Bathroom extractor fan switch query

[Andy W]

Hi there

I hope this is the right place.

I am having a house rewire, and the electrician has told us that it's against regulations to have a specific switch for the bathroom extractor fan.
It has an isolator switch, and all switches are outside the bathroom, but at the moment his configuration has the lights and fan controlled by the same switch.
This seems wrong as I don't want the lights on for daytime showers and I don't want the fan on for night time teeth cleaning.
Is it a regulation, or is he just being lazy?

Thanks in advance
Andy

 

[richy3333]

Sounds like a load of old tosh. I have two switches in my en-suite. One for lights and one for the extractor fan.
Switches don’t necessarily need to be outside the room subject to various caveats.

Ask your electrician to show you where he gets his information from.

 

[Andy78]

Nothing wrong with having the light and fan switched separately. Get the electrician to quote the regulation from BS7671 he is citing.

There may be requirements in part F of the building regulations for fans to be switched with the lights and run on after they are switched off, I'm not sure. This would not apply to your rewire though, only new builds.

 

[James]

absolutely, just tell him a friend of yours is an electrician and cant understand his reasoning.
ask what reg number it is that he is not willing to break

 

[Octopus]

Numptie ....

If BCO are involved they want to see an extractor fan with timer .... but an isolator can be fitted .... but this shouldn’t turn the light off too

 

[Marcus Vaughan]

As above. I nearly always install separate switches outside the bathroom including in my own house. It’s a good idea to have a timer fan to over - run for a while after the shower to clear that moisture away.

 

[GMDemo]

If there are no opening windows in the bathroom then the fan should be connected to the lights to comply with building regulations. If there is an opening window then it's upto the customer.

 

[Charlie_]

If there are no opening windows in the bathroom then the fan should be connected to the lights to comply with building regulations. If there is an opening window then it's upto the customer.

What if it is daylight and they don’t want to switch the lights on?

 

[Octopus]

If there are no opening windows in the bathroom then the fan should be connected to the lights to comply with building regulations. If there is an opening window then it's upto the customer.

The BCO's around here want to see extractors with timers in bathrooms - windows or not - the same goes for utility rooms ...

 

[Charlie_]

The BCO's around here want to see extractors with timers in bathrooms - windows or not - the same goes for utility rooms ...

Same here but can still have their own switch separate to the lights.
I personally don’t like the idea of the isolator switches. They just get switched off and left too often.

 

[RCD-joe]

Being able to isolate the fan for maintenance possibly

 

[RCD-joe]

Or it may be a requirement of the fan manufacturer.

View attachment 49857

 

[RCD-joe]

.

 

[Andy W]

Thanks for all the replies guys.
I contacted Building Control and they said they'd have no problem at all, but to be certain I should confirm with Niceic in terms of the Part P.
I'll see what they say before I speak to the spark about it.
Thanks

 

[DPG]

Complete waste of energy if the installation forces you to have lights switched on when it's daylight. Crazy.