Bathroom exhaust vents

[John Lomonaco]

Brand new construction, there are two upstairs bathrooms missing exhaust vents.

Is this a code violation? Or normal and is not required?

John

[Michael Larson]

Originally Posted by jlomonaco

Brand new construction, there are two upstairs bathrooms missing exhaust vents.

Is this a code violation? Or normal and is not required?

John

Do the bathrooms have operable windows?

[rwhite6]

Fromn the 20006 IRC: (my underlining)

R303.3 Bathrooms.

Bathrooms, water closet compartments
and other similar rooms shall be provided with aggregate glazing
area in windows of not less than 3 square feet (0.3 m2),
one-half of which must be openable.

Exception:

The glazed areas shall not be required where artificial
light and a mechanical ventilation system are provided.
The minimum ventilation rates shall be 50 cubic feet per minute
(24 L/s) for intermittent ventilation or 20 cubic feet per
minute (10 L/s) for continuous ventilation. Ventilation air
from the space shall be exhausted directly to the outside.

So -- If the bathrooms have exhaust fans and artificial light, no windows are required. there is no REQUIREMENT for exhaust fans.

Good sense, requires an exaust fan in each bath/shower room.

[Marc D. Shunk]

Some whirlpool tub instructions say that mechanical ventillation is required when the whirlpool circulation is in use. Just some extra info for the noggin...

[John Lomonaco]

Robert and Marc,


Thank you for your input....

Very helpful.

John

[Linda J. Foster]

Looked at a new home last week. The exhust vent was in the toilet room (window also), but no vent or opening window in main bath area with large tub and separate shower. Buyer was concerned about moisture.

On the next visit, the builder had installed new, special purchase, recessed can light with vent exhaust. Looked like other can lights.

I was impressed with the builder.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Here's what I say, especially if there is a shower stall in the main area. But I may not put it in the Summary.

"An exhaust fan was installed in the water closet (toilet room). The exhaust in this area will not be effective in removing moisture from the main, higher ceiling of the bathroom. The higher ceiling bathroom did not have any means to vent moisture out of the room. Moisture may damage ceilings and walls over time. We therefore recommend the addition of an exhaust fan in the main area of the bathroom."