Bathroom Lighting

[T-boy]

I have recently knock my bathroom wall down that divided the bathroom and toilet.I now have two lights in the room and two light switches that are in the wrong place.Can i take one light out and move the other to the centre,or do i need a electrian to do it.I would like to do it myself but i think there are new laws about doing electrics in the bathroom arent there?

[Toleman]

Please any part 'P' electricians confirm this.

Yes there is laws to do with electrics in bathrooms. Also you will be modifing the circuit so you will need a part 'p' electrician to do it.

[T-boy]

Thanks for that Toleman .I had a funny feeling i would have to get an electrician.

[buildersmate]

True.

[EDLEE]

I hope the local power police aren't looking, but if I were you I would give it a try myself. Certainly there are laws regulating how it should be done.

Find out what they are and go ahead.

I have been doing wiring for myself and others for over thirty years and have corrected more mistakes of " professionals" than they have of mine. Don't get me wrong, there are many excellent craftsmen in the trade, but it has been my experience that there are also many who seem to have gotten their certifications through less than honorable routes.
Changing the locations of switchboxes or lighting fixtures are the most basic of wiring jobs and well within the abilities of a competant DIYer.
Learn what is required by the local laws, be sure you feel competant of the actual procedures , and go for it. If you are worried when you are done, have it inspected before you replace the wallboard.
Doing the work yourself can bring a huge ammount of satisfaction. Be careful, be safe, have fun!!!

[tezestwing]

Hi T-boy I have the same sentiments as EDLEE grandfather rights and all that required to go back to school to cover testing etc costing 100s pounds retired early instead however enough of my moans Not sure without any details but after you have turned the electric off if you look into the bathroom fitting you should see 3 wires red black & sleeved yellow green earth if you follow this cable back it should go to a 4 way junction box remove this wire then lengthen it to new location reconnect like to like now to the old toilet light this may be looped in so all you need to do is substitute the ceiling rose with a 3 way junction box and at the same time remove obsolete SW cable and wall switch by the way bathrooms need a pull cord switch
If you haven't already got one installed an RCD controlled Dist-board with MCBs this has to be insulation tested by certified sparky though HTH Tez

[followgers]

Do not attempt to do this work as EDLEE suggested, unless you contact your local building control and arrange for them to come and sign off your work. The work you suggest needs carrying out falls under "Part P" of the building regulations which provides that a "competent person" undertake this work, and a competent person means qualified to the latest wiring reulations and part of a competent person scheme. Look up a local domestic electrician in the yellow pages. It doesn't sound like more than a couple of hours work, so won't cost much, then you will get a professional job, tested and certified.

[knobbynonuts]

Please t-boy take note of followgers and not the 2 mumpsters edlee and tezestwing first of all just because edlee has been doing wiring for himself and others for 30 years I suppose he taught himself and learnt as he went on,well there is a flaw in that what if when he learnt himself how to do something electrical and it was not the right way to do it in the first place then he will just keep repeating the wrong way of doing it over and over again and also electrical regs change constantly so what you were allowed to do say a year ago you may not be able to do now and something that was not needed to be done a year ago may be needed now and changing/moving lights switches etc are not in the abilities of a competant DIYer if they dont know what wires go where,what the regs are, how to run the wires, how to lift floorboards,how to be safe crawling in a loft, etc,etc,etc I could go on and on and one thing I might ad here you have fixed so called professionals have you well professionals only rarely make mistakes as we are all human, what you should have said is that you have corrected cowboys mistakes and if they have made mistakes then how do you know that if you have corrected them to the latest regs.
Will continue this as probbably running out of word space now.....

[knobbynonuts]

Right back on me soapbox now and gonna pick on you now tezestwing where the hell did you get the idea of junction boxes have you never heard of the 3 plate system in homes that has been used in homes for many many many moons now, will admit in my experiance have come across one or two places that the lights are wired via junction boxes some for a reason and some beacuse the wiring is so old that its crumbling or wired in lead, im suprized that you dindt tell t-boy to just extend the cable going to the light with a bit of wire twisting and sticky back plastic or wattever and cover it with an old fairy liqiud bottle then paint it red (for live)
Anyway to sum up here T-boy what information on here would you like to take.
A : knobbynonuts who is a qualified tester and part p electrician and has 30 years total experiance of every day (well almost) in the trade.

B: edlee who shouts his alias on here and has 30 years of stumbling around in the dark trying to find his way .

C. tezestwing. Who is like a bat ie. living in the dark ages.

D. noknowledge like his answer and name gsoh.

Well I think that has answered your quist T-boy happy shocking

[T-boy]

Thanks for all of your answers,especially followgers and knobbynonuts.I now have got a part P electrician to do the work.

[Trottie]

Wise move! These days, just moving the light switch as you describe requires you to test the insulation and the Earth Fault Loop Impedance on that complete lighting cct. You will probably find there is no Junction Box. If there were, you would have to bring that up to current regs which mean it has to be readily accessible, ie not under floor boards, in ceiling voids etc. You would have to ensure that all the fittings were as required for the relevant zone and, if your installation is of an age where there earth wire does not exist in the cct, make sure only class 2 fittings were used and, probably, ensure the cct was protected by an RCBO. On top of that, you'd have to attend to any supplementary bonding issues that arose.

And it is correct to say this is notifiable work so, yes, Building Control or a self certifying electrician need to play a part.

P.S. I bet I have spent more time correcting the errors made by self important diy'ers who "knew how to do their own electrics" than your above answerer has corrected made by pro-electricians.

[knobbynonuts]

Well done there trottie at least we have another person on here that knows what hes doing and saying and glad you got a pro to do the job T-boy just out of curiosity how much did he charge without pursing my lips and making a hissing sound and nodding my head I would at a guess say around �60-�80 and did you get a minor works certificate and like the bit what you said about self important diy ers trottie

[T-boy]

He is going to charge me �60 which i think is quite good.