The recent update to 680.26(B)(2)(a) mandates that conductive paved portions of perimeter surfaces, such as pavers, must include an equipotential bonding grid. This change aims to enhance safety by preventing stray and contact voltage. The previous provision allowing a single wire has been removed, except for specific non-paved areas like infinity edges and rock waterfalls. The grid must be connected to the pool shell at four uniformly spaced points if the shell is conductive, and it should be placed no more than 6 inches below the finished surface, covering the first 3 feet from the pool’s inside edge.

One of the reasons the stray voltage problem wasn’t particularly known about until recent decades is that in earlier construction methods, rebar was laid down in concrete to help hold it together. Metal is more conductive than concrete, so the electricity would tend to flow through that instead. When concrete was mixed with fiberglass and formulas advanced that no longer required rebar, stray voltage became more and more common. CMI created equipotential bonding grids that get installed below the pool and deck to be that outlet for any “loose” electricity.