Hello Gentlemen,
I’m a new guest to this Forum and hoping to receive some guidance as to my current project. I’m coming down the home stretch on rebuilding a 110 year old barn into a workshop (1st floor) and in-law apartment (2nd floor). There was no water supply to the barn so during remodel I had a code compliant trench dug from the main house to the barn for LNG, Water and Sewer. The Water line is 1" Plastic installed by a licensed Plumber and stepped down to 3/4" PEX which supplies the shop Work sink, toilet and everything in the apartment. So the ENTIRE water supply in the barn is Plastic. All proper standing pressure tests were done and all installation is code compliant. The only steel in the system is the electric Hot Water heater which is grounded back to the service panel as normal and the brass valves at termination points such as sinks, toilets etc.
Now my Electrician is insisting the system has to be BONDED to either a 10’ copper grounding bar in the ground or to the Service panel grounding bar. After exploring other forums I totally disagree. The point of bonding a normal copper/steel/etc piping is to do away with the Touch Hazard by a person if the piping is somehow charged. This I agree with 100%. But with PEX, which is a natural insulator there is zero shock hazard.
So who is correct? When I asked him how to bond a plastic water system his reply was I don’t know but the town inspector is going to want proof it is bonded.
If your electrician touches your system, liability is then on his licence I would assume. At least, that is the way things are here. So, if he is telling you this, pretty high probability that you need it. Even if your system is PVC/Pex, the water can still become charged (not the water itself, but the particles in the water). Hot tubs, jetted tubs have PVC piping. Still need a GFCI. Same idea. Inexpensive in the grand scheme. Priceless from a safety perspective.
Thanks for the reply but that arises another whole set of issues. The Code inspector in my town is the classic “Know it all” and will most likely try to enforce it something which can’t be done. It’s the classic Catch-22. The biggest disappointment for me is my Electrician not knowing the proper NEC code. Guess I’ll have to dig it up myself.
Jeff,
I totally agree a GFI is needed in a water related system which I already have installed. He is talking about a Bonding clamp with #6 copper wire from Plastic to a grounding rod. Bonding and grounding are different.
Steve
It sounds like two separate issues, but first and foremost - plastic piping cannot be bonded. It is physically impossible to establish an equipotential bond between plastic piping and an electrical system or electrical-grounding system.
If your barn has an electrical panel, it requires its own grounding-electrode (8’, not 10’ ground-rod, UFER or pipe-ground) at the structure, but requires no bond to plastic piping - since it’s physically impossible.