Ground rod required at new building

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hendelec

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Lilburn, GA
I have customer that is building a 24' x 24' wood frame building for his wife to use for her large crafts hobby. It is a wood frame structure built on a concrete foundation with wood floors, walls & roof. Nothing in the structure is metal. The building is 10' away from a detached garage (24' x 30') with it's owns 200 amp metered service from the local EMC. The garage is an all wood structure built on a concrete slab. I had planned to use a 60 amp feeder and a 100 amp sub panel with 6 branch circuits to feed the new building. The building will have 2 ceiling fans, 3 lights 24 recepticals. 1 out door GFI outlet and a 220v AC/heat thru the wall unit. There will be no bathroom or water piping of any type. This job is being inspected by a rural inspector that is demanding I drive ground rods for the new sub panel. The new feeder will be less than 50' from the existing service run in PVC conduit. Article 210.8 is a little confusing but seems to only require a new ground rod if bonding new water lines and metal building framing etc. in new building. He also wants all branch circuits too be GFI protected. l know the outdoor recepticals needs GFI protection but I am baffeled by his demands on the indoor recepticals . I can't find a Code Handbook newer than 2005, I moved a year ago and can't seem to find my new code book a the moment, still have many un loaded boxes............
 
hendelec said:
I have customer that is building a 24' x 24' wood frame building for his wife to use for her large crafts hobby. It is a wood frame structure built on a concrete foundation with wood floors, walls & roof. Nothing in the structure is metal. The building is 10' away from a detached garage (24' x 30') with it's owns 200 amp metered service from the local EMC. The garage is an all wood structure built on a concrete slab. I had planned to use a 60 amp feeder and a 100 amp sub panel with 6 branch circuits to feed the new building. The building will have 2 ceiling fans, 3 lights 24 recepticals. 1 out door GFI outlet and a 220v AC/heat thru the wall unit. There will be no bathroom or water piping of any type. This job is being inspected by a rural inspector that is demanding I drive ground rods for the new sub panel. The new feeder will be less than 50' from the existing service run in PVC conduit. Article 210.8 is a little confusing but seems to only require a new ground rod if bonding new water lines and metal building framing etc. in new building. He also wants all branch circuits too be GFI protected. l know the outdoor recepticals needs GFI protection but I am baffeled by his demands on the indoor recepticals . I can't find a Code Handbook newer than 2005, I moved a year ago and can't seem to find my new code book a the moment, still have many un loaded boxes............
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210.8 is GFCI protection and has nothing to do with ground rods - but as mentioned 210.8(A)(2) would require GFCI's if this is a dwelling garage or accessory building at or below grade level.

Also as mentioned separate structure will require it's own GES. If you have a CEE you don't even need ground rods.
 
I agree with Jumper, you'll need GFCI protection and at least one grounding electrode. With 6 circuit breakers you do not need another disconnecting means but if you add one more then you will need one. Also your feeder will require an EGC.
 
GFCI recepticals

GFCI recepticals

jumper said:
Receptacles require GFCI protection per 210.8(A)(2).

You need GES at the separate structure per 250.32. Two rods would suffice.
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The new building is Not built on a concrete slab. I know garages and basements built on a slab require GFCI recepticals. The building is built on concrete block piers and a perimeter concrete block foundation. The new structure is built on wooden floor joists with plywood decking for the floor. Since the floor is wood, not a concrete slab I didn't see the need for GFCI recepticals. There is no plumbing in the building. Thanks for the replies.
 
hendelec said:
The new building is Not built on a concrete slab. I know garages and basements built on a slab require GFCI recepticals. The building is built on concrete block piers and a perimeter concrete block foundation. The new structure is built on wooden floor joists with plywood decking for the floor. Since the floor is wood, not a concrete slab I didn't see the need for GFCI recepticals. There is no plumbing in the building. Thanks for the replies.
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Okay, per the code it may not require GFCI.

2) Garages, and also accessory buildings that have a
floor located at or below grade level not intended as habitable rooms and limited to storage areas, work areas, and areas of similar use

Not so much as the wooden floor, but because of the floor level compared to grade level.

Personally, I would still GFCI, but that is a design not code.
 
I had this exact argument with my inspector when I put power to my shed in the back yard; it has a wood floor built on on 2x6 lumber and plywood. I opened my code book to 210.8(A)(2) and asked him, "What does at or below grade level mean? This floor is clearly above grade level."

He just kept saying it needs gfci protection. I still disagree.
 
ActionDave said:
I had this exact argument with my inspector when I put power to my shed in the back yard; it has a wood floor built on on 2x6 lumber and plywood. I opened my code book to 210.8(A)(2) and asked him, "What does at or below grade level mean? This floor is clearly above grade level."

He just kept saying it needs gfci protection. I still disagree.
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The problem is that no ground floor of these out buildings are actually at grade level, if you do not have at least a few inches of rise the floor would flood any time it rained.

The question is really what is grade level vs a minimum rise IMO.

1” or 1’, is either or both above grade level? IDK
 
A few things that might help:

1. You can use GFCI breakers instead of receptacles.
2. If you use receptacles, you only need one per run on the first of run, provided it's wired in series to protect receptacles downstream.
3. You can access the latest code (or whatever code you're under) online for free. Must view it on the nfpa site, but very nice for researching stuff like this.
4. Consider combined GFCI/AFCI.
 
jumper said:
The problem is that no ground floor of these out buildings are actually at grade level, if you do not have at least a few inches of rise the floor would flood any time it rained.

The question is really what is grade level vs a minimum rise IMO.

1” or 1’, is either or both above grade level? IDK
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Why can't one raise grade before building on it? It is done quite often for drainage purposes. Would also be poor design to put in a wood floor if in a location you expect it to flood frequently.

I don't think 210.8 is about temporary flood issues for something that isn't expected to flood on a regular basis.
 
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