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Monday, April 27, 2015
Question:
In regards to the Equipotential Bonding of Conductive Pool Shells (NEC 680.26 (B)(1), the NEC differentiates between “Un-Encapsulated” and “Encapsulated” structural reinforcing steel. The question is what is the definitions of “Un-Encapsulated” and “Encapsulated”. I looked in the NEC and found no formal definition, I searched the “Web” a bit and did not find much. Can you help clarify this?
My take would be “Bare-Steel” versed “Coated-Steel”, but that is just my opinion, nor am I knowledgeable in rebar.
Thank You
Robert Maddox
A
Answer:
Hey Robert thanks for your question. You are correct when a word is not defined in the NEC we use a standard dictionary to find the meaning. The NFPA Style manual refers to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition. The term "encapsulate" means "to enclose" so the reinforcing steel would have a coating sometimes referred to as epoxy coated. The coating or encapsulation would prevents the steel from contacting the concrete therefore 680.26(B)(1)(a) requires a copper conductor grid to be installed.