No bonding!! How many times?

[Wonderwall]

Just wondering what other sparkys experiences are on this.
Whether I am carrying out an EICR , or installing a new circuit in a premise ( usually domestic) I would estimate that main and supplementary bonding is not in place around 20% of the time .
Whether that is its never been in place or our friendly plumbers have chosen to snip the earth wire off because they changed a pipe !
Then trying to explain to the customer that I will need to spend a fair bit of time determining whether it exists or not is a constant pain in my life . How do other people overcome this?
Mrs Smith wants a new socket , and I am asking to see her gas and water pipe , I can see them looking at me thinking. " what are you on about here!!" Previous sparks have installed stuff and left !!!
It also leads me think that so many properties do not have it in place , and very little problems occur . I can understand the customers reluctance to pay more hours work and material that they don't think they require .
I have lost a few jobs because of this.
Interested to here what you all come across , and how you overcome it .

 

[johnduffell]

I didn't mean to dislike your post, it's just my fat finger pressing the wrong emoji
Thanks for your input ,

Didn't even notice! I do that all the time even when I'm trying to scroll on my phone, one time saw a post marked dumb, wondered who said that, then found it was me! Must have been the previous day by mistake

 

[davesparks]

Heating Engineers, Plumbers, Gas Fitters do have a responsibility to check for supplementary and equipotential bonding. Particularly where we alter pipe-work and services. A lot don't seem to bother though.

.

Very few of them actually understand bonding or have knowledge of the current regulations and what the requirements for bonding are.
There is a tendency amongst plumbers to demand that gas pipework be bonded at the meter regardless of whether it is needed or likely to make the situation more dangerous!

 

[JK-Electrical]

I do a lot of EICRs and discover issues regarding the bonding more often than not, particularly in older properties. It's either undersized or not present at all.

Before I proceed with any additions or alterations I always check the bonding. If there isn't any present, I include it within my quotation and explain this clearly to the customer. Should they object to the additional cost then I simply walk away. What else can you do under the circumstances?

I regularly come across bonding that has been disconnected, or even cut away altogether. I often wonder whether the people who commit this electrical crime are completely illiterate, or just plain stupid. Although the label on an earth clamp quite clearly states: SAFETY ELECTRICAL EARTH: DO NOT REMOVE, some people appear to interpret this as UNNECESSARY PIECE OF METAL THAT SPARK WASTED TIME AND MONEY INSTALLING: PLEASE DISCONNECT OR CUT AWAY.

 

[Midwest]

Perhaps someone's tested the installation, and decided it wasn't necessary.

 

[leep82]

I like to carry this around with me and let my customers have a read. Probably explains it better than i can to them.

 

[Marjory]

Show them the relavent regulations, and try and explain what bonding does, the trouble is customers these days know little or nothing about the dangers of poor installation practices, now GAS thats a different ball game, there's Gassafe and thats it none of these cash cowboy scams to worry about, if there is no bonding in place, then sorry you may have to walk away from the job, after all it's your name on the certificate, and should anything go wrong due to lack of any main bonding, it will be your neck on the chopping. block

How much does upgrading bonding cost

 

[ipf]

How much does upgrading bonding cost

A bit late with the post.......but, every job is different. It depends how close your incoming services are to the incoming electrical supply. It might be a couple of hours work, known some take a lot longer, trying to run cables to the other side of a property.