Ufer distance

[Beefbuzz]

I have been looking for this but have not found a good answer. How far away can the ufer be from the main panel, in other words how long can the wire be between them?

 

[ddawg16]

As far as I know, there is no spec. for the distance.

Just make sure the connecting wire is the right size....for 200A service, #4.

In my case, I have both ground rods and an Ufer...

For the Ufer....I ran a 20' length of copper wire at bottom of my foundation footing. Where the wire comes up through my wall, I also have a chunk of rebar that is bonded to the rebar in the slab and footing....the ufer wire and rebar are bonded....

The tail end of the ufer wire is connected to another ground rod in my crawl space. And my original ground rod at the front of the house that is also bonded to the plumbing....that wire is bonded to the ground rod in the crawl space.

I now consider myself to be a well grounded guy....

 

[RivennHewn]

I not aware of a reference to the length of the wire, but the re-bar has to be #4 or larger, and 20' long.

 

[MTW]

Ufer Ground paper.
View attachment The Ufer Ground.pdf
View attachment A new look at the Ufer ground system.pdf
Ω

 

[Beefbuzz]

Thanks for the responses, I do have an embedded 20ft #4 bar. It is just not as close to my panel as I would like it to be.

 

[RivennHewn]

How far is it.

I've done 30-40 ft, and passed inspection.

 

[rockwithjason]

it doesn't matter how far away it is as long as you follow the code for the installation of the grounding electrode conductor. no big deal.

 

[Beefbuzz]

How far is it.

I've done 30-40 ft, and passed inspection.

I haven't measured exactly but it runs the length of a wall that is 38ft. Sounds like I am in the clear!

 

[RivennHewn]

Talked to my electrician today.

He said he's never heard of a max length allowable, and has never been failed due to having too long a wire.

He did say to have the correct connector on the rebar.

 

[Falcon67]

IIRC, the NEC requirement is 20' in the slab. After that, no spec. I bought 30' of #4 and put 25 of it in the concrete. We're on NEC 2009 and the spec for a UFER is either/or copper #4 or the rebar. Be careful and ask your local - next town over from here requires both for some reason, over and above the NEC requirement.

 

[Norcal]

IIRC, the NEC requirement is 20' in the slab. After that, no spec. I bought 30' of #4 and put 25 of it in the concrete. We're on NEC 2009 and the spec for a UFER is either/or copper #4 or the rebar. Be careful and ask your local - next town over from here requires both for some reason, over and above the NEC requirement.

The concrete encased electrode, CEE, AKA "Ufer", has to be near the bottom of the footing, not the slab.

 

[Falcon67]

The concrete encased electrode, CEE, AKA "Ufer", has to be near the bottom of the footing, not the slab.

My transcription/posting error - it is in the "footer" - run in the west side footer and turns into the first beam that runs longways through the foundation. Note that a lot of slabs around here don't use "footers" - they are just 4" x Z x Z plates of concrete.