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406.9(C) Bathtub and Shower Space. Receptacles shall not be installed within a zone measured 900 mm (3 ft) horizontally and 2.5 m (8 ft) vertically from the top of the bathtub rim or shower stall threshold. The identified zone is all-encompassing and shall include the space directly over the tub or shower stall.

Every diagram on this shows a tub or a shower with a curtain rod. My assumption is that a solid non moving peace of glass that goes above the shower head can be considered a wall and not the threshold.

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  • Not sure how that would make much of a difference because of the 8 foot rule. Whether there is a wall or not, you can't put a receptacle within 3 feet horizontally and 8 feet vertically. I suppose if you have 9 foot ceilings in your bathroom then you could put a receptacle within a foot from the ceiling and less than 3 feet from the tub/shower. But why? Any lights or fans in or near the ceiling will either be hardwired (no receptacle) or have a hidden receptacle (i.e., have to remove part of the fixture to get to a built-in receptacle for plugging fan into fixed part, which as I understand it
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Commented Aug 1, 2022 at 15:22
  • is fine and doesn't count as a "receptacle" because an end-user can't access it under normal conditions). In other words, I'd treat it as threshhold to ceiling for all practical purposes.
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Commented Aug 1, 2022 at 15:23
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    I can't speak for any inspectors but the idea is that if you stand on the bathtub rim or on the shower threshold, stretch one toe into the water and one finger towards the outlet, and you are an NBA player you should still not be able to reach. But a wall is a wall, even if it's made of glass. Unless it would be practical to stand on it, it's a wall. Question would be interesting if you had a 3 foot high knee wall with no glass on top ... you COULD stand on it ... is it a threshold or a wall? :)
    – jay613
    Commented Aug 1, 2022 at 16:03

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Code was/still-is stupid here

The code doesn't define "shower threshold" explicitly and doesn't really define "wall" well enough to differentiate in the scenario you described. The result is that it is often left to inspectors to interpret and you almost always end up in arguments with them over it. I fought this issue and won... resulting in outlets next to the sink on the shower glass wall side of the vanity, but you're mileage may vary.

Code for 2023 clarified it

In the 2023 code changes, they completely rewrote this section to basically say it's a 3ft radius from the closest edge of the shower/tub entry to the outlet. So under these rules you could place the outlet above the sink, touching the shower wall as long as the shower wall is 3ft deep (e.g. the door starts at least 3ft from the wall; outlet in the wall).

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