Pool system bonding

[bigdog]

Hey Jerry
What is the required fix for pools where no bond wire to the pool shell etc. can be found? Shouldn't it have to be fixed to current standards as in chipping into the concrete pool beam and attaching another (or maybe the first) bond wire to it and running back to the pump (at a minimum?).

I can't tell you how many times I get called back to re-inspect and find a driven ground rod connected to the pool pump motor.

Also I remember reading a history of the bonding requirements and seem to remember that a bond wire wasn't even a requirement until the 90"s.

What say yee.

David McCabe

[Jerry Peck - Codeman]

What is the required fix for pools where no bond wire to the pool shell etc. can be found? Shouldn't it have to be fixed to current standards as in chipping into the concrete pool beam and attaching another (or maybe the first) bond wire to it and running back to the pump (at a minimum?).

David,

Yep, that's the fix (at a minimum).

I can't tell you how many times I get called back to re-inspect and find a driven ground rod connected to the pool pump motor.

That is a very good sign that either a pool service guy or a handyman did it - and neither is licensed to do it - that is punishable by up to a $5,000 fine (not that the state punishes them for that, but the state should).

Also I remember reading a history of the bonding requirements and seem to remember that a bond wire wasn't even a requirement until the 90"s.

I traced it back one time and, to my recollection, following the various wordings and what the intent back in time was that bonding of pools started back in the 1968 code.

[Jerry Peck - Codeman]

I started with my 1968 NEC (it may be in the 1965, but it was not as I recall, and I didn't recheck it right now):

(too much to type, but I'll list the highlights of what it includes)
- 608-7 Grounding.
- - (a) The following parts shall be bonded together by a copper conductor not smaller than No. 8 AWG:
- - - (the highlights)
- - - pool reinforcing steel (steel tie wires are permitted to tie the steel together)
- - - metal ladder parts
- - - diving boards and their supports and the like
- - - metal parts of electrical equipment associated with the water circulating system
- - - all fixed metal parts within 5 feet of the water and not separated by a permanent barrier
- - (b) Where the swimming pool light ...
- - - No. 12 AWG copper can serve as the bonding conductor
- - (c) metallic raceways shall not be depended upon except between the forming shell and junction box
- - - No. 12 AWG copper can serve as the bonding conductor