Bathroom Receptacles: The 3-Foot Rule, the Dedicated Circuit, and the Two-Sink Trap

Where it goes

Section 210.52(D) puts the required receptacle within 3 feet of the outside edge of the basin. It may sit on a wall or partition beside the basin, on the side or face of the basin cabinet no more than 12 inches below the countertop, or, where the assembly is listed for it, in the countertop. Three feet is measured from the basin’s outside edge, not from the faucet or the drain.

The two-sink question

A master bath has two basins on one counter and a single receptacle on the wall between them. Does it comply? Only if that receptacle is within 3 feet of the outside edge of each basin. With the basins 6 feet apart center to center, the middle receptacle is usually within 3 feet of both and passes. Push the basins to the ends of a long counter and the middle receptacle fails for both. The rule is per basin. Measure twice.

The circuit

• At least one 20-ampere branch circuit for bathroom receptacle outlets (210.11(C)(3)).
• That circuit may feed receptacles in several bathrooms, but no other outlets anywhere else.
• Alternative: one 20-amp circuit for a single bathroom may also feed that bathroom's lights and exhaust fan, provided it serves only that bathroom.
• The receptacle by the basin is not permitted on the general lighting circuit that runs the hallway.

The protection and the placement limits

• GFCI on every bathroom receptacle, any distance from water (210.8(A)(1)).
• Nothing face-up in the counter unless listed for countertop use (406.5(E)).
• Nothing in the zone 3 feet out and 8 feet up from the tub rim or shower threshold (406.9(C)).
• No overcurrent devices in the bathroom of a dwelling (240.24(E)), so the panel does not go there either.

Where candidates lose the point

• One receptacle between two widely spaced basins. It has to be within 3 feet of each.
• Measuring from the faucet. The 3 feet runs from the outside edge of the basin.
• Putting the bathroom receptacle on the hallway lighting circuit. It needs the dedicated 20-amp circuit.
• Feeding two bathrooms' lights and receptacles from one circuit. The lights-plus-receptacles option is one bathroom only.
• Skipping GFCI on a receptacle 'far from the sink'. Every bathroom receptacle gets it.