Tinman

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Tinman54

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N. of Texas & S. of Kansas
Hello All
I have been asked to help educate a city council as to the pros of grounding and bonding. It seems that one of the local slum lords is on the council and has just about convinced the other members that the newly adopted codes need to be recinded because of complaints. Any powerpoints and statistics on the subject would be greatly appreciated. btw this is a great forum for info. (and sometimes a chuckle or two.)
 
What year's NEC are you coming out of and which one are you going in to? Can your town actually override it if the state adopted it as your state's building code? I sorta doubt it. Towns are generally free to be more strict than whatever the state adopted, but not more lax.
 
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Tinman54 said:
Hello All
I have been asked to help educate a city council as to the pros of grounding and bonding. It seems that one of the local slum lords is on the council and has just about convinced the other members that the newly adopted codes need to be recinded because of complaints.
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What are the specific codes in view here?
 
The best place to start would be with a significant changes 2008 book and learn what the changes are. I don't think you'll find what you're looking for prepackaged.
 
Tinman54 said:
Oklahoma has adopted the 2008 NEC, but it is up each city as which code they adopt. I believe the term used here is Home Rule.
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You should try to contact your local IAEI or another similar organization, such as a contractor organization and let them provide a presentation. They will be able to do it with more ease, as more than likely they will have more experience then yourself.
 
Tinman54 said:
Hello All
I have been asked to help educate a city council as to the pros of grounding and bonding. )
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Tell them this;
It is a safety issue plain and simple. Electrons will try to get back to the source, any way possible. If for example a metal piping system in a house becomes energized and it is not bonded. It could use a counsel members child as a path to get back to the source. And could kill one of their children.
 
Not following the code rules is a liability, and a rather large one. As others stated, obtaining experts to explain this might be prudent. By the way, I believe Mr. Holt is one such expert, and you might consider contacting him in this regard.
 
Tinman54 said:
Hello All
I have been asked to help educate a city council as to the pros of grounding and bonding. It seems that one of the local slum lords is on the council and has just about convinced the other members that the newly adopted codes need to be recinded because of complaints. Any powerpoints and statistics on the subject would be greatly appreciated. btw this is a great forum for info. (and sometimes a chuckle or two.)
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I noticed your occupation is electrical inspector. A council member's "politics" should come as no surprise to an experienced inspector. You are following the right path to want to educate the "slum lord" and effectively undermine his potentially negative influence on other council members.
Try this film and see if it's what you're looking for:
http://www.lwbrittian.com/resources-video.htm
 
Did grounding and bonding change much recently? The only relevant thing I can think of would be the mandatory requirement for an EGC in feeders to detached structures. Some cost there if they are a long ways away, and hard to explain why it is bad when the POCO 3-wire service could do the same thing with one less wire.

I'd expect a slumlord to be complaining about AFCI requirements, especially if the dwellings have a bunch of multiwire branch circuits and he's required to update to today's code. Tamper proof receptacles is another big cost driver under the 2008 code. IMHO, if a local town recinded AFCI or the tamper proof requirements, that isn't horribly unsafe. Can you sue a town or town council anyway for not adopting the latest codes?

Waiting until AFCI and tamper resistant receptacles become cheaper may not be all that bad of a thing to do. GFCI's are cheap enough now that I hope they at least have those. Bonding is becoming less of an issue as more and more appliances have 2-wire plugs. Grounding is primarily to reduce premises wire damage from lightning.
 
Tinman54 said:
Oklahoma has adopted the 2008 NEC, but it is up each city as which code they adopt. I believe the term used here is Home Rule.
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Yes, Oklahoma adopted the '08 in July, but what town is your town/city currently using? Most of central OK are in the 2002 or 2005, but some towns are in the 2008 already.

As far as the grounding and bonding, you need to be more specific, as most of the complaints that I am aware of with the '08 are in regards to Arc fault and GFCI protection and TR receptacles in residentential and handle ties for all MWBC. The only grounding/bonding issues that I'm concerned with is with CSST.
 
I beleive that they should except grounding and bonding issues as there written in the Code cycle you need to address. I don't beleive you need to go to any social chapter other than maybe a speaker.

It's all in the Code Book. It's not like gangs of ground rod'rs are going to be running around amiss..

Why don't you educate your fellow inspectors, get out a press release to check all services from now on. They will only be applied as a service it is addressed, what is Sly's problem?

If public speaking is a problem, check out your local chapter of toastmasters.
 
steelersman said:
Umm, I think the primary reason for grounding is to protect people and equipment.
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Equipment "grounding" which is actually bonding does just that.

Intentionally connecting the premises wiring system to earth is primarily for lightning protection and accidental contact with high voltages (a high voltage primary sagging and hitting the secondary conductors on the outside distribution system.)
 
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