Hello, during a recent inspection of our 2006 home in Colorado, the buyers inspector took objection to the way our Kohler "jet tub" is bonded. He claims that the bonding wire is connected to the cold water pex line, which from the photo you can see this is not accurate as it is connected to the metal mixing manifold of the faucet. The entire home is pex and there is a blank face GFCI on a wall separate from the tub as well. The solid copper bonding wire, as seen in the photos, runs from the main motor lug, along the floor, and then to the metal mixing manifold and basically ends there. Researching 680.7, and more specifically 680.74 and watching the youtube video discussing it, it seems this bonding is proper and in fact DOES NOT need to be routed to the main panel or even the outlet that is under the tub skirt where the motor plugs in. Obviously the NEC requirements have become more stringent over time, but even with today's code, does the bonding of the tub in our case meet the NEC standards (at least of 2006)? Thanks so much for any help you can give me.
Greetings Mr.Laufersky, 680.74. Bonding. All piping systems and all metal parts in contact with the circulation system must be bonded with a 8 AWG solid copper bonding conductor, connected to the bonding terminal on the motor. Double-insulated motors are exempt from this requirement. Note that the requirement is to bond piping systems. With today’s increasing use of nonmetallic water piping systems there is frequently nothing to bond under the skirt anyway. A metal escutcheon around the faucet with no metal piping behind it is not a metal piping system. It is very possible that even with a motor with a bonding lug, there will be no opportunity to run a bonding conductor. A bond wire must bond at least two things, and increasingly, there is no second item requiring bonding. Neither is it required to run a bonding conductor to the panel or anywhere else. The bonding jumper between the motor lug and the metal piping, or any metal parts within 5' is ok and nothing in the images would be a violation. Your inspector is incorrect based on the images I see.