Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2015 · 76 posts · 23 votes
I have a FHA work order for a bathroom that has a outlet in the light. The work order says the light needs to be replaced with a light that doesn't have an outlet. But then it also says that a GFCI outlet needs to be installed.
Am I required to provide a outlet in a bathroom?
Can I just replace the light with a light that doesn't have an outlet and call it good? Believe me, I'm not trying to be cheap. I just replaced the furnace in this apartment and I'm trying to delay haven't to open up the wall in the bathroom.
leave the one in the light and install a GFI breaker in the panel. the oulet is then gfi protected and you meet your requirement. Gfi breaker is about 50-$75.
not only will you need the outlet, it needs to be on a separate 20 amp circuit from the light that's on a 15 amp. I'm assuming this is for an assistance program?
@Arthur E. yes code state you must have a 20 amp GFCI in bathroom. I will have to check my code book, which I do not have at work, but I do believe it needs to be at sink
Yes, you have to provide a GFCI outlet in a bathroom.
For new construction, I think the bathroom has to be on its own 20 amp circuit, but I'm not sure that's always been the case; it may have been 15 amps in the past.
Like @Account Closedsaid, you can get a combination GFCI and switch that fits in the space of one "regular" switch or outlet. Home Depot sells a Leviton one for about $30. However, this will only work if the feed from the breaker panel comes to the light *switch* first. If there are two cables coming in to the box where the light *switch* is, and one cable coming in to the box where the light *fixture* is, then this is probably what you have.
If the feed from the breaker panel runs to the light *fixture* first, you're probably in for fishing some new cable. If there is one cable coming in to the box where the light *switch* is, and two cables coming in to the box where the light *fixture* is, then this is probably what you have. If you don't understand what you need to do to make this situation work, call an electrician.
If not cutting into the wall is an absolute requirement, you can get surface-mountable two-gang electrical boxes. They exist in both plastic and metal, but I think I'd use plastic in a bathroom. Home Depot sells a plastic Wiremold one for about $10. The back of this box has a place you can knock out. You would then take out the existing switch plate and switch, feed the wires into the back of the Wiremold box, and then screw the Wiremold box on to the existing box. (I'd also use a couple of drywall anchors on the side of the Wiremold box that isn't over the existing box, but that's me.) Then, you can wire up the switch and GFCI and install them in the Wiremold box, with a new faceplate. Again, this will only work if the feed from the breaker panel comes to the light *switch* first.
Note that Wiremold boxes are available in various depths. GFCIs tend to be deeper than regular receptacles; check in the store if the GFCI you are buying will fit flush into the Wiremold box. If you end up needing a deeper Wiremold box, you may have to shop around a little, or go to the electrical supply house.
If it were me, and the bathroom is drywall, I'd just sigh deeply and set about getting the existing box out of there, cutting the hole wider to one side of the existing box, and installing a two-gang plastic old-work box (about $1.50). That way everything sits flat on the wall, looking nice, and probably makes the inspector happier.