Bathroom electrical question

[Sean Fogarty]

Looking for the nec rules on bathroom gfci's

The issue at hand is two baths plus the laundry, bedroom, and some of the living room is tied togeather.. Almost 30 outlets all togeather..

Some clairty please.

[Jim Port]

What is the vintage? The rules concerning bathroom receptacle circuits not being shared started in the 90's.

[James L. Keilson]

Sean, Code says you have 2 choices for bathrooms.

#1: You can run a single 20amp circuit to feed the outlets (and only the outlets) in all bathrooms. In this case you could use 1 gfci in the first location, and protect the other outlets from it. The downfall to this is that if you trip a gfci in the downstairs, and you are in the upstairs bathroom, you have to run downstair to reset it.

#2: You can run a single 20amp circuit to feed everything in one bathroom only (outlets, lights, fans etc...), and not use that circuit in any other room. Since there is alot more hair dryers, curling irons etc being used these days, it makes more sense to run 1 circuit for each bathroom, and install a gfci in each required location, next to the basin.

[Sean Fogarty]

House is 2 years old.

James, where in the nec???

Thanks btw

[Robert Meier]

Right here:

210.11 Branch Circuits Required.
Branch circuits for lighting and for appliances, including motor-operated appliances, shall be provided to supply the loads calculated in accordance with 220.10. In addition, branch circuits shall be provided for specific loads not covered by 220.10 where required elsewhere in this Code and for dwelling unit loads as specified in 210.11(C).
(A) Number of Branch Circuits. The minimum number of branch circuits shall be determined from the total calculated load and the size or rating of the circuits used. In all installations, the number of circuits shall be sufficient to supply the load served. In no case shall the load on any circuit exceed the maximum specified by 220.18.
(B) Load Evenly Proportioned Among Branch Circuits. Where the load is calculated on the basis of volt-amperes per square meter or per square foot, the wiring system up to and including the branch-circuit panelboard(s) shall be provided to serve not less than the calculated load. This load shall be evenly proportioned among multioutlet branch circuits within the panelboard(s). Branch-circuit overcurrent devices and circuits shall be required to be installed only to serve the connected load.
(C) Dwelling Units.
(1) Small-Appliance Branch Circuits. In addition to the number of branch circuits required by other parts of this section, two or more 20-ampere small-appliance branch circuits shall be provided for all receptacle outlets specified by 210.52(B).
(2) Laundry Branch Circuits. In addition to the number of branch circuits required by other parts of this section, at least one additional 20-ampere branch circuit shall be provided to supply the laundry receptacle outlet(s) required by 210.52(F). This circuit shall have no other outlets.
(3) Bathroom Branch Circuits. In addition to the number of branch circuits required by other parts of this section, at least one 20-ampere branch circuit shall be provided to supply bathroom receptacle outlet(s). Such circuits shall have no other outlets.
Exception: Where the 20-ampere circuit supplies a single bathroom, outlets for other equipment within the same bathroom shall be permitted to be supplied in accordance with 210.23(A)(1) and (A)(2).

[Sean Fogarty]

I was looking at 210.8..
Once again thank you Robert!!

[Robert Meier]

Originally Posted by sfogarty

I was looking at 210.8..
Once again thank you Robert!!

There is a mention of bathrooms in 210.8 since that the section that covers GFCI protection.

[Sean Fogarty]

Originally Posted by Robert Meier

There is a mention of bathrooms in 210.8 since that the section that covers GFCI protection.

But not the specific bathroom rule, which is what I was looking for...

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

IRC code and commentary below.

2009 IRC E3703.3 Laundry circuit. A minimum of one 20-ampere-rated
branch circuit shall be provided for receptacles located in the
laundry area and shall serve only receptacle outlets located in the
laundry area.

Commentary A dedicated branch circuit is required for the laundry
area. This circuit can serve receptacles that, for example,
are used for ironing, clothes washers and gas
dryers.

E3703.4 Bathroom branch circuits. A minimum of one
20-ampere branch circuit shall be provided to supply bathroom
receptacle outlet(s). Such circuits shall have no other outlets.
Exception: Where the 20-ampere circuit supplies a single
bathroom, outlets for other equipment within the same bathroom
shall be permitted to be supplied in accordance with
Section E3702.

Commentary This section requires a dedicated branch circuit for the
bathroom receptacle outlet(s). Section E3901.6 provides
rules for the location of the receptacle(s). Two
choices are available for the branch circuit serving the
bathroom(s) in the house.

1. One 20-ampere-rated circuit may serve the required
receptacle(s) in all the bathrooms in the
house. In this case, no other outlets may be
served by this circuit. The bathroom lighting and
any fan or heat lamps would be served by a distinct
general purpose branch circuit.

2. A 20-ampere circuit may serve only one bathroom.
For additional bathrooms in the house,
additional separate circuits would be run. The
one circuit for the single bathroom supplies the
required receptacle(s) and is also permitted to
serve lighting and equipment in the bathroom
such as an exhaust fan and/or heat lamp. Because
this circuit is subject to the provisions of
Section E3702, the load of the other equipment
can be a maximum of 50 percent of the rating of
the branch circuit.

The bathroom receptacle must be Ground Fault Interrupters
(GFCI) protected, but lighting and other
equipment is not required to be GFCI protected unless
otherwise stated as a condition of the listing of a
fixture or equipment. Some electricians supply the
luminaires and fans in a bathroom from a GFCI protected
circuit to provide additional safety for the occupants
who come in contact with the luminaires, fans
and switches.