hold water (pun intended), but not at any of the places I worked.

Yes, there were many AHJs which would interpret the codes to the weakest possible interpretation as they considered the code to be the minimum standard and that minimum standard was to be as low as possible, and, yes, there were many other AHJs which would interpret the codes to the strongest possible interpretation as they considered the code to be the minimum standard and that the minimum standard was to be no lower than what was being implied in the code being interpreted.

That lead to two opposing interpretations and points of view on the vague areas of the codes, and many code changes are introduced specifically to clarify the previous editions vague language.

I don't think the current wording supports that the closet is part of the bedroom. I see that as an expansion of the AFCI requirements, not as a determination of whether the closet is part of the bedroom. Using that line would you say that the master bathroom is part of the bedroom? After all you would need to be in the bedroom to enter the bathroom.

Here are some discussions.

afci interpretation

afci