[BSR to you]

My neighbor is running an above ground electrical conduit with 110 directly on the property line. He has an inground pool that is 5 feet from this same property line and therefore 5' from the above ground conduit.

I live in California and do not see this as safe. It seems to me that an above ground conduit needs to comply with setbacks and a conduit 5 feet from an inground pool is too close and, if not equipotentially bonded, dangerous.

What do you think?

[stanfortyman]

I think you are looking for a reason to bust your neighbor. :rolleyes:

His installation is dimensionally fine by electric code, the setback thing is a building code issue, although I see NO reason an electric raceway cannot be right on the property line. It's cannot be ON the ground though. It must be attached to something, or buried.

If he is having an in-ground pool installed I would hope he has the proper permits. If you are in the mood to stir things up just stroll down to the local building department and check on these permits and ask the inspector what he thinks about these issues.

[Assured]

My neighbor is running an above ground electrical conduit with 110 directly on the property line. He has an inground pool that is 5 feet from this same property line and therefore 5' from the above ground conduit.

I live in California and do not see this as safe. It seems to me that an above ground conduit needs to comply with setbacks and a conduit 5 feet from an inground pool is too close and, if not equipotentially bonded, dangerous.

What do you think?

There are many items to be addressed with any pool.
1. stanfortyman talked about the conduit having to be buried or attached to a wall or ? etc.
2. They make some big pools today so the next question is depth? If it is capable of holding water above 42" depth, there are other criteria necessary like equipotentially bonding as you mentioned earlier. (designated as a permanent pool because of the depth)
3. How about the GFCI requirements?
4. The 5' distance needs to be checked as the code is 5' from the inside edge of the pool for any power. (there are exemptions in buried metal conduit)
5. Grounding requirements need to be followed also.
Do not confuse the grounding and bonding needs as they 2 different requirements.
Good luck,

[BSR to you]

Assured-thanks for your response.

The pool has been there for years and is more than 42" and if it is more than 5 feet from PL to water's edge it is not by much.

If they were going to get it off the ground and attach it to something the only thing there is there is chainlink. First, I have never seen anyone run above ground electrical by a pool and second I thought bonding would be required because of the proximity to the pool.

So, what does code say about the horizontal distance at which bonding would not be required? Is it 5' or over?

Also, if it is attached to chainlink... is that safe? Before I was worried about fire or someone getting a shock touching the conduit but an electric fence... there's a do it yourself neighborhood addition!

[stanfortyman]

So, what does code say about the horizontal distance at which bonding would not be required? Is it 5' or over?

Any fixed metal parts, such as walls, fences, etc must be attached to the bonding grid. The conduit would inherently be bonded. No external bonding would be required.

The 42" maximum height is in reference to a storable pool. This is obviously irrelevant since this is an in-ground pool, and is by definition, permanent.

Before I was worried about fire or someone getting a shock touching the conduit but an electric fence.....there's a do it yourself neighborhood addition!

I am confused. This is your neighbors pool. Are you posting for him?
What is your worry here?

[BSR to you]

The pool was put in years ago and the fence was added much later and is not part of the grid

[stanfortyman]

OK.

Did you inform your neighbor of this? Do you think he should have it bonded? Is there even a bonding grid in the first place? Does your neighbor even know what an equipotential bonding grid is?

[BSR to you]

Well... you know how there are people who should have tools and people who should have checkbooks?? I find it frightening when the checkbook people pick up tools and believe they know everything which is why I asked in the first place. I think it should be underground... if you have a code that points to that maybe that will sway them

[stanfortyman]

NEC 300.5, and whatever article applies to the type of conduit that was used.

[BSR to you]

If they coincide, I tried that section of the CEC with them and got the response that that code only applies to how to do underground installations but does not require them to put it underground... so I thought I was on the wrong track... I will go back and read it again... thanks