Bathroom lighting in the West Midlands

What does new bathroom lighting cost in the West Midlands?

Our guide range in the West Midlands is £350–£1,200 including VAT.

Guide prices for West Midlands including VAT. Your itemised written quote after the free survey is the price that counts.

Which towns do we cover in the West Midlands?

• Birmingham
• Coventry
• Wolverhampton
• Dudley
• Walsall
• Solihull
• Sutton Coldfield
• West Bromwich
• Halesowen
• Stourbridge
• Smethwick
• Willenhall
• Tipton
• Bloxwich
• Wednesfield
• Washwood Heath
• Aston
• Shirley
• Brierley Hill
• Aldridge
• Acocks Green
• Bartley Green
• Wednesbury
• Kingswinford

Hardness differs from one part of the West Midlands to the next. Easy-clean glass and good-quality brassware are money well spent. Hardness varies street by street, so check the figure for your postcode with your water supplier. If you are refitting a windowless bathroom in Birmingham, the lighting is planned with the extractor fan so the two work together.

What the job includes

• A lighting plan: number and position of downlights, mirror lighting, switches and any shaver socket
• Testing and an electrical certificate for the work on completion
• IP-rated fittings chosen for each zone, with IP65 downlights over the bath or shower
• Cable runs to each fitting, from the loft above or through the ceiling
• Fire-rated downlights or fire hoods where the ceiling has to keep its fire resistance
• RCD protection on the lighting circuit, checked at the consumer unit and added where it is missing

Decisions to make first

Downlight positions

Evenly spaced downlights give flat, general light. Placing one over the shower and one over the basin puts the light where you actually use it.

Colour temperature

Warm white, around 3000 K, feels softer; cool white, around 4000 K, is crisper for shaving and make-up. Mixing the two in one room looks uneven.

Mirror lighting

An illuminated mirror or mirror cabinet lights the face from the front, which a ceiling light cannot do. Many include a demister pad and a shaver socket.

Integrated or replaceable LED

Integrated LED downlights are slimmer and fully sealed. Fittings with replaceable lamps let you change brightness or colour later.

Rules that apply in England

BS 7671 sets the rules for bathroom electrics across the UK. Every circuit in a room with a bath or shower needs 30 mA RCD protection. Zone 0 is inside the bath or shower tray and needs IPX7 fittings; zone 1 is above it up to 2.25 m and needs at least IPX4, or IPX5 where water jets are used; zone 2 extends 0.6 m out from zone 1, where IPX4 is recommended. Sockets other than shaver supply units must be at least 3 m from the zone 1 boundary.

In England, Part P makes a new circuit, a consumer unit replacement and any addition or alteration to circuits in a room with a bath or shower notifiable. The work must be done by an electrician registered with a competent person scheme or notified to building control. Replacing a light fitting like for like is not usually notifiable, but it still has to meet BS 7671.