I have a new house (2013) in Pasco, FL. The house has a meter on one side and the incoming service wires go from the meter across the attic to the other side of the house to the garage where the service panel is located. Along with the main service wires from the meter pan is a stranded ground wire that runs to the other side of the house and down the outside (under stucco) then out the stucco at the bottom of the house, There it was connected to a ground rod (just one) and continued on to rebar coming out of the foundation (ufer ground I assume).
At some point, the ground wire was partially broken so only half the strands were continuous. I had an electrician come out to see if they could repair it in place. The recommended simply running two new ground rod back on the meter side of the house and a new grounding conductor from the meter pan to the rods (to be placed 8 ft apart). I agreed this would be fine. I actually thought this might be better since it presented a shorter path to ground for incoming surges over the mains.
Anyway, they went ahead and did this and everything was fine. I asked about the old ufer ground because I saw him remove the old ground wire from the meter pan when he attached the new one for the new ground rods. He said I did not need to have the ufer connected to the grounding system.
In some various info I've read online I came across something in the code that said if an ufer ground was present in the building, it HAD to be connected to the grounding system. Is this true? If I have two ground rods, am I still required to have the ufer ground connected?
Thanks for any input anyone may have on this topic.
At some point, the ground wire was partially broken so only half the strands were continuous. I had an electrician come out to see if they could repair it in place. The recommended simply running two new ground rod back on the meter side of the house and a new grounding conductor from the meter pan to the rods (to be placed 8 ft apart). I agreed this would be fine. I actually thought this might be better since it presented a shorter path to ground for incoming surges over the mains.
Anyway, they went ahead and did this and everything was fine. I asked about the old ufer ground because I saw him remove the old ground wire from the meter pan when he attached the new one for the new ground rods. He said I did not need to have the ufer connected to the grounding system.
In some various info I've read online I came across something in the code that said if an ufer ground was present in the building, it HAD to be connected to the grounding system. Is this true? If I have two ground rods, am I still required to have the ufer ground connected?
Thanks for any input anyone may have on this topic.
