?
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Question:
Re: CQD answer published Monday, Oct 20, 2014 IBT
Charlie (I love that name):
Concerning Don's question on 10/17/14, the National Electrical Safety Code applies up to the service point for communications companies and its rules are basically the same as the NEC requirements. The NESC even refers to the NEC in Note 1. Rule 099C is reproduced from the 2012 Edition of the National Electrical Safety Code below:
Bonding of electrodes
A bond not smaller than AWG No. 6 copper or equivalent shall be placed between the communication grounding electrode and the supply system neutral grounding electrode where separate electrodes are used at the structure or building being served. All separate electrodes shall be bonded together except where separation is required per Rule 97.
RECOMMENDATION: If water piping is used as a bonding means, care must be taken to assure that the metallic path is continuous between electrodes.
NOTE 1: See NEC Article 800-100(D) for corresponding NEC requirements.
NOTE 2: The bonding together of all separate electrodes limits potential differences between them and between their associated wiring systems.
I put the attached PowerPoint file together a long time ago for educating one of our local communications companies when they were not complying with these requirements. I referred to the same NESC Rule above but the PowerPoint was to show the reason behind the NESC and the NEC rules.
Take care, Charlie Eldridge, Consultant
A
Answer:
Hey Charlie, with the great name, good to hear from you.
I took Don's question to mean how can the NEC rules apply to the communication utility, and as I stated they do not. Thanks for providing the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) information but it seems to stop short of specifically requiring the use of the Intersystem Bonding Termination (IBT) where one exists. So the NEC requires an IBT to be installed but the NESC seems to permit bonding by using a 6 AWG conductor. Maybe adding a requirement to use the IBT where one exists should be added to the NESC to close the loop.
250.94