Cross-bonding head-scratching

[Danfoto]

Just finishing off the refurb of our bathroom and having looked up what I think are the regs I'm no wiser.

House was professionally rewired throughout ten years ago and has modern RCD consumer unit. Before I did the bathroom plumbing, I got a sparky in after the plasterer had done his thing. He fitted a new ceiling light and issued me with the appropriate chitty after he revised the layout of the circuit-breakers in the consumer unit in line with current regs.

At that stage, there was no pipework to speak of in the bathroom, hence no cross-bonding. Now all the pipework's done, and I'm thoroughly confused.

The only electric in the bathroom is the ceiling light, and it's staying that way. We run off a combi boiler, at which all the pipework is cross-bonded, and all pipework throughout the house is soldered copper.

I guess it won't do any harm to cross-bond the CH flow and return and the H and C feeds as they come through the bathroom wall, but the question is - do I have to earth that cross-bonding?

If so, my easiest option would be to run an earth wire through the wall to the earth in the socket on the adjacent utility room wall. Is that kosher?

 

[Dannypipe]

If it's all been done recently at the boiler, and new consumer unit, then no you don't need to run it all to earth.

I had a sparky tell me it didn't even need cross bonding at the basin once.


For the sake of a few quid I would just cross bond the pipes (equipotential bonding) on the pipework if it's not unsightly. Earth clamps are about a pound each and the cable will cost you a couple of quid. So worth it really.

The idea of you running Earth back to a socket frightens me a bit. No offense, but running earth cables and checking them is best left to a sparky.

 

[Danfoto]

Thanks mister. That makes a lot of sense to me, and tbh if I did have to earth the cross-bonding I'd get a sparky in just so I have somebody to blame if sparks start coming out the taps 😀