680.71 clearly allows recepts less than five feet from the inside walls of the tub with GFCI protection. So the question is (as already said) what is the definition of 'tub area'? If it's the one, two, or three walls and ceiling that surround the tub, then would it be acceptable to put a recept just around the corner of a wall and run the cord around the wall and plug it in?
What about free standing tubs? What is that tub area?
Unfortunately, I think 680.71 throws a real kink in 406.8(C).
