Routing of GEC through finished house

S

Shockinator9000

Member
Location
Oklahoma
Occupation
Electrical contractor
Hi all, hoping to get your opinions on a situation. While working at a customers house, i found no ground rod, rebar connection etc.

I feel i have a fairly good grasp on code etc; my question comes when routing one to outside to grab a ground rod. House is fairly recent construction, panel fed from underground central in house, panel on second floor. Should any consideration be made(other than protecting from physical damage per NEC) while getting to an outside wall or through the attic? I know if the protection is ferrous it must be bonded at both ends.

The concern (probably overthinking) is with it laying on all the attic framing during a lightning strike for example. Should it be sleeved in PVC? This is just far enough outside the typical installation I thought i would get your opinions. Thanks
 
You can route a GEC through the house without using a raceway a long as it's larger than #8. If you're using ground rods as the electrode then you'll need to install two rods unless you have a way to test a single rod to prove that it is 25 ohms or less.

Welcome to the Forum. :)
 
Are you saying that there is a meter in the center of the house? 😳 Probably not.

Where is the main disco and meter? GEC, N-G bond, and water and gas line bonding should be done there. Then you just have a sub panel in the house, with an EGC that is ran with the feeder.

Why are you running a GEC from this panel?
 
Shockinator9000 said:
Hi all, hoping to get your opinions on a situation. While working at a customers house, i found no ground rod, rebar connection etc.

I feel i have a fairly good grasp on code etc; my question comes when routing one to outside to grab a ground rod. House is fairly recent construction, panel fed from underground central in house, panel on second floor. Should any consideration be made(other than protecting from physical damage per NEC) while getting to an outside wall or through the attic? I know if the protection is ferrous it must be bonded at both ends.

The concern (probably overthinking) is with it laying on all the attic framing during a lightning strike for example. Should it be sleeved in PVC? This is just far enough outside the typical installation I thought i would get your opinions. Thanks
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Fed from underground central in the house? That’s kinda unusual for recent construction, is the service at the street? The grounding electrode may be out there?
 
Seven-Delta-FortyOne said:
Are you saying that there is a meter in the center of the house? 😳 Probably not.

Where is the main disco and meter? GEC, N-G bond, and water and gas line bonding should be done there. Then you just have a sub panel in the house, with an EGC that is ran with the feeder.

Why are you running a GEC from this panel?
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You beat me to it!
 
Shockinator9000 said:
panel fed from underground central in house, panel on second floor.
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How do the service conductors get to the second floor? (service conductors are no permitted inside the house) Or are these feeder conductors. If they are feeder conductors there would be no grounding electrode conductor to that panel.
 
Seven-Delta-FortyOne said:
Are you saying that there is a meter in the center of the house? 😳 Probably not.

Where is the main disco and meter? GEC, N-G bond, and water and gas line bonding should be done there. Then you just have a sub panel in the house, with an EGC that is ran with the feeder.

Why are you running a GEC from this panel?
Click to expand...
Meter is separate from house and the panel in house has a 4 wire feed and separated ground- neutral. I was calling it the GEC as it’s going to a ground rod, or more accurately as infinity said, two. That hasn’t caught on here in my part of Oklahoma, and most inspectors have questioned why there are two.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
How do the service conductors get to the second floor? (service conductors are no permitted inside the house) Or are these feeder conductors. If they are feeder conductors there would be no grounding electrode conductor to that panel.
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Correct, feeder conductors. As I understand a separate building needs bonding to rebar(ufer) etc. I can’t cite code until I’m back in front of my book.
 
Seven-Delta-FortyOne said:
Are you saying that there is a meter in the center of the house? 😳 Probably not.

Where is the main disco and meter? GEC, N-G bond, and water and gas line bonding should be done there. Then you just have a sub panel in the house, with an EGC that is ran with the feeder.

Why are you running a GEC from this panel?
Click to expand...
You are correct, the Service disconnect is properly bonded and an underground feeder supplies this building. As I understand, and will cite code later when in front of book if needed, a separate building needs bonded. For example CCE, water pipe, etc.
 
Shockinator9000 said:
Meter is separate from house and the panel in house has a 4 wire feed and separated ground- neutral. I was calling it the GEC as it’s going to a ground rod, or more accurately as infinity said, two. That hasn’t caught on here in my part of Oklahoma, and most inspectors have questioned why there are two.
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So the meter/main is remote from the house, i.e., located on a pedestal or pole?

In that case, yes, you would need two ground rods, and also to bond the water line if its metal, which is unlikely if the house is newer.

You can run the GEC through the house, there is no issue. I like to use the armored ground cable.

That panel is also required to have a main disconnect.
 
Shockinator9000 said:
You are correct, the Service disconnect is properly bonded and an underground feeder supplies this building. As I understand, and will cite code later when in front of book if needed, a separate building needs bonded. For example CCE, water pipe, etc.
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Bonded (EGC/GEC to neutral), no. To a separate EGC system, yes.

The GEC should be tied to the EGC where the house disconnect is.
 
Seven-Delta-FortyOne said:
So the meter/main is remote from the house, i.e., located on a pedestal or pole?

In that case, yes, you would need two ground rods, and also to bond the water line if its metal, which is unlikely if the house is newer.

You can run the GEC through the house, there is no issue. I like to use the armored ground cable.

That panel is also required to have a main disconnect.
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Yes, the service is on a pole. The panel does have a main breaker for the disconnecting means but not one external and/or immediately adjacent to the structure. Thank you for the suggestion of the armored ground cable. It’s not something that I knew existed. It will also give the appearance of a finished product, which I was also hoping to accomplish. Brief research shows ground rod clamps with cable clamp provisions and an insulated bushing with a pass through arranged lug. Is there an accompanying cable clamp or do you use any threaded mc connector?
 
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