Earthing gas pipes for LPG Combi boiler

[Jilly]

The electrician and plumber muttered between themselves over this but have gone AWOL and not resolved it. (Plumber got an LPG reg friend to certify but he isn't replying to me).

My internet research indicates this needs to be done, is it a sparky job as he is due to come back?

 

Thank you. 

[SimonD]

Yes, it needs to have equipotential bonding. That's a job for the electrician as it's done according to BS 7671, or at least should be.

 

HTH

[ProDave]

This is a constant frustration with electricians. You would think the gas people work to different regs re earth bonding as they don't always accept the earth bond where the sparky has put it.  OUR regs say it must be bonded a certain distance either side of where the pipe enters the building, but I have lost count of how many times I have had to move it, because the gas man says it must be bonded in the meter box, even if that is many metres away from where the pipe enters the house.

 

But the gas safe man should not sign off the gas install until he is happy with the bonding.  So best if sparky can talk to gas man early on the project.  then argue amongst themselves where to bond it.

 

In the case of my own LPG install there is no meter so the gas man asked for the bond to be where the gas pipe exits the changeover regulator.

[SimonD]

26 minutes ago, ProDave said:

OUR regs say it must be bonded a certain distance either side of where the pipe enters the building, but I have lost count of how many times I have had to move it, because the gas man says it must be bonded in the meter box, even if that is many metres away from where the pipe enters the house.

 

It's funny this. I wonder whether it comes from a misreading of the regs, by the gas safe engineers and the way the training organisations seem to do it. Or maybe they can't read or think properly. In the regs for equipotential bonding on gas pipes, it says that bonding needs to be within 600mm of the meter, if the meter is installed internally. Where the meter is installed externally, bonding should preferrably be installed internally as close as practical to the point of entry. It even says that connection within an external meter box is acceptable but unpreferred.

 

If the gas man questions this, you can point them to the Domestic Gas Safety On Site Guide published by the NICEIC, so should be considered a reliable source 😊

 

Oh yeah, I know this because I've just finished my Gas Safe training portfolio and am just writing up my method statements! Even we have ben told to make sure the bonding is always within 600mm and before the first junction, but that's not what my method statements reads.... 🤔

Edited March 24, 2022 by SimonD

[saveasteading]

Many 'electricians' and 'plumbers' are not trained or qualified, and have to get someone in to sign off their works.  So it is possible that they don't know the regulations and are repeating what they saw somewhere else. I suggest not quoting the reg's but handing a copy, and never mind any embarrassment.

 

I even had to work with a client's electrician who handed out trainee certificates, as few clients knew the difference. He came unstuck on our job as I asked for proof of his accreditation (the work was so scarily dangerous, but he claimed he didn't take instruction from us) I had to call HSE in to stop our own project....a first said the inspector.

[ProDave]

2 hours ago, SimonD said:

Where the meter is installed externally, bonding should preferrably be installed internally as close as practical to the point of entry. It even says that connection within an external meter box is acceptable but unpreferred.

Yep tried that.  Gas meter on the outside of the house.  The gas pipe ran up the wall and entered into the loft.  I bonded right at the eaves inside the loft as close as I could reach to the "point of entry".  Gas man said NO.  I had to run the earth cable down the gas pipe (cable tied to it) to the meter box before he would accept it and sign off the gas.

 

 

[SimonD]

19 hours ago, ProDave said:

Yep tried that.  Gas meter on the outside of the house.  The gas pipe ran up the wall and entered into the loft.  I bonded right at the eaves inside the loft as close as I could reach to the "point of entry".  Gas man said NO.  I had to run the earth cable down the gas pipe (cable tied to it) to the meter box before he would accept it and sign off the gas.

 

 

 

How annoying and frustrating!