Bathroom Fan Venting Code Basics

Bathrooms accumulate smells and moisture that can lead to potentially hazardous mold and mildew. Bathrooms benefit from some type of exhaust venting system. What type of bathroom fan venting do you need, if any?

What Is the Bathroom Fan Venting Code?

Bathroom code addresses the issue of moving odor- and moisture-laden air from the bathroom to the outside. Surprisingly, bathroom fans are not required by some building codes. All municipalities have different requirements, but some do not draw a hard line on requiring exhaust fans. In those areas, ventilation in bathrooms is required, but it can be from a window or fan, your choice.

Building code is a model code that each community can adopt and adapt according to its own needs. So, you will need to check with your city or county planning and permitting department to find out code requirements regarding bathroom fans. Also, the code numbering in your area may differ from those listed here.

Bathroom Exhaust Fan Venting Code Summary

Section R303 of the International Residential Code discusses light and ventilation regulations in general. Section R303 works in conjunction with all of International Residential Code Section M1507, which covers Mechanical Ventilation.

Section R303.3: Bathrooms Must Have Windows

When this section is adopted by a community, it essentially says that, for venting purposes, bathrooms must have windows that open. The code reads that the window must have "aggregate glazing area...of not less than 3 square feet (0.3 m²), one-half of which must be openable."

Summarized, if you install a window in the bathroom, it must be at least 3 square feet in area. This window only needs to be able to open halfway. This means that the total open window space would be 1 1/2 square feet.

Windows that open can provide highly effective ventilation in bathrooms that have no shower or tub. With no bathing facilities, far less moist air is produced. While powder rooms can benefit from exhaust fans, they can usually operate just as well with a window that opens.

Section R303.4: Bathrooms Require Exhaust Venting Fans

In some communities, this section may be in lieu of Section R303.3 or in addition to it. If Section R303.4 is included but the previous section has been struck-through or not included, this may mean that your bathroom must have a bathroom fan and that a window cannot be used as a substitute venting method. Be sure to clarify this with your local permitting department.

Section M1507.2: Exhausted Air Terminal Point

This section notes that air exhausted from the bathroom must be sent outdoors, not indoors to the same residence or indoors to any other dwelling unit. It cannot move air to a crawlspace or attic.

While this may seem obvious, homeowners may, out of convenience, direct the vent into either of these locations. While this is not smart, it is understandable: attics and crawlspaces are often the shortest possible route for the vent. Even well-meaning homeowners may explore their attics, only to find ducting that has become disconnected on its own. Exhaust fans may run for years like this before the break is noticed.

Routing vertically out of the roof or routing through the upper part of the wall (to the exterior) are time-consuming, invasive projects. The end of the vent run should also have a grille or screen to prevent vermin from entering your home.

Section M1507.4: Exhaust Capacity

This section discusses the minimum exhaust capacity of the exhaust fan: 50 cubic feet per minute (cfm) intermittent or 20 cfm continuous.

Exhaust Fan Sound (Sones) Ratings

While not required by the building code, purchasing a quieter low-sone exhaust fan can add to the comfort level of your bathroom time by keeping the noise level down.

Why Your Bathroom Should Have an Exhaust Vent Fan

Bathroom venting fans are about more than just eliminating noxious odors. Bad odors are annoying but are hardly life-threatening, and they do not impact the integrity of the building structure at all.

Bath exhaust fans are about keeping your house in top shape by moving water out of your bathroom. Water is everywhere in a bathroom: splashing on the floor, beading up on the walls, dripping down the mirror. And there is one other invisible place where you will find water in the bathroom: in the air.

Because windows provide light as well as ventilation, if you choose the fan-only route you need to install artificial lighting. This should already be a given, as electrical code requires that habitable rooms be supplied with a switch-controlled light.