For all domestic electrical installations there should be a main earth, main equipotential bonding and supplementary equipotential bonding. The reason is to protect all the pipes and metalwork in a home, so that if a fault occurs, the fuse/MCB will break the electrical supply in a regulated time (0.4 of 1second). A Beckenham Plumber is trained to deal electric shock. Normally, most pipes in the home are metal. However, they are slowly being replaced by plastic in new build homes. Most homes still have copper pipes that can conduct electricity which is really hazardous to health. So there is a risk that someone could receive an electric shock from touching these pipes. To make sure the risk is kept to a minimum, the pipework is connected to the main earth point in the consumer unit. The pipework has cable links at various points along its length, also secondary cables are fitted to link the pipes as they go through the home and continue the bonding to earth. The cables are connected by small metal clamps to the outside of the pipes. Should there be a need to cut and remove a piece of pipework, the bonding cable must be replaced. Therefore if you are uncertain, it is a good idea to ask the advice and employ skills of a professional like Beckenham Plumbers.
‘Equipotential earth bonding’ as it is known in the trade is not just fitted to the pipework in a home. It can also be connected to other appliances such as the gas meter or even your incoming water supply pipework and valves. If someone is not sure about this cabling it is yellow with a green stripe. This cable is10mm in diameter. The bonding allows everything to be at the same ‘potential’ electrically (hence equipotential). Electrical current can only flow if there is a potential difference, therefore things at the same potential are fine. So you can see that all bonding although mostly passive, can stop a fatal electric shock.

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