Swimming Pools & Spas
Equipotential bonding, GFCI protection and clearances that keep water and electricity safely apart.
Why this code exists
Water lowers body resistance and puts people in direct contact with grounded surfaces. Pool electrocutions drove strict bonding and clearance rules.
Article 680 requires an equipotential bonding grid so everything a swimmer can touch sits at the same potential, plus overhead-conductor clearances and GFCI protection for pool equipment.
When it applies
This is your rulebook for anything wet that people climb into, permanent pools, spas, hot tubs, and fountains. The whole idea is equipotential bonding, tying the pool shell, the water, the deck rebar, ladders, and nearby metal together so everything sits at the same voltage. If two metal parts a swimmer touches are at different potentials, current can flow through the person, and in water that is deadly.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting the bonding grid under the deck or skipping the perimeter bond within three feet of the water.
- Missing GFCI protection on pool pump motors and nearby receptacles.
- Putting a receptacle or switch too close to the water's edge.
In the field
On my own pool jobs I photograph every bonding clamp before the concrete is poured. Once that deck is set, proving the grid is there means breaking it up, and no inspector or homeowner wants that.
Pool bonding is tedious and it's the part people want to skip. I've felt a tingle in the water from a missing bond grid — you only need that once.
See full history
- 1962 — Dedicated pool article added.
Related codes
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