Ground Rod Required?

Hello Everyone. I’m relatively new to the site so bear with me. I looked around for previous posts related to this issue and didn’t see one so I apologize if there is one. But my question is this: Are all electrical service meters required to have a ground wire and ground rod at the meter. I know most newer homes have one and some even require 2, but I have inspected several homes lately, built in the early 80’s where there was no ground rod visible. What is the rule of thumb for the requirements of the ground wire and rod and how do others report it? Also, no bonding jumper could be found to any metallic cold water pipe.

it would be good to know where you are based. It helps us to respond with AHJ relative information. 1. Is the water pipe into the home metallic? If not then ground bonding is pointless. As for the.meterbase being grounded this is an AHJ issue. Some meters are bonded to ground others are grounded through the support wiring. Is the service one ad or underground. More details would help in the response.

http://www.nachi.org/grounding-electrodes.htm

As far as the meter can itself I believe that is up to the utilities to ground as the are required and not sure what that would be. All ground rods need to have a additional grounding source such as a secondary grounding rod and water pipe or a Uifer. I believe the Uifer is the only ground that doesn’t need a additional grounding source if I am not mistaken. As far as in the 80s I am not sure what was required.