Primary bath remodel, soaking tub
What's wrong here?
- A chain-hung luminaire is installed directly over the bathtub
- The tub and its metal filler must be bonded with an 8 AWG equipotential bonding jumper
- The bathroom lighting must be on the 20 A bathroom receptacle circuit
- Nothing. This installation is compliant
Show the answer and the code reference
The answer
A chain-hung chandelier is installed directly over the bathtub, inside the zone 3 ft horizontally and 8 ft vertically from the tub rim where pendants are prohibited.
Correct choice: 1. A chain-hung luminaire is installed directly over the bathtub
410.10(D) prohibits any part of cord-connected luminaires, chain-, cable-, or cord-suspended luminaires, lighting track, pendants, and ceiling-suspended (paddle) fans equipped with luminaires within a zone measured 3 ft horizontally and 8 ft vertically from the top of the bathtub rim or shower stall threshold, and the zone includes the space directly over the tub. The tub rim here is about 22 in off the floor and the ceiling is 9 ft, so the entire space over the tub is inside the zone. A person standing in the tub, wet and grounded through the drain and filler, can reach up and grab the fixture or swing it into the water. Freestanding tubs under a chandelier are a popular design photo and a common finding at bathroom remodel inspections.
How to fix it
Remove the chandelier from the zone. Use a close-to-ceiling or recessed luminaire marked for damp locations (wet if subject to shower spray) over the tub, or relocate the pendant more than 3 ft horizontally from the rim.
Code references
NEC 2023 410.10(D) — Bathtub and Shower Areas
No part of a cord-connected luminaire, chain-, cable-, or cord-suspended luminaire, lighting track, pendant, or ceiling-suspended (paddle) fan equipped with a luminaire shall be within a zone 3 ft horizontally and 8 ft vertically from the top of the bathtub rim or shower stall threshold; the zone includes the space directly over the tub. Luminaires within the tub or shower footprint up to 8 ft above the rim must be marked for damp locations, or wet locations where subject to shower spray.
Drills citing 410.10(D)NEC 2023 680.74 — Equipotential Bonding
For hydromassage bathtubs: metal fittings in contact with the circulating water, pump and blower motors, and metal piping, metal-sheathed cables, raceways, and exposed metal surfaces within 5 ft of the inside walls of the tub are bonded together with a solid copper conductor not smaller than 8 AWG.
Drills citing 680.74
2026 NEC:same rule and number. No 2026 NEC change to the bathtub and shower zone turned up; 410.10(D) still keeps chain-, cable-, or cord-suspended luminaires, pendants, track, and paddle fans with light kits out of the 3 ft by 8 ft zone above the tub rim or shower threshold. The last reported change to this rule was the 2023 paddle-fan clarification. Confidence: low
Minnesota
Minnesota adopted the 2023 NEC with no Minnesota amendments as the Minnesota Electrical Code, effective July 1, 2023 (Minn. Stat. 326B.35; Minn. Rules 1315.0200). It governs electrical permits filed before Aug. 17, 2026; permits filed on or after that date fall under the 2026 NEC, so confirm the 2026 numbering for current work. No Minnesota amendment to 410.10(D) exists; the tub zone applies as written.
How Minnesota adopts the NECWhy the other choices are wrong
- The tub and its metal filler must be bonded with an 8 AWG equipotential bonding jumper. Equipotential bonding under 680.74 applies to hydromassage bathtubs with pumps and blowers; a plain soaking tub has no circulating system or electrical equipment to bond.
- The bathroom lighting must be on the 20 A bathroom receptacle circuit. 210.11(C)(3) requires a 20 A circuit for bathroom receptacle outlets; lighting may share it only under the single-bathroom exception and is never required to.
- Nothing. This installation is compliant. No part of a chain-, cable-, or cord-suspended luminaire may be in the zone over and around a tub, regardless of its damp or wet rating.