Bonding situation

[blazer58]

First, I know the difference between bonding and grounding.
I work for a small electrical contractor who retired from Com. Ed and we have a small job coming up.

We have a electrical inspector (who we are known to have a few beers with every now and then) and wants all bonding ran to a separate ground rod, and grounded to the main panel.
It's an above ground pool, either composite or fiberglass rails.

I told my boss I'll do what he says, but I do not feel comfortable doing it this way.
We are only bonding everything on the equipment pad.

Just a realization on how different inspectors treat bonding and grounding

 

[CJadamec]

Regardless of the construction of the pool there still needs to be a #8 bare copper bonding loop around the entire perimeter of the pool.

The pool wall is still going to be sheet metal and can easily be, and should be, bonded at the bolted seam.

The water needs a bonding fitting installed in the plumbing. The best place for it to be is either in the skimmer or directly below the skimmer in the plumbing before any valves. This location is the best way to ensure the pool water is bonded at all times regardless of any valves in the plumbing.

There is nothing in NEC code that requires a driven rod to be part of the bonding loop.

All wires going to the electrical grounding conductors of the pool equipment MUST be insulated green wire. No bare grounding conductors are allowed in any pool servicing equipment or panels as per sec 680 of the NEC.

All wires that are part of the bonding loop MUST be bare copper wire (with the exception of underwater lighting).

If all grounding must be insulated green wire and all bonding bare wire than it serves to reason there is no place the wires should be joined together. The pump motor casing and or the metal housing surrounding a pool heater are the only two places bonding and grounding wires both join to the same piece of metal. There are distinctly two different and independent lugs for both the grounding and bonding wires on each piece of equipment. Again meaning the bonding and ground wires are not to be tied directly together at a single location.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Just a realization on how different inspectors treat bonding and grounding

That statement is very true. I've seen some polar opposites from inspectors.

The NEC doesn't require the bond and ground grids to be connected, but they don't prohibit it either. So, what he wants isn't against code.

The NEC does require a bond loop around the pool attached at four places, but if the rails and uprights are non-metallic, and the liner is vinyl, a lot of inspectors don't require that bond loop (discussion for another day). Also the water bond gets implied by equipment connection in a lot of cases, whether it should be or not (another discussion as well).