Spot the Violation

ElectricalAppliances, HVAC, pools & specialLevel 22023 NEC

Pool equipment pad

Backyard in-ground pool equipment pad on a concrete slab in a mulch bed, with the pool coping, blue water and a wood privacy fence in the background. A pool pump with a dark motor sits beside a tall tan sand-filter tank, connected with white PVC piping. Gray liquidtight conduit runs from a weatherproof timer box on a wood post to the end of the motor. A bright solid bare copper conductor rises out of the mulch at the front edge of the slab and lies coiled in loose loops. The motor's mounting foot has an external brass lug with an open screw.
In-ground pool, circulation equipment pad

What's wrong here?

  1. The pump motor is not bonded to the equipotential bonding grid
  2. The plastic sand-filter tank must also be bonded to the grid
  3. The bonding conductor must be insulated and green, not bare
  4. Nothing. This installation is compliant
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Show the answer and the code reference

The answer

The 8 AWG solid copper bonding conductor from the pool's equipotential grid is brought to the pad but never connected to the pump motor's bonding lug.

Correct choice: 1. The pump motor is not bonded to the equipotential bonding grid

Metal parts of electrical equipment associated with the pool circulating system, including pump motors, must be bonded to the equipotential bonding grid with a solid copper conductor not smaller than 8 AWG (680.26(B) and 680.26(B)(6)). Equipotential bonding is not a fault-clearing path; it keeps the motor, the deck, the water and the swimmer at the same potential so stray voltage cannot drive current through a wet body. The EGC in the motor circuit does not substitute for it. Even a double-insulated motor with no bonding lug needs the 8 AWG conductor extended to an accessible point near the pump for a replacement motor (680.26(B)(6)(a)); a motor with a lug must be connected.

How to fix it

Land the 8 AWG solid copper conductor in the motor's external bonding lug and tighten it, then continue it to any other metal equipment on the pad that requires bonding, such as a heater.

Code references

  • NEC 2023 680.26(B)(6) — Electrical Equipment

    Metal parts of electrical equipment associated with the pool water circulating system, including pump motors and metal parts of pool covers, must be bonded to the equipotential bonding grid.

    Drills citing 680.26(B)(6)

  • NEC 2023 680.26(B) — Bonded Parts

    The parts listed in 680.26(B)(1) through (B)(7) must be bonded together using solid copper conductors, insulated, covered, or bare, not smaller than 8 AWG, or with rigid metal conduit of brass or other identified corrosion-resistant metal.

    Drills citing 680.26(B)

  • NEC 2023 680.26(A) — Performance

    Equipotential bonding is required to reduce voltage gradients in the pool area.

    Drills citing 680.26(A)

2026 NEC:changed: The pump-motor bonding requirement itself carries over, but the 2026 NEC revised 680.26(B) to allow 8 AWG 40 percent copper-clad steel as well as solid copper for equipotential bonding, so the explanation's 'solid copper conductor' wording is now only one permitted option. The answer (motor not bonded) is unaffected. Confidence: medium

Minnesota

MN adopts the NEC rule as writtenConfidence: high

Minnesota adopts the NEC without section amendments. The 2023 NEC applies to permits filed July 1, 2023 through Aug. 16, 2026, and the 2026 NEC to permits filed on or after Aug. 17, 2026 (Minn. Stat. 326B.35; Minn. Rules 1315.0200; DLI electrical codes and standards page). No Minnesota change to 680.26 is known.

How Minnesota adopts the NEC

Why the other choices are wrong

  • The plastic sand-filter tank must also be bonded to the grid. Bonding applies to metal parts; a nonmetallic filter tank has nothing to bond (680.26(B)).
  • The bonding conductor must be insulated and green, not bare. 680.26(B) permits solid copper bonding conductors that are insulated, covered, or bare; bare 8 AWG solid is normal.
  • Nothing. This installation is compliant. A grid conductor brought to the pad and never landed leaves the motor frame outside the equipotential plane (680.26(B)(6)).
Safety hazardLevel 2 · Journeyman#pool#bonding#equipotential#pump#680.26

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