Special location
A place or type of installation where the risks are higher or different, so BS 7671's Part 7 adds to or changes its general rules. Bathrooms, swimming pools, construction sites, caravan parks and EV charging all have their own section there. Read that section before designing or testing, because the general parts still apply unless it changes them.
Using Special location in context
Reviewed
A distinction worth remembering
An enclosure rating describes particular protection against solid objects and water under specified tests. It does not by itself establish suitability for heat, corrosion, impact or a particular location. Keep environmental conditions and manufacturer instructions in the comparison.
Questions to take further
- How can I revise Special location beyond the definition?
- Explain what Special location describes, compare it with a related term and use it in a topic question. State any assumptions and what evidence you would need before applying the idea to real work.
Sources
- BEAMA: guide to IP codes for enclosures (2016) — International Protection, what BS EN 60529 leaves out, sealed enclosures, lower degrees and the IPX7 to IPX9 exception, and following the maker's instructions.
- Hager: Ingress Protection chart — The first and second digits, and the additional and supplementary letters.
- Professional Electrician: NAPIT on the significance of the IP Code (October 2025) — What IP stands for, the X, Regulations 416.2.1 and 416.2.2, and external influence codes AD4 and AE3.
- IET Wiring Matters, September 2024: external consumer units — The warning against over-specifying IP66, and condensation in sealed outdoor enclosures.
- IET: current BS 7671 edition and updates — BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 and the main subject areas updated by Amendment 4.
Where Special location fits in the learning path
The Special Locations section covers these units:
- Wet locations
- Sites, farms and shows
- Moving and temporary
- Heating, lighting and the outdoors
Curriculum mapping: C&G 2382-26 (BS 7671 Part 7).
See this section in the full curriculum
This section is on the Plus path. Lesson availability depends on content review and your learning path.
Read, practise, return
1. Read it in context
- IP RatingsInstallation
2. Try recalling, then explore practice
Use the memory prompt below to connect the vocabulary.
Follow a topic above to explore how the term is used, then use the learning entry below to find your path.
3. Return to the meaning
After reading or practising, explain the idea in your own words, then check what you remembered.
Recall a related term
Which term fits this definition? Say it to yourself, then reveal it. This is a memory prompt, with no score or saved result.
Additional local protective bonding between relevant simultaneously accessible conductive parts, used to reduce potential differences. Whether it is required depends on the protective measure and location. In a bathroom, omitting it requires all the applicable conditions to be met, including effective fault protection, RCD protection and main protective bonding; fitting an RCD alone is not sufficient.
Supplementary bonding
Read the Supplementary bonding entryCompare related terms
Open a meaning to compare its role with Special location, or follow its full entry.
Supplementary bonding
Additional local protective bonding between relevant simultaneously accessible conductive parts, used to reduce potential differences. Whether it is required depends on the protective measure and location. In a bathroom, omitting it requires all the applicable conditions to be met, including effective fault protection, RCD protection and main protective bonding; fitting an RCD alone is not sufficient.
Read the Supplementary bonding entryIP rating — Ingress Protection rating
A code describing specified enclosure protection against access to hazardous parts, solid objects and water. The first characteristic digit concerns access and solid objects; the second concerns water under defined test conditions. An X means that characteristic is not specified. An IP code alone does not establish suitability for heat, corrosion, impact or every outdoor environment.
Read the IP rating entryZone 0
The space inside a bath or shower tray, under BS 7671's Section 701. Only equipment made for it can go there: SELV at no more than 12 V AC or 30 V DC, rated at least IPX7, with its source outside the zones. Swimming pools have their own zone 0 under Section 702, and there it's the inside of the basin.
Read the Zone 0 entryZone 1
The space directly above a bath or shower tray, up to 2.25 m from the floor or to a fixed shower head if that's higher. With no tray, it reaches 1.2 m out from the fixed water outlet. Equipment there needs at least IPX4, and more where water jets are likely. Swimming pools count their zones differently under Section 702.
Read the Zone 1 entryZone 2
The band running 0.6 m out from the edge of zone 1 around a bath or shower tray, at the same height. A shower with no tray has no zone 2. Equipment there needs at least IPX4, and more where water jets are likely, and sockets stay at least 2.5 m from the edge of zone 1, apart from SELV sockets and shaver units. Swimming pools count their zones differently under Section 702.
Read the Zone 2 entryA definition is a start. Using it in a real question is where it sticks.