Gas pipe bonding

N

nizak

Senior Member
Is there anything in the code that prohibits bonding a steel gas line and duct work?

The branch circuit supplying power to the furnace meets any requirement with the #14 EGC.


I’m dealing with an inspector ( out of town and have never worked in his area) who’s requiring it along with the duct work be bonded.

I’m going to bug onto the GEC that passes directly by and hit both gas and sheet metal.

Since he is requiring something that’s not required by code I want to be certain I’m not actually making the situation worse.

I’m only doing this to pacify him since the job is 180 miles one way and I don’t want to get a failed final inspection and have to go back.

$20 in clamps and wire is cheaper than 5 hrs driving and $100 in fuel.

Thank you.
 
There is nothing that prohibits bonding the gas pipe even if it has no real value. You've outlined a good case for just doing what the inspector wants but I would school him on why he's wrong.
 
infinity said:
There is nothing that prohibits bonding the gas pipe even if it has no real value. You've outlined a good case for just doing what the inspector wants but I would school him on why he's wrong.
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I’ve stated my case and I believe he knows that he’s wrong from an actual code standpoint.

The back story to this is a local plumber who had worked in his inspection area was killed when he came in contact with a piece of metal ductwork in a crawl space.

I have no further knowledge other than that story.

There’s a host of of things that could have led to the unfortunate incident.

For all I know the house could have been 100 years old with K+T wiring and the plumber laying in 2” of water.
 
I think everyone knows I am not a grounding and bonding nut, but sorta playing devil's advocate here: if bonding water and gas piping is so important to the NEC, why not sheet metal ducting? Seems like that would have a higher likelihood of becoming energized with sharp edges and cables frequently pulled over or under.
 
electrofelon said:
I think everyone knows I am not a grounding and bonding nut, but sorta playing devil's advocate here: if bonding water and gas piping is so important to the NEC, why not sheet metal ducting? Seems like that would have a higher likelihood of becoming energized with sharp edges and cables frequently pulled over or under.
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Give it a cycle or two... they'll get around to it, probably for those exact reasons.
 
Heh, indeed. Though to be honest, I would be surprised to find that bonding the sheetmetal to ground wasn't already happening inside the furnace.
 
electrofelon said:
I think everyone knows I am not a grounding and bonding nut, but sorta playing devil's advocate here: if bonding water and gas piping is so important to the NEC, why not sheet metal ducting? Seems like that would have a higher likelihood of becoming energized with sharp edges and cables frequently pulled over or under.
Click to expand...
Maybe because ductwork doesn't come from underground or behave as an electrode.
 
electrofelon said:
I think everyone knows I am not a grounding and bonding nut, but sorta playing devil's advocate here: if bonding water and gas piping is so important to the NEC, why not sheet metal ducting? Seems like that would have a higher likelihood of becoming energized with sharp edges and cables frequently pulled over or under.
Click to expand...
'Grounded' through Furnace branch circuit EGC? Cloth vibration isolation joints would require a bonding jumper?
 
All the arguments proposed could be said about other things that require bonding. A piping system that is not an electrode still needs to be bonded. Anything "likely to energize" it has an EGC. Okay, gas piping is specifically allowed to be bonded by the EGC, but not a water piping system, not really sure why. All I'm saying is not a lot of consistency here.
 
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