Adding a Shower or Sauna Near a Home Gym in England: Part P Special Locations and When Building Control Applies

A post-workout shower or a sauna is a popular addition to a garage conversion or garden gym. Wet areas bring electrical rules that do not apply in the rest of the room. Approved Document P, the government guidance on electrical safety in dwellings in England, defines “special locations” around baths, showers and sauna heaters, and the government’s building regulations approval page lists related plumbing and heating work. This article applies to England only. Approved Document P states that it gives guidance for building work in England, and the government page refers readers to separate rules for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

What a special location is

Approved Document P treats a special location as a place where additions or alterations to existing circuits become notifiable, not just the installation of new circuits. Regulation 12(9), quoted in the document, defines two kinds.

The space around a bath tap or shower head

Within a room containing a bath or shower, the special location is the space surrounding a bath tap or shower head. Vertically, it runs from the finished floor level to a height of 2.25 metres, or to the position of the shower head if that is fixed to a wall or ceiling higher than 2.25 metres. Horizontally, it extends 0.6 metres from the edge of the bath tub or shower tray. Where there is no tub or tray, it extends 1.2 metres from the centre point of the shower head where it is attached to the wall or ceiling.

A room containing a swimming pool or sauna heater

The second kind is a room containing a swimming pool or sauna heater. The wording covers the room, so any addition or alteration to existing circuits in a room with a sauna heater falls within notifiable work.

What becomes notifiable

Under regulation 12(6A), notifiable work consists of the installation of a new circuit, the replacement of a consumer unit, or any addition or alteration to existing circuits in a special location. Outside special locations, additions and alterations to existing circuits are not notifiable. The consequence is that a minor job, such as adding a spur to an existing circuit for a light or extractor fan, is not notifiable in the main gym area but is notifiable inside the shaded space around the shower.

The document’s diagram of the space around a bath or shower carries a note that socket outlets should not be located within 3 metres of a bath tub or shower tray. It also says installing fixed electrical equipment is within the scope of Part P even where the final connection is a standard plug and socket.

How the work is certified

The three routes described in Approved Document P apply: self-certification by a registered competent person, certification by a registered third-party certifier, or certification by a building control body. A competent person completes a BS 7671 electrical installation certificate for every job, and within 30 days the installer or the registration body must give the occupier a Building Regulations compliance certificate and give the building control body the certificate or its information. Where the installer is not a registered competent person, notice must be given to a building control body before the work begins, unless a third-party certifier has been appointed.

Other approvals for a gym shower

The government’s building regulations approval page lists work for which approval may be needed, including installing a bathroom that involves plumbing, changing electrics near a bath or shower, installing or replacing a heating system, adding extra radiators, and putting in a fixed air-conditioning system. It says approval is different from planning permission and that both may be needed, and that a project not on the list could still require approval. People are not required to get approval themselves if they use someone registered with a competent person scheme. Where it is unclear, the page advises checking with a building control body.

The page also states that the person doing the work could be prosecuted and fined for non-compliance, that the building control body could require faulty work to be put right at the owner’s cost, and that without approval the certificates of compliance needed on a sale may be missing.

Practical points for planning

• Decide early whether the shower or sauna sits within the main dwelling or in an outbuilding, since Part P applies to both.
• Ask the electrician or fitter whether they are a member of a competent person scheme, so that certification is handled through the scheme.
• Keep every certificate. The document says compliance certificates normally go to the occupier, and they may be requested at a sale.
• Treat heating and ventilation as separate approvals questions from the wiring, using the government’s approval page as the checklist.

Guidance elsewhere on this site covers garage conversions and Part L and Part F.

The bottom line

In England, wet areas change how small electrical jobs are treated. Around a shower, bath or sauna heater, even additions to existing circuits are notifiable, and shower or heating installations can also trigger building regulations approval. Using an installer registered with a competent person scheme keeps the process simple and produces the certificates needed later.

Sources

• Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, “Approved Document P: Electrical safety – Dwellings” (2013 edition, England)
• GOV.UK, “Building regulations approval”