FAQ: Are Grounding Wires Needed to Create an Anti-static Environment?

There is very little reason to have an electrician make this connection. It is really nothing more than a physical connection involving a 24 inch flexible copper bridge between conductive adhesive and building steel or building ground. 

The easiest place to make such a connection is at the metal box surrounding an AC electrical receptacle. Other equally effective locations are metal studs that connect with AC outlets and large I beams that are buried into the ground.

Any true “static control floor” only needs to be grounded once for every 1000 square feet. The rest of the floor is electrically bonded to itself by virtue of the conductive materials comprising it. The floor and the adhesive both have intrinsic conductive – not just anti-static – properties. Conductive properties can be measured and verified using an ohm meter. 

In the case of carpet, the word antistatic often means that the carpet is not a significant charge generator when it is new. Usually this type of carpet will be rated per a test method called AATCC-134. The spec is all but meaningless because it is performed on new carpet in a lab using leather soled shoes. The new carpet is always contaminated with antistatic residues used in the process of making the carpet. Antistats wear off in a matter of weeks. 

I would suggest checking for what we call an antistatic warranty. An antistatic warranty should be in place for the life of the carpet and the warranty should specifically address the actual ohms rating of the carpet.