#Concrete encased electrode full#

I did for my barn and at final the inspector was asking where the rebar and acorn nut were and I had posted my pictures of the copper wire installation. I prefer the copper wire method given a choice with enough extra length to run fully to the panel (no splice) and therefore no mud ring needed since the junction is inside the panel and is - take and retain detailed pictures of your copper wire ground installation with tape measure in field of view prior to your pour. This is why I think the rebar method is flawed and the AHJ's just look the other way. We have to provide a mud ring in the drywall covered framed wall to provide access to the acorn nut junction of copper to rebar. Can't be done unless the bars are spliced (lapped/welded, ?)Įmbedding the acorn nut (a junction) in the concrete makes it non-accessible. Not one inspector I have spoken with will provide clarity on how a single piece of rebar, that is 20' or less, can be 20' continuous in the footing, then turned up thru the footing and future slab (not part of the 20'), all while still being continuous, and somehow actually becoming longer than 20', to enable the acorn nut (a junction) to be accessible. If planned right, it turns up at the panel location with sufficient length that it connects to the ground bar in the panel without junction.Ĭlick to expand.That's what the inspector said he wanted, so he got that as a minimum.

#Concrete encased electrode full#

They demand a continuous #4 copper wire that is wire tied to the footing cage for a full 20'+ and then this wire turns up out of the footing for later connection by the electrician. In another county I build, they won't accept the rebar. I would wager that the conductivity provided by lapping the rebars together and tying this way is no where near as conductive as a virgin unspliced 20' stick of rebar. In one county I build, they want rebar to overlap a minimum of 5 diameters and be wire tied so as to produce the '20' continuous'. Click to expand.Most of the verbiage says ' 20' continuous concrete encased electrode'.Īs most rebar is less than 20', how does one provide 20' continuous rebar in the footing yet still turn up some distance so its accessible to connect the ground wire via an acorn nut? Continuous means unbroken or whole, so how does one comply with this? No one welds rebar in the field, at least not in production homes in my area.