Do bathroom electrics need to be certified?
Yes — bathrooms are 'special locations' under the wiring regulations, and most electrical work in them is notifiable under Part P. The room is divided into zones dictating what can be installed where, and the work must end in a certificate. Uncertified bathroom electrics are the classic house-sale snag.
Water and electricity share this one room, so BS 7671 treats bathrooms specially: Zone 0 (inside the bath or tray), Zone 1 (above it to 2.25m), Zone 2 (600mm beyond) each restrict equipment by IP rating, and everything wants RCD protection. This is why sockets are largely absent from British bathrooms and why 'just move the shaver light' is not a handyman job.
Part P makes most bathroom electrical work notifiable: new circuits, work in the zones, electric showers, underfloor heating. Registered installers self-certify through their scheme — the certificate arrives without a council visit. The practical consequence of skipping it is deferred, not immediate: the sale, the remortgage survey, or the insurance claim after a fault is where missing paperwork bites.
Underfloor heating deserves a note because we fit so much of it under wetroom and tile floors: it is zone-relevant, needs its own RCD-protected supply and floor-sensor thermostat, and is exactly the kind of work that must go through certification. Ours does, automatically, on every job that includes it.
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