Bonding

[niggle]

Looked at a ground floor flat recently & saw it had a curious bit of conduit running around the back yard wall from the kitchen and into a bedroom.

On further inspection it looks like the conduit is carrying an earth cable from the pipework beneath the kitchen sink to a radiator in the bedroom.

Presumably this is has been done to 'earth' the radiator ?

Question is ......... is there another way, so I can get rid of the conduit ? Can the individual radiator be earthed to a spike in the ground for example, or could it be connected directly to the earth terminal in the MCB ?

Prob way wide of the mark with my theories ....... not a spark & wouldn't be attempting them anyway ! Just curious to know if my reasoning is reasonable .... !

 

[rocker]

If you have an RCD installed on the system, it's likely that you won't need supplementary bonding so could do away with it. As you say it's a flat, though, is the cable coming from a seperate flat and is there any other bonding in the flat at all? If this is the only bonding for the flat's supply, then it would need to be upgraded.

 

[niggle]

wow quick response !! Thanks,

Only been in the place once for 10 mins ...... & a million & one things to look at ! Cable runs between kitchen & bedroom in same flat. Conduit to get it there is on exterior wall and crosses the back door step !!

MCB installed & inspected 2008 so will be an RCD on the system i'd imagine.

Dunno if it is the only bonding, didn't look that closely , but there are other radiators in a better position to run cable to/from to the kitchen ........ so got to think that this isn't the only bonding .......... wouldn't make sense to do it that way --- or would it ?

 

[ezzzekiel]

seems rather odd setup, check main bonding is in place and renew supp bonding if needed or as above but further info required

 

[niggle]

thanks ....... pleased you think its odd too !!!

not just my small brain not coping !

 

[JUD]

As rocker said, if all circuits are RCD protected (they should be if installed in 2008) then you may be able to do away with supp. bonding.

I suspect that the bonding was already there when the board was changed and they couldn't be bothered to remove it.

 

[rocker]

Basically, you want a pretty thick earth wire going from the fuseboard to the pipe close to the water stop, and one going to the gas stop if there is one. If there is an RCD on the system (you will know this by looking at the fuseboard, if there is a switch that says 'rcd' 'rccb' or '30mA' on it, that's your RCD) this is all you need, but these cables MUST be in place. If there is no RCD you will need some more supplementary bonding..... I would get a registered electrician out to have a quick look at it - where are you, maybe someone on here can have a look?

 

[ezzzekiel]

i still tend to sup bond on a lot of jobs, even in kitchens, found it was easier just to do it rather than try to explain to client why i havent

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Supplementary bonding,(if it is required at all)...is only required in special locations as defined in section 7 of the BRB....in a domestic this is only likely to be rooms with a bath or shower. Kitchens and bedrooms are not special locations.