Commercial kitchen bonding

[Blowcat]

I cant work out what needs to be bonded in a commercial kitchen.

Commercial kitchens have lots of free standing metal work tops & work benches, so do these need to be cross bonded and have a earth taken back to the DB?
Also for the sinks in commercial kitchens do they need bonding?

I cant seem to find a reg for this. I have always thought they dont need bonding except if say the sink has a metal waste pipe.

Also does it make any difference if they have drilled 20mm holes through the work tops and fed leads through them for the appliances??

Thanks

 

[mogga]

yes they should be bonded preferably leave enough cable for them to be pulled out for cleaning Although in 6months time the bonding will either have been pulled off due to the movement or the underneath will be mocket due to no cleaning being carried out Manky boogers some kitchen staff

 

[telectrix]

as far as i know, the tables don't require bonding, only metal waste pipes and any extraneous pipework. not sure about the cables coming through the metalwork of the tables , though. to me that is bad practice.

 

[kamkam]

I would bond the tables that have hole cut for the fex. The gromit (if there is one) might come lose after constant cleaning or get removed etc... then nice sharp metal cutting though the flex!

 

[IQ Electrical]

It is VERY rare for the metal benches in a catering kitchen to meet the definition of an extraneous-conductive part and therefore require bonding.

You have to remember that bonding a non-extraneous conductive part can cause danger by distribution of fault voltages.

If you're doing much commercial kitchen/industrial work then it really is worth investing in Guidance Note 8 where tests to confirm bonding requirements are described.

 

[telectrix]

agree with IQ . if those tables were to be bonded and a fault were to occur on the installation, those tables would become "live" for the duration of the fault. not good.

 

[kamkam]

Sure but by drilling a hole though a metal table and feeding flex though that hole to an item of current using equipment, have you now made that table indirectly apart of that equipment hence now exposed conductive part (sort of)???? or have I had too much panda pop and over thinking this and going off on one?

 

[IQ Electrical]

Sure but by drilling a hole though a metal table and feeding flex though that hole to an item of current using equipment, have you now made that table indirectly apart of that equipment hence now exposed conductive part (sort of)???? or have I had too much panda pop and over thinking this and going off on one?

No, you'd be better off having better mechanical protection for the flexes and RCD protection for the circuit/socket.

 

[kamkam]

I'll go with that :stooge_curly:

 

[telectrix]

what muppet drilled them through the tables in the first place?

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Sure but by drilling a hole though a metal table and feeding flex though that hole to an item of current using equipment, have you now made that table indirectly apart of that equipment hence now exposed conductive part (sort of)???? or have I had too much panda pop and over thinking this and going off on one?

If you've turned the table into a conductive part it needs earthing not bonding.

 

[Blowcat]

what muppet drilled them through the tables in the first place?

They didn't want the leads going over the edges of the tables so the original installers drilled holes through the tables. Its a rough job, 4core swa feeding pvc iso's, no banjo used and so no cpc to the equipment being used. 4 way extension lead used to feed equipment running 18 hous a day, all cables too short, stress on every cable, leads having bare copper showing, touch voltages of 70 volts present. Staff getting shocks. Only went there to pat test 4 pieces of fixed equipment and now hopefully got a bit more work.

 

[telectrix]

some 45deg. plastic bench dado trunking might come in useful.

 

[Engineer54]

some 45deg. plastic bench dado trunking might come in useful.

Not allowed mate, it'll need to be stainless steel!! All to do with food hygiene cleaning and chemical cleaners used in a commercial kitchen. ....All works out very expensive!! I don't know how this present installation has gotten past the H&S bods that are supposed to inspect these c/kitchens on a regular basis???

 

[telectrix]

rats probably scared them away

 

[Knobhead]

The last commercial kitchen I did was a nightmare. It had to conform to hygiene and M&Q regs. All the ovens etc were on wheels for cleaning. So the fun began:

• First idea copex from the trunking to the appliance, no good, not to M&Q and too easily damaged!
• Next SWA, no good, it will ravel up and pull out of the glands.
• OK how about SY cable, no, not to M&Q

By now I’m getting desperate. Call the M&Q inspector “can we have dispensation for SY in this situation”. Two days later gets the go ahead on the proviso that when the appliance is pulled out it must be restrained. We ended up with SY cable and a ¼” steel wire tethering the appliance to the wall. Then I got in trouble for not using stainless wire!

 

[Deleted member 26818]

I worked in a meat factory for a few years.
Again all Stainless Steel.
Not one RCD in sight, as they would have been tripping all day long due to the amount of water floating around.
I few times I saw production staff washing down walls with high power jet guns.
63A Lewden sockets soon fill up with water, watever their IP rating if someone points a jet gun at them for long enough.