Inspector wants ground rod in hard soil not horizontal in trench

[AC\DC]

Won’t green tags a 4’ deep trench with a ground rod laid horizontal and then a 6’ jumper to another ground rod same depth got declined.
Says he wants in solid soil?????? What the 6@&t

 

[AC\DC]

He saying he see no sign of attempting to drive it and a build 50 feet I was able to drive them. So he says drive them. I got rock it’s on a top of hill back could not dig deep ther because of the rocks. Another vague Inspetor rule

 

[infinity]

You must attempt to drive is vertically at not more than a 45° angle. If that fails then horizontal burial becomes an option but not before the vertical attempt.

 

[AC\DC]

Ya but he said I did not attemp. I did, vague ruling. If a trench is good if you have rock, it should be good either way dumb rule
He allowed after some talking, but dumb rule.

 

[petersonra]

You must attempt to drive is vertically at not more than a 45° angle. If that fails then horizontal burial becomes an option but not before the vertical attempt.

I am not sure it actually requires that you make an attempt to drive it in straight and then at a 45 degree angle before digging a trench for it. I suppose one could read it that way but it uses the word "encountered" which does not necessarily mean the rock was encountered when an attempt to drive it in was made. The rock could have been encountered while digging the foundation.

 

[AC\DC]

True! You could get a rude inspector that says drive it in 10 different or even 100 there is not cut and dry indication of when it’s is allowed.
As you said you could hit a rock one time and now it qualifies.
But if it’s fine to lay in a trench then it should be fine all the time…. Dumb rule

 

[AC\DC]

It’s a ground rod
Like it does anything good anyway lol

 

[Another C10]

dumb rule

The NEC is full of alot of those type of rules ... sorry NEC board members

 

[hillbilly1]

I had one inspector turn me down because I cut the last 10” of the rod when I hit solid rock, left the extremely mushroomed end to prove it, but he still turned it down, even though it was just for a temporary service!

 

[don_resqcapt19]

The NEC is full of alot of those type of rules ... sorry NEC board members

The code making panels, in general, do not write the code rules. They act on Public Inputs that anyone can submit. The system is open now for the submission of PIs to make changes for the 2026 code. If you see something that needs changing, submit a PI.

 

[Joethemechanic]

Back when the cable TV came through, they used to come in our shop to get stuff fixed. One day the guy came in with a bunch of sledge hammer heads and a bunch of pipe. He had me weld the heads on the pipe. I asked him Isn't that going to be rough on your guys using a steel handle? Turns out he was using them for drop hammers. Worked really good. I made myself one

 

[jaggedben]

I had one inspector turn me down because I cut the last 10” of the rod when I hit solid rock, left the extremely mushroomed end to prove it, but he still turned it down, even though it was just for a temporary service!

How did he know? You told him?

 

[hillbilly1]

How did he know? You told him?

I wasn’t out there when he came out, and it’s relatively easy to figure out when one’s been cut, so I left the sawed off end laying next to it to show him it wouldn’t go in any further. He just wanted to be an a hole.

 

[AC\DC]

If you have a disk grinder you can make them look like they did before cutting

 

[electrofelon]

I wasn’t out there when he came out, and it’s relatively easy to figure out when one’s been cut, so I left the sawed off end laying next to it to show him it wouldn’t go in any further. He just wanted to be an a hole.

Sorry but you should know better. Throw the cut off piece in the bushes, and hammer the cut rod wnd till you can't tell it was cut. How long you been doing this??

 

[hillbilly1]

Sorry but you should know better. Throw the cut off piece in the bushes, and hammer the cut rod wnd till you can't tell it was cut. How long you been doing this??

That is the only one I have ever cut off in 43 years, and I have driven quite a few. That was way back when I thought inspectors knew what they were doing. LOL!

 

[jmellc]

The NEC is full of alot of those type of rules ... sorry NEC board members

Don't apologize to them. They do more to ruin our trade than to help it.