Earth Bonding was not done. Need help.

[Temas]

Hi. My wife and I had a small bathroom fitted here at our flat about 6 years ago. We're now about to move and we've learnt that none of the items in the bathroom have been earth bonded.

The bathroom is about 6 foot x 6 foot. and consists of radiator, sink, toilet and shower (not electric). There are two ceiling lights and one shaver point. All pipes are copper / flexible hoses.

I can see how it will be possible to attach an earth cable to connect to the pipes that lead to the radiator and sink (maybe some ugly trunking needed). But the pipes that go to the shower are channeled in a brick wall which has been tiled over.

Does anyone know if there is a solution for this that doesn't involve removing the tiles on the wall where the pipes are concealed?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[riveralt]

Who said they needed bonding?
What type of earthing system do you have?
What type of consumer unit do you have and does it have additional protection (RCD).
Is your main protective bonding in place and up to standard?
and other questions later.

 

[Temas]

View media item 42218 View media item 42219 View media item 42220
As stated earlier - the wall holding the shower hose is made of brick and the pipes are channeled into it. AFAIK, the pipes go down under the shower tray. The room is on the ground floor and the cavity under the room is only 1 foot deep and not accessible from anywhere without pulling up the tiles. The wall with the window is also brick. The other wall and ceiling are plasterboard.

 

[Temas]

Thanks for the reply. An electrician who quoted us to have an extractor fan fitted inform me that the bonding should have been.

I'm not sure what sort of earthing system is fitted, but I have looked around the house and other appliances such as kitchen sink and upstairs bath taps have a cable connected to them.

Whats a consumer unit?

 

[riveralt]

As stated earlier - the wall holding the shower hose is made of brick and the pipes are channeled into it. AFAIK, the pipes go down under the shower tray. The room is on the ground floor and the cavity under the room is only 1 foot deep and not accessible from anywhere without pulling up the tiles. The wall with the window is also brick. The other wall and ceiling are plasterboard.

Very nice but you need to answer these questions first.

Who said they needed bonding?
What type of earthing system do you have?
What type of consumer unit do you have and does it have additional protection (RCD).
Is your main protective bonding in place and up to standard?
and other questions later.

 

[mikhailfaradayski]

Ditto Riveralt.

OP, can you post a photograph of your fuse box (AKA consumer unit).
-The answers to Riveralt's question might be just as easily answered from this

 

[Temas]

Ok. Here's the fuse box. And just above there are some pipes that appear to be earthed, so I presume that most of the flat is earthed ok.

View media item 42223
View media item 42224

 

[riveralt]

From you photographs of your consumer unit it looks like you have some form of bonding to your water pipes - gas?
But it is difficult to see what is the main earthing system and I cannot see any RCD protection.

Given what you have shown the electrician is right to highlight that you need to have supplementary equipotential bonding linking all the metal pipes to wash basins etc in your bathroom.

Do you know how to do this?
//www.diynot.com/wiki/electric...l_bonding:supplementary_equipotential_bonding

Click on the niciec and upload the diagrams

 

[riveralt]

Although the niceic supplementary equipotential diagrams refer to 2001 they are still relevant for your situation.

For some reason the edit facility has stopped working.

 

[Temas]

Thanks. Yes, those are water pipes that go to the radiators upstairs I think.

So, with regards to the shower, how close to the shower head / control dial would bonding need to be attached to the pipe, bearing in mind that without taking the tiles up, the closest section of pipework I could get would probably be at least 2 meters from the shower hose.

 

[riveralt]

Thanks. Yes, those are water pipes that go to the radiators upstairs I think.

Your water main bonding needs to be connected to the pipe after the stopcock and within 600mm from the point of entry into the house. This goes back to your consumer unit or your main earth terminal. The same applies if you have gas or oil pipes coming into the house.

So, with regards to the shower, how close to the shower head / control dial would bonding need to be attached to the pipe, bearing in mind that without taking the tiles up, the closest section of pipework I could get would probably be at least 2 meters from the shower hose.

I honestly do not think you're up to doing this yourself. Your answers and supplementary questions seem to indicate this.
Have you looked at the niceic diagram on supplementary bonding - do you realise you need to ensure that the bonding goes back to the ceiling rose earth or another earth located in a socket etc.

 

[Temas]

Thanks again.

From the information you've supplied, I'm totally not up for doing this myself and I would definitely like it done by a professional, even though at present I don't know any electricians to call. Hopefully this can be done without ripping apart the whole bathroom.

 

[riveralt]

Thanks again.

From the information you've supplied, I'm totally not up for doing this myself and I would definitely like it done by a professional, even though at present I don't know any electricians to call. Hopefully this can be done without ripping apart the whole bathroom.

Well I would start with the electrician who quoted for the extractor fan.

 

[Luckyphil]

The only way I can see round this realiistically (without mess and chasing out , removing Tiles etc) would be to find the Feed that supplies the Bathroom , At a guess the only Electrical Items will be a Light (s) Fan and Switch (maybe a Shaver Point) , Divert the feed into a RCD Spur to supply the Bathroom alone , This will mean you do not need Supp Bonding in the Bathroom.

If you had a Board with RCD (s) the Supp Bonding would`nt be required in the Bathroom

You should have the Equipotential Bonding installed /upgraded to the incoming services within 600mm of the Stopcock where practicable,(Gas/Water) in 10mm G/Y Cable.

Note Supplementary Bonding & Equipotential Bonding are not the same thing

Lucky

Ps - What is the Switchplate (?) or Blank to the Right-hand side of the Window ??

 

[sparkybird]

IMHO the easiest thing would be to RCD protect bathroom circuit so doing away with the need to supplementary bonding. This assumes main bonding to incoming gas and water pipes is in place.

If the lights, shaver and fan are all on the same lighting circuit, this would involve testing said circuit and fitting RCD fused spur (at 5A) on the circuit, probably easiest at the fuse board

Hope this helps

SB