Bonding dilemma

growler · Mar 4, 2015

So I turned up to a job today to install an electric heating system for a company I sub for and straight away found that there is no main bonding to either gas or water. They have recently had a new extension / kitchen and a new consumer unit ( no cert though). The gas bond is not an issue as the meter is located next to the consumer unit but the water bond is a fair distance away and the customer is adamant he doesn't want me to disrupt his house anymore than it is already. I can't just walk away either as their wet system Central heating has been removed and the couple are in there 70s.
what to do ?

Darkwood · Mar 10, 2015

Murdoch said:
??????

Sorry thought it was clear what I meant... when I say empty point I meant it should bear no relevance on the debate as to how many people get caught and prosecuted be it 0 or 100's, its about been professional and doing the right thing on a matter which is about the safety of your customers and the integrity of the earthing system.

The lack of prosecutions can be down to many issues but mainly its the small number of fatalities in the first place plus the difficulty of proving what may have been a short lived fault be it consumer or network that may have contributed to the death.

In 2010 in the UK the number of shock related fatalities in domestic was about 20 so out of a population of about 70million this is exceptionally small yet 2.5million are documented to have received a shock of which 350,000 was serious with burns etc... the chance that not addressing the lack of bonding in a house ending you up in court is smaller than your chances of winning the lottery but the point is its not a matter of whether your risking ending up in court its about the duty of care you have for the safety of your customer, its an attitude to your work ethic here not an issue of the risk you might end up before a jury, thats why I said your point you made was an empty one.

Looking at the stats Im pretty confident that out of the 2.5million there's going to be some that are attributed to missing equipotential bonding.

Yes I may be a bit of a stickler on this particular point raised but it not like missing the sleeving off you switch wires is it ... its the safety net of the install.

Deleted account · Mar 11, 2015

It gets a bit tedious every time I have to explain to a customer the need to have eqipotential bonding fitted before I can do any work on there premises. Becoming a lecturer and explaining why is unfortunately nessisary if you want to secure the job.

However I hear tell of an amazing customer leaflet that exists for the customer explaining all this. I would love to get my hands on one. If I produced this leaflet it would save a little of the explaining and prove I wasn't lying and trying it on just to make a fast buck ( pound Stirling).

does anyone out there know of this or even better give me a link so I can see if for myself. I've tried the nic and iet sites with no luck.

telectrix · Mar 11, 2015

was from the electric al safety council, or somesuch. i tried to order some, but they say they are no longer available.

Deleted account · Mar 11, 2015

telectrix said:
was from the electric al safety council, or somesuch. i tried to order some, but they say they are no longer available.

Bugger

thanks anyway

Jonspark · Mar 11, 2015

Paignton pete said:
It gets a bit tedious every time I have to explain to a customer the need to have eqipotential bonding fitted before I can do any work on there premises. Becoming a lecturer and explaining why is unfortunately nessisary if you want to secure the job.

However I hear tell of an amazing customer leaflet that exists for the customer explaining all this. I would love to get my hands on one. If I produced this leaflet it would save a little of the explaining and prove I wasn't lying and trying it on just to make a fast buck ( pound Stirling).

does anyone out there know of this or even better give me a link so I can see if for myself. I've tried the nic and iet sites with no luck.

print a copy of this and carry it with you to show customers
http://www.----------------------------/mediafile/100126678/best-Practice-Guide-4.pdf

Deleted account · Mar 11, 2015

Jonspark said:
print a copy of this and carry it with you to show customers
http://www.----------------------------/mediafile/100126678/best-Practice-Guide-4.pdf

Nice guide and something a will print off, I fact I just have. But I was looking for something I bit more specific and basic for the customer.

thanks for the response. Really appreciated but does anyone else out there have anything.

Jonspark · Mar 11, 2015

Paignton pete said:
Nice guide and something a will print off, I fact I just have. But I was looking for something I bit more specific and basic for the customer.

thanks for the response. Really appreciated but does anyone else out there have anything.

just show em page 12!

Engineer54 · Mar 11, 2015

On one install in South Sudan I buried over $6000 of solid copper rods and bare 35mm copper earth strap in charcoal, salt and bentonite to ensure I complied with the regs

So what sort of installation are we talking about here?? I hope it's a profitable concern, and worth the amount of money you've spent on creating this earth field??

Are you saying here that you mixed Salt, charcoal and Bentonite together??
Were these solid copper rods you talk about, direct driven into the ground??

HandySparks · Mar 11, 2015

Paignton pete said:
Nice guide and something a will print off, I fact I just have. But I was looking for something I bit more specific and basic for the customer.

thanks for the response. Really appreciated but does anyone else out there have anything.

This page is similar to their printed leaflet:
Earthing and Bonding | Electrical Safety First

GEOFF S · Mar 11, 2015

Hope this helps

Protection against shock - IET Electrical

Cheers

Leesparkykent · Mar 11, 2015

I give these to the customer.

Darkwood · Mar 11, 2015

Looking at the links above they all support what I've been trying to get across from the off....

That you have a responsibilty to check that the earthing and bonding is adequate where required and must be rectified if you are doing any work no matter how minor.
That the purpose of Equipotential bonding is to remove any PD between adjacent conductive parts and not to carry fault currents (The circuit earthing conductor is designed for that purpose), although it may do so in the event that its a parallel path or the loss of a network Neutral in a PME/TNCS set-up.

All in all when it is required it is part of your duty to include it in your work if it is not adequate or is missing, failure to do so means your work cannot comply and you have failed in your primary duty of ensuring the safety of the install.

Knobhead · Mar 14, 2015

darkwood said:
On the note of bonding ... and reminded me by Tonys csa of the copper pipe....consider a commercial or industrial set-up with a TNCS supply that would to reg's require a 50mm earthing conductor to ensure any network faults could piggy back the pipework if necessary - if point of bonding etc is attached or the incoming service is small in nature then the pipe itself is not sufficient to meet the required size - what to do?

This is from experience:

Industrial installations with a high gas consumption will be using steel pipe. It’s rare to find copper installed.

Everywhere I’ve worked a copper jumper would be fitted across every flange joint. Not just for gas but anything that could ignite. Electrical bonding was a secondary concern, static was our enemy. I’ve had some monumental expositions due to fitters not replacing the continuity jumpers. The plant was designed to withstand them but it was frightening non the less.

As for bonding back to the MET. A minimum of a 50mm[SUP]2[/SUP] conductor to both ends of the feed pipe.

Darkwood · Mar 14, 2015

Tony said:
This is from experience:

Industrial installations with a high gas consumption will be using steel pipe. It’s rare to find copper installed.

Everywhere I’ve worked a copper jumper would be fitted across every flange joint. Not just for gas but anything that could ignite. Electrical bonding was a secondary concern, static was our enemy. I’ve had some monumental expositions due to fitters not replacing the continuity jumpers. The plant was designed to withstand them but it was frightening non the less.

As for bonding back to the MET. A minimum of a 50mm[SUP]2[/SUP] conductor to both ends of the feed pipe.

The scenario I was thinking of was related to one of my customers 'Industrial' .. they had high electrical usage but very low gas and water and the water incoming was domestic size the gas was larger but at the other end of the building, so I bonded a 50mm earth to a 16mm water pipe on a tncs set-up this is where I scratch my balding head and think a Network fault would just destroy that pipe if it chose that path but yet nothing in any regulations to account for this scenario.....

Knobhead · Mar 14, 2015

darkwood said:
The scenario I was thinking of was related to one of my customers 'Industrial' .. they had high electrical usage but very low gas and water and the water incoming was domestic size the gas was larger but at the other end of the building, so I bonded a 50mm earth to a 16mm water pipe on a tncs set-up this is where I scratch my balding head and think a Network fault would just destroy that pipe if it chose that path but yet nothing in any regulations to account for this scenario.....

OK I see your point now. Unfortunately it’s yet another example of how the IET recommendations are impractical or plain and simply wrong.

A 50mm[SUP]2[/SUP] bond to a 22mm pipe isn’t exceeding the CSA of the pipe which is 53.28mm[SUP]2[/SUP]. A 15mm pipe and we’re in a different ball game, 50mm[SUP]2[/SUP] bonding to a pipe of 35.69mm[SUP]2[/SUP] CSA is plainly ridiculous.

Unfortunately the IET comic book doesn’t allow for common sense to be applied.