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When to bond, and when not toWater comes in as plastic. Do you bond it?
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An electrician needs to know when to bond and, just as importantly, when not to. Ask one simple question:
"Is it a conductive part that comes out of the ground?"
Yes → it's extraneous, so bond it. No (plastic, or never touches the ground) → don't.
Yes → it's extraneous, so bond it. No (plastic, or never touches the ground) → don't.
- Plastic incoming pipe: no bond, because plastic is an insulator. That's true even if it changes to copper inside.
- Copper that goes back into the ground and comes up again: bond it where it comes up.
- Everything plastic (or no metal service comes from the ground): no main bonding at all.
- Extraneous parts aren't always gas and water. Look for an oil supply pipe (rural properties without mains gas) and exposed structural steel that goes into the ground.
A bit of history
In the late '90s and early 2000s, anything copper-coloured got bonded. That's why you still see pipes cross-bonded together in airing cupboards, and bonds on baths, radiators and kitchen sinks. It's complete overkill. Now we bond once, within 600 mm of where the service comes in on the consumer's side, plus anywhere a pipe comes back up from the ground.
In the late '90s and early 2000s, anything copper-coloured got bonded. That's why you still see pipes cross-bonded together in airing cupboards, and bonds on baths, radiators and kitchen sinks. It's complete overkill. Now we bond once, within 600 mm of where the service comes in on the consumer's side, plus anywhere a pipe comes back up from the ground.
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