I am fitting metal bath panels under my metal bath tub. The panels are entireley insulated from the bath tub by a plastic frame and have a non-conductive finish. They are fixed to the walls by wooden batons and have no connections to anything that is conductive.
The bathroom has copper pipes and a plastic waste.
Do I need to bond these bath panels?
I think not, but I would value the opinion of a pro.
Battens !!!!!
The question to ask yourself is, could they introduce a potential into the bathroom? In the case of a bit of "floating" metalwork (i.e. not connected to anything electrically) like a bath panel, that is contained entirely within the room, then the answer is no. So as you suspected there is no need to bond.
More detail:
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Thanks John!
An unqualified acquaintance insisted that it is necessary, I thought not. In fact it seemed to me that earthing isolated metalwork and bringing it in to the system might even make things more dangerous.
Any opinons out there on that one? (opinions from IEE members especially welcome - I read the regulation, and John's explanation seems very straightforward by comparison) and I have noted the spelling of batten!!
Generally there is lots of confusion (even among pros) in this area.
Well as the article points out, there is fundamental difference between earthing and bonding - they both improve the safety, but do it in different ways.
The danger would come if you earthed some things but failed to provide it for others that require it.
If that were the case, then you would be relying on the equipotential bonding and any RCDs present to protect you in the event of a fault. (one to limit the maximum voltage you could be exposed to, and the other to disconnect the power).
No: they are not "extraneous-conductive" parts as defined in the IEE regs (at least the old ones - I don't know offhand if they've changed the terminology). In plain language they're not electrically connected to anything outside the bathroom that could get made electrically "live" in the event of a fault, so there's no point in bonding them.
You do need to bond the copper pipes.
Me? Plumbing & heating eng'r with "16th edition" C&G 2381, member of approved electrical "competent persons" scheme, BSc Electrical & Electronic Eng, but not a practicing sparks.
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