Russell_Reid
Well-known member
Our metal outbuilding project passed the city final inspection this week. So I was trying to get the contractors scope of work closed out. Basically listing what still needed to be done and get final invoicing. During this back and forth my electrician notified me that he forgot to put in the grounding rods for the outbuilding and do i still want them installed. Surprised by this I told him yes and he gave me a price of $355 to perform the work. A bit of background:
My PM had asked the foundation guys to put in a grounding rebar during form installation. They did so. After pour it stuck up through the slab right next to the feeder conduits for the future sub-panel. When the building installers came to put up the shell, it was 'in their way' so they cut it off instead of drilling the frame base for it to poke through (2.5" box tube framing). When it came time for electrical rough we realized that the ground rod was no longer there. So I asked what the solution was and both the electrician and PM said they could install grounding rods outside the slab and bond the building and panel to it. This discussion happened on 3 different occasions, twice with the PM and electrician, and once with the electrician. Still it got forgotten.
Back to now, I contacted the PM about the missing grounding and protested that the electrician wanted to charge me $355 to install the grounding rods and bonding. The PM told me that since it passed final they were not needed. But he would talk to the electrician if i insisted and clear up this cost issue plus another cost issue where i was double charged for some of the other work.
After a bit of searching and reading I began to suspect that the service tie in between the main panel and the sub-panel may have not be properly grounded. So i opened the panel and took a look. There is a 4 wire feeder from the House main to the Sub panel in the outbuilding. 2 hots, neutral, ground. The Sub-panel is not bonded to the building steel. The neutrals and the grounds in the sub-panel are not separated. The grounding screw to the panel box is in place. Since there is no independent grounding rods the panel is currently grounded through the ground wire to the House main.
Everything i have read states that code requires independent grounding rods for an outbuilding, and a sub-panel in said outbuilding needs to have an independent ground bus installed for ground and neutrals to be separate. The grounding screw should be removed.
I would like a second opinion and confirmation about this situation before i talk to the electrician when he shows up Tuesday to install the ground rods. I would like to be able to cite code references if possible. I will be attempting to look them up myself but corroboration would be helpful. Thank you.
My PM had asked the foundation guys to put in a grounding rebar during form installation. They did so. After pour it stuck up through the slab right next to the feeder conduits for the future sub-panel. When the building installers came to put up the shell, it was 'in their way' so they cut it off instead of drilling the frame base for it to poke through (2.5" box tube framing). When it came time for electrical rough we realized that the ground rod was no longer there. So I asked what the solution was and both the electrician and PM said they could install grounding rods outside the slab and bond the building and panel to it. This discussion happened on 3 different occasions, twice with the PM and electrician, and once with the electrician. Still it got forgotten.
Back to now, I contacted the PM about the missing grounding and protested that the electrician wanted to charge me $355 to install the grounding rods and bonding. The PM told me that since it passed final they were not needed. But he would talk to the electrician if i insisted and clear up this cost issue plus another cost issue where i was double charged for some of the other work.
After a bit of searching and reading I began to suspect that the service tie in between the main panel and the sub-panel may have not be properly grounded. So i opened the panel and took a look. There is a 4 wire feeder from the House main to the Sub panel in the outbuilding. 2 hots, neutral, ground. The Sub-panel is not bonded to the building steel. The neutrals and the grounds in the sub-panel are not separated. The grounding screw to the panel box is in place. Since there is no independent grounding rods the panel is currently grounded through the ground wire to the House main.
Everything i have read states that code requires independent grounding rods for an outbuilding, and a sub-panel in said outbuilding needs to have an independent ground bus installed for ground and neutrals to be separate. The grounding screw should be removed.
I would like a second opinion and confirmation about this situation before i talk to the electrician when he shows up Tuesday to install the ground rods. I would like to be able to cite code references if possible. I will be attempting to look them up myself but corroboration would be helpful. Thank you.




