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doorknobs and light switches

1550 Views 14 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  Scuba_Dave
does code require that a lightswitch be on the same side of a doorway as the doorknob?

i realize it is more ergonomic/functional to have it that way but is it a requirement?

thanks.
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does code require that a lightswitch be on the same side of a doorway as the doorknob?....
All I know is that they are required for every habitable room and you cannot put them on the floor or the ceiling.
All I know is that they are required for every habitable room and you cannot put them on the floor or the ceiling.
But how fun it would be to wire up someones house and put all the switches in the ceiling, the look on there face would be priceless.
I've always had the bathroom lights switch on the outside
Bedrooms & other rooms on the inside
Walk-in closet on the outside

What if the person did not have arms & wanted floor switches?
I've always had the bathroom lights switch on the outside
Bedrooms & other rooms on the inside
Walk-in closet on the outside

What if the person did not have arms & wanted floor switches?
Guess they wouldn't be in the market for a 'clapper' either?
That would work... as long as there are no little ones around that are in the habit of throwing fits.
All I know is that they are required for every habitable room and you cannot put them on the floor or the ceiling.
well crap, there goes that plan...

thanks.
does code require that a lightswitch be on the same side of a doorway as the doorknob?....
Nope. While this is a convenience issue, it is not a Code violation to locate a wall switch behind a door.
wrangler, "That would work... as long as there are no little ones around that are in the habit of throwing fits." There's a similar reason for not instaling the "clapper" in Honeymoon suites....
I've always had the bathroom lights switch on the outside
How do you keep everyone from turning the lights off on you and leaving you sitting in the dark? In the one place I lived with the switches like that it was regular practice to turn the light off as you walked by.
I've always had the bathroom lights switch on the outside
What's your reasoning for that? It just seems "wrong".
Switch not required to be on knob side

We recently had a new front door installed, and the place ordered and installed the opposite swing from what it was supposed to be. So after the install, the door knob was on the right side of the door, instead of the left, like it was prior. And the light switches were on the left side too. So I did some investigating and found that it wasn't a violation of NEC, which doesn't stipulate what side the switches have to be on. But it the door swing direction was more an issue of natural flow into/out of the house. where the switches were, where the mailbox was, etc. And in case you're wondering, the door company replaced the door at no cost to get it back to the proper swing direction.
How do you keep everyone from turning the lights off on you and leaving you sitting in the dark?
I was wondering the same thing.
Could be kind of funny, though!:whistling2:
What's your reasoning for that? It just seems "wrong".
How do you keep everyone from turning the lights off on you and leaving you sitting in the dark? In the one place I lived with the switches like that it was regular practice to turn the light off as you walked by.
Outside lighted switch controls one overhead light
Going towartds the bathroom at night it allows you to easily turn on the light
There are 2 more switches by the toilet, one controls the overhead fan
The other controls the 3 light vanity
In addition there are 2 LED lights in the bathroom
At nite I don't even use the light

2nd floor bathroom has basically the same setup
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