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Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Question:

Re: CQD answer published Thursday, august 25, 2016 -Bathroom

So we are not going to treat this mop sink as a “basin” for purposes of the article 100 definition of a bathroom? Is this because after all it really is just an oversized floor drain with sides? Then why would we require a receptacle located within six feet of it have GFCI protection?

The requirement for GFCI protection is the presence of a sink.

The requirement to be considered a bathroom is the presence of a sink and one other plumbing fixture.

There is nothing there about needing a vanity.A sink is a sink. And a basin is a sink. A sink is a basin. A mop sink (still a basin) and a toilet in the same room does meet the article 100 definition of a “bathroom”. Section 210.52(D) then requires placement of receptacles within three feet of the edge of each basin. Section 210.8(A)(1) requires all 125-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-amp receptacles located inside dwelling unit bathrooms to have GFCI protection. "What's in a name?

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Juliet Capulet

Matthew Hermanson

A

Answer:

Hey Matthew thanks for your comments. You have some great points but then why are the words different? If a basin is intended to mean all types of sinks then the definition of bathroom in Article 100 should be changed to be consistent by replacing "basin" with "sink'. The definition was added in 210.8 for the 1978 NEC. It is also possible that it is because the NEC panel had different members when the rules for GFCI's for receptacles within 6 ft of sinks were added. Submit a Public Input for the 2020 NEC and we can all learn something.

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