The 2020 Code Making Panel has introduced a new and unprecedented Code section for this 2020 Code cycle that may prove controversial once time allows this directive to play out.
This new requirement found in Section 680.4 of the 2020 NEC allows the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) to return to a home or business for follow-up inspection(s) even after the swimming pool, fountain, or similar has passed final inspection, and the job is complete.
Prior to 2017, only two items were prohibited for use as grounding electrodes, underground gas piping and aluminum. For 2017, another item has been added to the list of prohibited items. For the 2017 NEC Code cycle, the structures as well as steel reinforcement materials that pertain to swimming pools have been added to the list found in 250.52(B)(3) of components that are prohibited from being used as grounding electrodes for an electrical system.
Let’s take a look at what is happening on the other end of that equipment grounding conductor, and what it is that enables this conductor to effectively carry current at such a rate that it will instantaneously trip a circuit-breaker or fuse, in the event of a ground-fault. It is normal to assume that a conductor will carry current, but in the matter of fault-current it is important to know why an equipment grounding conductor is able to do its job.
The terms Grounding and Bonding are found throughout the NEC text, and while they are seemingly interchangeable terms, they are actually two distinct procedures when it comes to the National Electrical Code, as well as the installation of electrical equipment.
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