Pigtail grounding

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Nate Scott

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I have a 3-gang box with 3 switches in the box in a residence. I pigtailed the bare copper ground wires together but made only one tail pretty long to loop around the ground screws on the 3 seperate switches. The inspector on his R.I. inspection wrote up that you need 3 seperate ground wire pigtails for each individual switch. Where in the Code does it state that.The inspector is sometimes hard to get along with and would not give a referance in the NEC.
 
The code doesn't directly address this issue. It is primarily a design consideration and the method you describe should not be rejected. IMO.
 
I always do it the way your inspector said it's required to be done, but that was just personal preference, I would have no problem signing it off the way you did it.
 
cowboyjwc said:
I always do it the way your inspector said it's required to be done, but that was just personal preference, I would have no problem signing it off the way you did it.
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Some people do the same thing with the line-side hot wire, but I prefer individual pigtails.
 
LarryFine said:
Some people do the same thing with the line-side hot wire, but I prefer individual pigtails.
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I have seen that as well. My personal preference for hots is an individual pigtail as well. It would be OK to do it the other way though.

Chris
 
And yet another reason why some electricians have a "less-than-ideal" view of electrical inspectors. Why are these guys tolerated and paid a nice salary when they barely even know the code?

Now, before you knowledgable inspectors jump on me, I am not referring to you. I appreciate that you guys are professionals. My problem is, I kind of expect EVERY inspector to be a professional. How many times have we seen some hack inspector trying to enforce some goofball code rule that doesn't even exist? Kinda gives a bad aura to the profession, kinda like those hack trunk-slammer side jobbers do to legit contractors.
 
crossman said:
My problem is, I kind of expect EVERY inspector to be a professional.
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I completely agree. One bad egg ruins a nice salad.

Kinda gives a bad aura to the profession, kinda like those hack trunk-slammer side jobbers do to legit contractors.
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People are trained to to look at the negative side of things from the bombardment of media hype that we are all exposed to on a daily basis. Hundreds of thousands jobs performed each year, hundred of thousands inspections each year, but if one goes bad, that is the one the ends up in the papers and on the news.
 
Nate Scott said:
The inspector is sometimes hard to get along with and would not give a referance in the NEC.
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When we get really busy, we skip writing the code reference on the writeup sheet. . But whether or not it's on the sheet, the reference must be provided when you're asked for one. . If you ask and he doesn't deliver, there's no violation.

Another option is he might try to use 90.4, which is a catch-all when the inspector doesn't know what to give.

If you ask and he gives you one that doesn't seem to actually apply, maybe he's "pulling one out of his hat" or maybe it's an interpretation of an actual rule.
 
A good friend of mine used to construct elevators, and every so often, his 'favorite' inspector would mention things he'd "like to see."

My friend would always respond the same way: "Sure, just sign the change order."

One day, the inspector finally asked my friend what he meant. My friend explained, and the inspector never said it again.
 
The inspector made a mistake.Perhaps he never did it that way himself.When i did residential i would leave one of the grounds extra long and use a greenie wire nut.Call the man and nicely exsplain whats been said here,better yet invite him to join.He has no number because there is none.
 
Jim W in Tampa said:
The inspector made a mistake.Perhaps he never did it that way himself.
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That pretty much describes my everyday when I first went from contracting to inspector. . I would daily walk onto a job and see something done in a way that I had never considered doing before and then I would have to stop and ask myself, "Is that allowed by code ?"
 
dnem said:
That pretty much describes my everyday when I first went from contracting to inspector. . I would daily walk onto a job and see something done in a way that I had never considered doing before and then I would have to stop and ask myself, "Is that allowed by code ?"
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I had the same problem. The other problem I had was, "that will work" and then realize that it wasn't to code.
 
Too many times I have had a contractor ask me "How do you want to see it" and my responce it "to the minimum code or better". I have seen so many different ways that I never thought of when I was doing the trade and have been "mistaken" on a few items. I admit the mistake and move on, no since holding up a job because I thought the code prohibited something. I have found if you admit your mistake, the next time you will get beter results with the contractors. We are all human and subject to "brain cramps" when doiing our jobs. On a different note, don't expect me to design your project either. Show me the plans, show me the work and we will go from there.
 
Nate Scott said:
I have a 3-gang box with 3 switches in the box in a residence. I pigtailed the bare copper ground wires together but made only one tail pretty long to loop around the ground screws on the 3 seperate switches. The inspector on his R.I. inspection wrote up that you need 3 seperate ground wire pigtails for each individual switch. Where in the Code does it state that.The inspector is sometimes hard to get along with and would not give a referance in the NEC.
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As long as you can remove the ground from an individual device and not distrub the grounding to the other devices, I don't see how it is not compliant.
 
One reason I don't like doing it,.. is because the wire gets damaged ,..as in mashed ,.. so when replacing a device I dislike trying to terminate in the exact same spot ,.. I'm not even sure I should terminate in the same spot ,..for that matter
 
crossman said:
And yet another reason why some electricians have a "less-than-ideal" view of electrical inspectors. Why are these guys tolerated and paid a nice salary when they barely even know the code?

Now, before you knowledgable inspectors jump on me, I am not referring to you. I appreciate that you guys are professionals. My problem is, I kind of expect EVERY inspector to be a professional. How many times have we seen some hack inspector trying to enforce some goofball code rule that doesn't even exist? Kinda gives a bad aura to the profession, kinda like those hack trunk-slammer side jobbers do to legit contractors.
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I quoted your entire post for a reason.....Well said, I agree, and some of these "loose cannon", non code educated, non field experienced Inspectors are killing me as well.
 
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