Water/Gas Bond Location

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jmoschetti45

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Michigan
Having a slight disagreement with the AHJ on where the ground from the water and gas main should terminate.

200A service to meter pedestal, 200A OCPD outside next to meter, conduit to tap box inside, 2 OCPDs 100A each with SER runs to two 100A panels. One panel is on a standyby generator, one isnt.

AHJ wants it in the meter box or first OCPD. I want to put it in the tap box, or at one of the secondary OCPD. One of the OCPDs is about 6' from both the water and gas mains. The GEC runs out of the 200A OCPD to the rods.

Am I forced to run all the way back to the main OCPD?
 
See 250.104(A)(1) and (B). The water is the most problematic as you have these location choices:
  • service equipment enclosure
  • the grounded conductor at the service
  • the grounding electrode conductor where of sufficient size
  • to the one or more grounding electrodes used.
Your service equipment stops at the 200A disconnect. It can be there, within the meter if the AHJ deems it accessible, or a place in between if there is a box to tap in to. The tap box is too far downstream as are the 100A panels.

The gas line can be from a circuit likely to energize it, but many area like to see the gas pipe bonded with #6 from one of the locations listed above because of possible CSST piping.

Sometimes you can go from a further location than listed above if the EGC is large enough to be a GEC and if splices are allowed (which they should be in bonding jumpers). But the water bond needs to be #4 cu or #2 al, and I doubt you have a wire type EGC that large in the 100A panels or the splice box. See 250.121(A).
 
My experience has been this type situation is approached differently from one jurisdiction to the next and often differently depending on the distances involved.
Your service disconnect is at the meter pedestal and needs a grounding electrode system per 250.24, but you have a feeder to the structure requiring a grounding electrode system per 250.32.
Your local AHJs decision will rule but, FWIW, here we would normally require ground rods at the meter and a grounding system at the structure for rods, UFER and water. Purely a local approach but if the pedestal was close we would allow one grounding system to serve both.
 
GEC from 200A OCPD to rod field (this is a small data center, they wanted 10 rods minimum 20' down) is 2/0cu, all cad welded. From 200A to tap box is also 2/0cu. Each run to 100A panels is 1/0cu. Hence my thoughts that it would be sufficient to bond somewhere along that route.

Edit: Per their requirements, water bond is a 2cu and gas a 1cu. Overkill, but it's what their designer called for.
 
My experience has been this type situation is approached differently from one jurisdiction to the next and often differently depending on the distances involved.
Your service disconnect is at the meter pedestal and needs a grounding electrode system per 250.24, but you have a feeder to the structure requiring a grounding electrode system per 250.32.
Your local AHJs decision will rule but, FWIW, here we would normally require ground rods at the meter and a grounding system at the structure for rods, UFER and water. Purely a local approach but if the pedestal was close we would allow one grounding system to serve both.
I agree with Augie. You need a connection to a GES at both the 200 amp service disconnect and at the separate structure. I would install two rods with a #6 GEC for the service disconnect and then your overkill grounding voodoo system for the building.
 
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