Is it legal to fit a washing machine in the bathroom?

i know its a very old question (7 years ago) but i thought id give an asnwer anyway as regs do change and it could be useful for someone else - a washing machine is allowed in a bathroom as long as the manufacturer (of the machine) says its ok in a bathroom! it MUST be fitted to a fused connection unit (in laymans terms, it looks like the connection for your boiler - a wire from the boiler, hardwired into the wall. inside that little box is a fuse). ie you cannot just have a socket and plug the machine in. and electrician will hardwire it in for you. that is according to IET 17th edition regulations so to answer the question - yes you can have a washing machine in a bathroom.... im currently doing exactly this in my renovation project im working on ps both previous posters incorrectly state the 3m rule, regs have probably changed since they stated those rules. iet 17th ed says "Current-using equipment The 16th Edition made a clear division between equipment permitted to be installed in zone 1 and equipment permitted to be installed in zone 2. In the 17th Edition no requirements are stated for zone 2. This is because all circuits of the location now require RCD protection. The term “current-using equipment other than fixed current-using equipment” no longer appears in the 17th Edition. Current-using equipment, such as washing machines and tumble dryers for example, continue to be allowed to be installed beyond zone 2, subject to manufacturers’ approval similar to the 16th Edition. Such equipment must be supplied by means of a fused connection unit within 3 m horizontally from the boundary of zone 1. Beyond 3 m they may be supplied by means of a plug and socket-outlet."

To comply with BS7671:2008 the bathroom needs to be very large, i.e. large enough so that you can place the washing machine a minimum of 3m away from the nearest edge of the bath or shower (if fitted). In most cases domestic bathrooms are not big enough to comply with this requirement and placing a fixed appliance such as a washing machine in the bathroom witrh the cable running through the wall to a socket in the adjacent room, is very poor practice, although not illegal. I would strongly advise against putting it in the bathroom, but if you must then it is essential that the socket you plug the machine into is RCD protected with a 30ma RCD, and that the RCD trip times are tested to confirm that they are within specification for 1 x rated current and 5 x rated current, as per the requirements of BS7671:2008.

You wouldneed to install the machine 3metres horisontally away from the bath in any direction or shower in any direction if you can do this you can install the socket within the bathroom if not then you should not install it in bathroom even if the socket is outside.