plumber says no to csst bonding

[John Dirks Jr]

I called out unbonded csst and here is the plumbers response. What do you think of this? BTW the house grounding conductor was present and attached at the electrical panel. House built in 59.

I talked to the Plumber this morning about bonding requirements. He knows all about them. HE is a Master Plumber. His response was it is not required in this particular installation and does this Home Inspector have a Master Plumbers License?

The existing gas piping is all steel and enters the home undergound.. The bonding requirements are directed at installations where all of the gas piping is flex. In this case, the flex line is only used to pigtail appliances, eg. the gas range in the kitchen and the water heater. Makes sense to use flex on appliances like a gas range that needs to be moved by the homeowner for cleaning. But there is no requirement to run a ground wire from the pigtail flex to the service panel ground electrode. Fact is, these old houses do not have a buried grounding electrode attached to the service panel. To satisfy this Home Inspector would require running a number 6 AWG wire from the flex tubing at the water heater and the flex tube at the gas range to a grounding electrode driven in the ground outside the home and attached to the service entrance panel. Unreasonable.

My response will be:

Either install the CSST according to the manufacturers instructions or switch back to black iron and standard appliance connectors.

[AHI in AR]

Is there actually CSST present or simply flex appliance connectors at the end of black iron?

[John Dirks Jr]

Is there actually CSST present or simply flex appliance connectors at the end of black iron?

I understand you asking since the the two are commonly incorrectly identified. In this case, I can assure you its CSST.

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[AHI in AR]

Was there a ground rod at the gas line on the house side of the meter? If that's there, I'd probably not make a big deal over it. If not, I'd say there's a bigger issue that needs addressing -- and I know that you may have done that. Keep in mind that the CSST bonding requirement was the result of a lawsuit -- not necessarily a proven "need."

[John Dirks Jr]

No ground rod on the house side at the meter.

Whatever the reason bonding of CSST became a requirement, its now part of the manufacturers installation instructions. As an inspector, I can't find a comfortable way to rationalize why that should be ignored.

http://www.wardflex.com/images/WF_Tech_Bull_16.pdf

http://www.gastite.com/include/language ... 010-01.pdf

http://iaei-michigan.org/Product_Info/CSST/Tracpipe.pdf

[Nolan Kienitz]

The images seems to suggest CSST being used from the cut off valve on the black iron to the appliance?

(To me) ... that just doesn't make any common sense.

I may be mis-reading that all-together.

Why not just use the approved "flex connectors" ??

[Jim Katen]

Even if you set aside the CSST issue, the steel gas pipes still should be bonded.

It sounds like the plumber has some gaps in his education.

[Ben H]

Even if you set aside the CSST issue, the steel gas pipes still should be bonded.

It sounds like the plumber has some gaps in his education.

Um. You forgot Master. Or did you?[]

[John Dirks Jr]

Even if you set aside the CSST issue, the steel gas pipes still should be bonded.

It sounds like the plumber has some gaps in his education.

Um. You forgot Master. Or did you?[]

It's funny you mention that. "Master" was the main excuse he tried to push according to the client.

How dare some schmuck HI say his work was wrong.

The polyester sheathing of the CSST was also only 1 inch away from the water heater's single wall vent connector but he at least admitted to that being wrong and blamed it on his associate. You would think a Master of 30 years would just stick with black iron in the first place.

[Charlie R]

Good call John.

[David Meiland]

John, your photos show what appear to be a short connection to a water heater and possibly another one to a furnace, although that's a lot less clear. Is it just these two sections of CSST, and are they short, or is there more? If most of the piping in the house is iron, and there is a ground conductor present, wouldn't you expect the iron to be bonded and these two short pieces of CSST to be left as they are? And, what does the plumber's opinion have to do with it? The electrician is the one who comes in and does the bonding, in my experience.