Denis, just doing some reading up on this, it appears the us electrical code insists you bond everything metal regardless of distance. in canada, the coding is somewhat difference. my pool stairs, light are bonded..nothing in my shed is. if the equipment were within 5 ft of the pool, it would have to be as well. but my shed is 30 ft plus away from the pool..which explains why nothing in my shed was which at first surprised me before i started reading up on this. in the canadian code, the rationale given is that i actually want the pool electrical items ISOLATED from the metal items at the pool rather than bonded to..which seems somewhat logical to me.oh well. in regards to ponding metal items around the pool, my understanding is that you can get a variety of shocks from minor to major..you want to get any potential electrical shocks to ground quickly. the #8 copper wire does that so the electricity doesn't travel to your body..i don't quite understand the difference between "grounding" and "bonding" but..can see the concern. read a story recently about a woman who had a pool and in certain areas of it, they would get a very mild shock. they believe it's due somehow to some power poles added behind their place recently and apparently other people with pools by them are getting some mild shocks as well.