A friend looking at a house his daughter is thinking of buying found the aluminum heat reflective foil behind the radiators had been electrically bonded to the pipework radiator pipework.
Bonding and beyond
- Thread starter bernardgreen
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Surely you of all people agree you can never be too careful. 
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I worked on a high end timeshare development in the 80s, the consultant insisted that the metal capping was linked with earth straps & connected to the socket earth
Back in 1970'sI did a fair bit of electrical work for a builder friend, when doing new builds the SEEBoard inspectors had to check all metalwork was bonded before making the connexion. the carpenters got very good at providing routes to bond door and window hinges and catches etc. It got to the point that things like coat hooks on the wooden backing, kitchen and wardrobe doors with metal hinges and handles, metal banisters, bathroom towel rails and toilet paper holders etc were not fitted until after the power was on as they would go round with a long lead checking.
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Glad that's gone now.
Some on here will say it was never there but power would not be connected without it.
Some inspectors did go over the top.
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I was working in the local library which had a small museum with stand alone display cabinets constructed of steel sections joined by plastic inserts. The borough "engineer" wanted them bonding to the nearest socket until we pointed out that every section of the steel cabinet would have to be linked with straps
Good examples of people in authority not being knowledgeable enough to be doing their jobs.
I've got a picture somewhere of disabled grab rails in a toilet being bonded to the supplimentary bonding for the room (the best thing was, there wasn't even a bath or shower in there, it was just lavatory and wash ahnd basin)
And a vertical cat ladder in a fire station plant room to access the void above having main bonding back to the DB
And a vertical cat ladder in a fire station plant room to access the void above having main bonding back to the DB
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I've seen that a few times.
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I seem to remember when I started on my apprenticeship bonding went daft. Metal window frames bonded as could put an extension lead out of the window. As far as bonding in the toilet, super glue on the seat is not funny.
No, the bonding did not alter; people (who didn't understand it) went mad.
Q.E.D.
Yep Crital windoframes started arriving with a threaded hole for bonding and fitting were available for aluminium window frames bonding points.
I believe one of the editions of the regs stated something like
Sadly 'All exposed metalwork' also meant a metal coathook on a wooden backboard and an aluminium cupboard door handle.
Even more sadly SEEBoard inspectors were instructed (or so I assume) to follow it to the crossed eyes and the dots in the tea (assuming we had electwickery and the kettle wasn't metal).
Only 10-15 years later I rewired my first house and the inspector wanted to see sleeving on my insulated earth singles in conduit and couldn't tick the "10mm² main bonding" box as I'd used 7/0.064" (being imperial it looked more like 25mm²).
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