Water lowers the resistance of the body and puts it in touch with earth. Section 6 of AS/NZS 3000:2018 handles that risk by distance. It divides the space around a bath, shower, basin, spa, pool, fountain or sauna heater into numbered zones. The closer the zone, the stricter the rules.
The wet area zones tool places a device in its zone and checks it. The worked guide Wire a bathroom: zones, IP ratings and the RCD walks one room item by item.
The zone idea
Each zone is a volume. It has a horizontal reach, measured from the water, and an upper plane, measured from the floor.
- Zone 0 is inside the water: the bath, the shower base, the pool.
- Zone 1 is the space just around and above the water.
- Zone 2 is a band outside Zone 1.
- Zone 3 is a wider band outside Zone 2. Baths and showers have it; pools do not.
Walls, doors, floors and ceilings of the room limit every zone. A device outside every zone takes no Section 6 rule, apart from the 0.3 m floor rule in a bathroom or laundry.
The reach of each zone
The values below come from the A1 to A3 printing. AmpSize marks them derived until a check against the printed page.
| Situation | Zone 1 | Zone 2 | Zone 3 | Clause |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath | over the rim | 0.6 m beyond Zone 1 | 2.4 m beyond Zone 2 | 6.2.2.1 |
| Shower, connection on the wall | 1.2 m from the connection | 0.6 m beyond Zone 1 | 2.4 m beyond Zone 2 | 6.2.2.1 |
| Shower, ceiling rose | 1.2 m NZ, 0.6 m AU from the rose | 0.6 m beyond Zone 1 | 2.4 m beyond Zone 2 | 6.2.2.1 |
| Basin or sink up to 40 L | none | 0.15 m from the rim | none | 6.2.2.2 |
| Sink over 40 L, or with a hose | none | 0.5 m from the rim | none | 6.2.2.2 |
| Spa, 680 L to 5000 L | 1.25 m from the rim | none | none | 6.3.2 |
| Pool, or a spa over 5000 L | 2.0 m from the rim | 1.5 m beyond Zone 1 | none | 6.3.2 |
| Fountain | 2.0 m from the rim | none | none | 6.4.2 |
| Sauna heater | 0.5 m from the heater | the rest of the room to 1.0 m | the room above 1.0 m | 6.5.2 |
A spa up to 680 L takes the bath and shower zones. A refrigeration room, or an area that gets hosed down, is one location with no numbered zones.
Heights
| Plane | New Zealand | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Top of Zone 1, bath or shower | 2.25 m, or the connection if higher | 2.5 m, or the connection if higher |
| Top of Zone 2, bath or shower | 2.25 m | 2.25 m |
| Top of Zone 3 | 2.25 m | 2.5 m, and the space above Zone 2 |
| Top of the pool, spa and fountain zones | 2.5 m | 2.5 m |
| Top of Zone 2, basin or sink | 0.4 m or 1.0 m above the container | the same |
NZ and AU differ in three places
- Zone 1 over a bath or shower stops at 2.25 m in New Zealand and 2.5 m in Australia.
- A ceiling rose gives a Zone 1 of 1.2 m in New Zealand and 0.6 m in Australia.
- Australian Zone 3 runs to 2.5 m and takes the space above Zone 2.
So a downlight in a 2.4 m ceiling, close to a shower, sits outside every zone in New Zealand. In Australia it sits in Zone 1.
The RCD rules sit in Section 2 and also differ. New Zealand homes take 30 mA on socket-outlet, lighting and hand-held circuits (Cl 2.6.3.3.1). Australian homes take it on every final subcircuit (Cl 2.6.3.2.2). The RCD selection tool covers both.
Reading an IP code
An IP code has two numerals. The first rates protection against solid objects. The second rates protection against water. Section 6 asks only for the second, so most of its codes read IPX followed by a numeral.
| Second numeral | Water |
|---|---|
| 4 | splashing from any direction |
| 5 | jets |
| 6 | powerful jets |
| 7 | short immersion |
| 8 | lasting immersion |
A higher numeral up to 6 covers a lower one: IP65 meets IPX4. Immersion is a different test from jets. So IPX7 or IPX8 alone fails a zone that asks IPX5 or IPX6 (AS 60529 Cl 6). Look for both ratings on the label. A sauna or refrigeration room asks IPX4B or IP24: a second numeral of 4, with a first numeral of 2 or the letter B.
| Situation | Zone 0 | Zone 1 | Zone 2 | Zone 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath, shower, basin, sink | IPX7 | IPX4 | IPX4 | none |
| Pool, spa over 680 L | IPX8 | IPX5 | IPX4 | — |
| Fountain | IPX8 | IPX5 | — | — |
What A2 changed
The 2018 print with Amendment 1 asked more of communal baths and showers. It set IPX5 in Zones 1 and 2, and IPX5 in Zone 3, where an ordinary bathroom asks IPX4 and nothing. Amendment 2 (April 2021) removed the communal rule. The current printing, with Amendments 1, 2 and 3, asks the same of a communal bathroom as of any other.
Nothing else in Section 6 changed between the two printings. The tool keeps the A1 values as history: choose the A1 printing to see them.
What the tool does not model
- A barrier, such as a screen or a door, can make Zone 1 smaller. The tool assumes no barrier.
- A diving board, slide or sculpture adds its own zone. The tool does not draw it.
- Equipment behind a fixed IPX4 panel that needs a tool to open sits outside the zones.