Wall light and sconce heights, projection and control heights

At a glance

Millimetres. Starting ranges are conventions from retailer and designer guides (several US, converted from inches); no standard sets them. Test each on a mock-up. Control heights are the only regulated figures.

Fix the datum before the number

Search for the right height of a bedside wall light and the answers scatter. One guide says 90 to 110 cm from the floor, another 152 to 170 cm, another gives 76 to 90 cm above the mattress. They are not disagreeing about the light. They disagree about where the tape starts: the floor, the top of the mattress, the middle of the light source, the bottom of the shade or the top of the fitting. The floor is a weak datum in a bedroom because bed heights vary (one guide puts a storage divan and a low platform frame 20 cm apart).

Two different jobs sit behind the scatter. A reading light sits low, about shoulder height when someone sits up in bed, so the beam falls on the page and not in the eyes. An ambient sconce sits near standing eye level and is there to be seen, so the rule is about glare. Using the hall figure for a bedside reading light leaves it too high to read by.

• Write the datum with the number: “centre of light source, 550 mm above finished mattress top”, not “550 mm”.
• Give the mattress thickness and bed base height on the drawing, so the floor figure can be checked against the mattress figure.
• Other fittings: picture lights are set from the frame (one US guide gives 150 to 300 mm above its top edge) and a light over a console at about 1,500 to 1,650 mm (one UK guide); both depend on the artwork and the sightlines.
• Test, do not trust a number: cut a paper template of the whole fitting, shade swing included, and stick it up. Sit up against the finished headboard and pillows, on each side of the bed, tallest and shortest sleeper, and lie back to check the glare.

The bedhead wall in elevation

Draw the bedhead wall in elevation before first fix, with every point that is fixed to or through it. The drawing below uses example values only: they are a layout, not a recommendation. The two plate heights sit inside the Approved Document M ranges shown later (400 to 1,000 mm for a socket, 750 to 1,200 mm for a control that needs precise hand movement).

• On the elevation: finished floor level, bed base and finished mattress top, bedside table top, headboard top, the light source of each wall light with its datum, the control plate and socket plate, the cable outlet for each light, and the backplate or box size.
• Headboard-integrated lights: ask the partner workshop where a cable can leave a headboard panel, what the backplate needs to fix to and how the shade swings. Whether a light may be fixed to an upholstered panel at all is a question for the fire risk assessor (see our fire documentation matrix).
• First-fix positions are final: once the cable is in the wall, a change means opening up. Agree the heights with the electrician and joiner on a mock-up with the real mattress.

Projection, clearance and glare

How far it stands out. One guide says a conventional shaded sconce commonly projects 12 to 20 cm and a slim fitting 5 to 6 cm, and that where the gap beside the bed is under 60 cm a fitting standing 15 cm off the wall is one you brush against. Another advises marking the shade’s full range of movement on the template, because a broad shade or an arm takes far more space than the backplate suggests. Neither is a standard.

In a corridor. Approved Document M volume 2, paragraph 3.14 (page 31), asks that “elements such as columns, radiators and fire hoses” do not project into a corridor, or, where that cannot be avoided, that something directs people around them, and that the unobstructed width is at least 1,200 mm “excluding any projections into the space”. It gives no number for how far a wall light may stand out. Paragraph 1.39 (page 23) sends hazards on access routes to Approved Document K, which we have not read. Ask the building control body for a limit in writing, and the fire engineer where the corridor is an escape route. A stair wall light is measured up from the pitch line of the stair, not the floor, and shares the wall with the handrail: no figure was read, so ask the fire engineer and building control.

Glare. Paragraph 4.34 (page 45) asks for artificial lighting designed to give good colour rendering of surfaces “without creating glare or pools of bright light and strong shadows”. A bare lamp at eye level in a corridor is the case it has in mind.

Controls and accessories: what Approved Document M sets

Heights of switches, sockets and controls are the one part of this topic that a primary document fixes. Approved Document M has two volumes for England. Volume 2 is for buildings other than dwellings, which is where a hotel bedroom, a restaurant or an office sits; an electrical trade journal of 2013 says sleeping accommodation such as hotels, motels and student accommodation is treated that way. Volume 1 is for dwellings. A serviced apartment or a private suite may be argued either way: ask the building control body which applies. Heights are millimetres above the floor.

Volume 2 (2015 edition incorporating 2020 and 2024 amendments), paragraph 4.30

Volume 1 (2015 edition incorporating 2016 amendments), for dwellings

Volume 2 also says (4.28) that controls which contrast with their surroundings, and light switches with a large push pad, are easier for visually impaired people, and that red and green should not be used together as ‘on’ and ‘off’ indicators; (4.30(j)) that operation should not need both hands at once, except where safety requires it; and (4.30(m)) that front plates contrast visually with their background. In wheelchair-accessible bedrooms, 4.24(q) asks for an emergency assistance pull cord that can be operated from the bed and from an adjacent floor area, which is why a lighting cord on a wall light must not be mistaken for it (4.30(i)). Volume 1, paragraph 3.44(j), asks for provision for bedhead controls in the principal bedroom of a wheelchair user dwelling: a two-way light switch, telephone, broadband, aerial and power sockets grouped by the head of the bed.

Reading the ranges

• Centre or edge? Volume 1 says “centre line”. Volume 2 does not say. A cautious reading keeps the whole plate inside the range, which the drawing above does.
• Built into the headboard. Whether a socket or switch built into a headboard or bedside unit counts as “wall-mounted” is not settled by the text. Ask the building control body, and say so on the drawing.
• Which edition. Name the edition in the brief, and who accepts the drawings: the building control body, an access consultant, or both. Our Approved Document M sheet for furniture and joinery lists the other figures in the same volume.

Mirror lights, bathrooms and wet zones

A mirror light is set to the face, not the wall. A US army survey (ANSUR II, tabulated by North Carolina State University) gives standing eye height of 1,421 mm for the 5th percentile woman, 1,517 mm for the median woman, 1,640 mm for the median man and 1,753 mm for the 95th percentile man. That is a US military sample and indicative only, but it shows why the published mirror-light figures cluster at about 1,500 to 1,800 mm to the centre of a side-mounted light, and why one light on each side lights the face more evenly than one above.

Zones and IP rating. Section 701 of BS 7671 sets zones around a bath or shower, and the minimum IP rating of a fitting depends on the zone. We have not read BS 7671 and quote no zone dimension. Mark the zones on the elevation, give the electrical designer the fitting’s IP rating, and settle both before the mirror light is positioned. The finish matters in damp air too: see metal finishes for luminaires.

Five checks before first fix

• Datum written beside every height on the drawing, with mattress thickness and base height.
• Full-size template of the fitting, shade swing included, tried seated, standing and lying back, on both sides of the bed.
• Plates inside the Approved Document M range for the edition and volume that applies, confirmed by the body that will accept the drawings.
• Cable outlet and backplate confirmed with the partner workshop for headboard-integrated lights, and the zone and IP rating for anything near water.
• Projection checked against the gap beside the bed, and in a corridor against paragraph 3.14 and the building control body.

Wall light [type reference], one each side of the bed, centre of the light source [550] mm above the finished mattress top (mattress top [600] mm above finished floor level, so [1,150] mm). Projection from the finished wall face not more than [200] mm at full shade swing. Cable outlet at [ ] mm; backplate [ ] mm wide. Heights and datum confirmed on a mock-up with the real mattress and a seated person, and written on the shop drawing, before first fix.

Control plates at [950] mm and socket plates at [700] mm above finished floor level, to the centre of the plate, the whole plate inside the range of Approved Document M volume 2, paragraph 4.30 ([2015 edition incorporating 2020 and 2024 amendments]), accepted by [building control body / access consultant]. Front plates contrast with their background; no control needs both hands.

Mirror light [type reference], one each side of the mirror, centre of the light [1,650] mm above finished floor level and [ ] mm from the mirror edge. IP rating [ ] for [zone], confirmed by [electrical designer] against BS 7671 section 701 as in force. Position tried on a paper template before first fix.

Standards and sources

• Approved Document M (England): volume 2, 2015 edition incorporating 2020 and 2024 amendments; volume 1, 2015 edition incorporating 2016 amendments: read: vol 2 1.39, 3.14, 4.24 to 4.30, 4.34 (pp.23, 31, 43 to 45); vol 1 1.18, 2.30, 3.44 (pp.9, 22, 49 to 50).
• BS 8300-2:2018 and BS 7671 section 701: named only; not read, no figure quoted.
• Eye heights: NC State Ergonomics Center, ANSUR II tables: US adults, indicative.

Questions we are asked

How high should a bedside wall light be?

There is no standard. For a reading light, guides give about 250 to 460 mm above the finished mattress to the light source, which is roughly 850 to 1,060 mm above the floor on a 600 mm mattress. For an ambient sconce that is there to be seen, they give about 1,500 to 1,700 mm above the floor to the centre. Write the datum with the number, then test with a paper template while sitting up in bed.

Is there a legal height for wall lights?

In the documents we read, no. Approved Document M gives ranges for switches, sockets and controls and for lighting pull cords, not for the wall lights themselves. The Approved Document is guidance, and the requirement behind it is a functional one, so the building control body decides what satisfies it on your project.

How high should a light switch be in a hotel room?

Approved Document M volume 2, paragraph 4.30, says light switches for general public use should have large push pads and align horizontally with door handles within 900 to 1,100 mm above the floor, controls needing precise hand movement 750 to 1,200 mm, and sockets 400 to 1,000 mm. Which of these applies to a given bedside control is for the building control body or an access consultant to say.

How far can a wall light project from the wall?

We found no figure in Approved Document M. Paragraph 3.14 asks that elements do not project into a corridor, or that people are directed around them. Retail guides say a shaded sconce commonly projects 12 to 20 cm and a slim one 5 to 6 cm, and favour the slim kind where the gap beside a bed is under 60 cm. Ask the building control body for a limit in writing.

Where do I measure the height of a bathroom mirror light?

From the finished floor to the centre of the light, set near standing eye height, which published guides put at about 1,500 to 1,800 mm for a pair either side of the mirror. The zone around a bath or shower and the fitting's IP rating decide whether it can go there at all; section 701 of BS 7671 governs that and was not read for this sheet.

Should I measure from the floor or from the mattress?

From the mattress for a bedside reading light, because bed heights vary, and from the floor for sconces seen at standing eye level. Put both on the drawing for a bedside light so the electrician and the joiner can check one against the other.