Re-Bar Ground Rod

[John Evans]

Thanks for the input. Yes, it is very much a potential safety hazard. We do not have any way to determine if this rod is part of a UFER system. I thought the UFER copper conductor is required to be a minimum of 20' embedded into the footing. If this is a UFER connection, why was the rebar placed? Doesn't the UFER wire run directly from the footing, through the slab and connect to the panel. Since the panel is mounted on an outside basement wall, why not set a standard ground rod in the earth outside and run the ground wire through the wall to the panel? A rusting rebar rod will not allow a proper connection. And, this rebar could be any length, no way to know for sure. Please correct me if I am mistaken about the UFER requirements.

John Evans
AIM Home Inspection, Inc.

[Speedy Petey]

You pretty much are. A Ufer does NOT have to be #4cu wire.

A Ufer is MUCH easier for us than even a ground rod since there is NO installation needed. It's already there. It is not uncommon to have the fooing guys leave a piece of rebar exposed to provide us with a point to attach the clamp for the Ufer electrode.
Besides, once you establish a Ufer NO other electrodes are required. There is NO requirement for a supplemental electrode when a Ufer is used.
This is of course barring any water pipe electrodes "that are present".

No, there is no way to confirm that the rebar is the proper layout and length. This would have been determined at the footing inspection. If the rebar in the average footing passed the pre-pour inspection then there is more than enough for a Ufer electrode.

[Speedy Petey]

250.52 Grounding Electrodes
(A) Electrodes Permitted for Grounding
.
.
(3) Concrete-Encased Electrode An electrode encased by at least 50 mm (2 in.) of concrete, located within and near the bottom of a concrete foundation or footing that is in direct contact with the earth, consisting of at least 6.0 m (20 ft) of one or more bare or zinc galvanized or other electrically conductive coated steel reinforcing bars or rods of not less than 13 mm ( 1/ 2 in.) in diameter, or consisting of at least 6.0 m (20 ft) of bare copper conductor not smaller than 4 AWG. Reinforcing bars shall be permitted to be bonded together by the usual steel tie wires or other effective means.

[John Evans]

Does the rust on the bar inhibit a proper connection at the clamp? The contractor on this particular home apparently took the "easy" route for acheiving a ground, but look at the location of the bar relevant to the wall. Not a very safe installation, even if a solid ground exists. Plus, considering the distance from the footing in this case, does the bar actually connect to the rebar within the footing?

[Speedy Petey]

Actually I did forget to mention that the placement of this supposed Ufer is quite POOR, to say the least.

The footing is not the required place for the Ufer to originate. It's just always the first available, and as in the case in your pic, rebar in the floor is not always convenient with regard to location.
Also, many times no rebar is used in floors, just mesh.

Using a Ufer is not necessarily the "easy way out". If a job is under the 2005 NEC and rebar exists it MUST be used. Since no supplemental electrode is required, and a Ufer itself is a far superior ground, why sink an rod?

[Joe Farsetta]

See this in NJ all the time.

[Greg Fretwell]

It usually comes up inside the wall in Florida. They put a blank cover over the hole so it remains accessible. They generally paint them green so they don't get poured solid when they are pouring the dowelled cells. (the vertical #5s that connect the footer to the tie beam).
There are "rebar" listed acorns but it is not all of them. There are also lots of 2 part bronze clamps rebar listed too, usually you see them in pools.

[John Evans]

Final word on this subject. I spoke with the local electrical inspector regarding the placement of UFER rebar. The code did change in 2005, our local inspection office adopted the change mid-2006. Rebar is permitted, and this electrical inspector did not see a problem with the type of clamp shown in the photo posted page one. I still called this out for safety reasons, trip hazard. Another learning experience, thanks to everyone for the responses.

John Evans

[klott]

Originally Posted by jevans

For the second time in one week, I found standard re-bar placed for the main panel ground. Of course, the rods were very rusted, which I believe causes a potential bonding issue. To the best of my knowledge, all ground rods must a non-corrosive material, such as copper. In both cases. the rods were set in a concrete slab, one in a garage and the other in a basement. Looking for opinions, as I did call these out for correction.

John Evans
AIM Home Inspection, Inc.

I think it is probably a Ufer as ground rods are usually required to be driven down flush with the grade and away from the buiilding, it is definitely a trip hazard. If that's in a garage, I hope the owner has a tire store. JMO