GEC requirements

[greyboy39]

Had a house today with the GEC only connected from the meter to a ground rod. 150 amp service and the conduit from the meter to panel was plastic not metal. Is this allowed? I've always seen them connected to the neutral/ground bus and in 10 years have not seen this configuration. Finding conflicting info online. Thanks in advance to anyone who can she'd some light.

[Marc]

Yeah, that's fine.  Anywhere between the load end of the service drop, or service riser, and the neutral bus at the service disconnecting means is fine.  250.24

Edited November 22, 2017 by Marc

[greyboy39]

Ok, I spoke with the local electrical building code official and was informed that the ground rod from the meter is a secondary supplemental ground and a connection to the neutral ground bus is still required. The house is utilizing polyethylene water supply pipe to the home and therefore cannot be a grounding means. Any further clarification would be appreciated.

[greyboy39]

Also, don't know if it makes any difference but the service disconnect is in the panel inside the house not at the exterior at the meter box.

[Marc]

30 minutes ago, greyboy39 said:

Ok, I spoke with the local electrical building code official and was informed that the ground rod from the meter is a secondary supplemental ground and a connection to the neutral ground bus is still required. The house is utilizing polyethylene water supply pipe to the home and therefore cannot be a grounding means. Any further clarification would be appreciated.

'Ground rod from the meter'?  By 'meter' do you mean the water meter?

What does the main water line have to do with it?

Edited November 22, 2017 by Marc

[greyboy39]

Hi Mark, the gec comes from the electrical meter to a ground rod. The comment about the water main was simply to describe that it is made of polyethylene and therefore is not a means of grounding.

[Marc]

Ok.  So this AHJ is saying that you need two grounding electrode conductors? One from the neutral wire in the electric meter and another from the main panel neutral bus?

[greyboy39]

Apparently, he said that the gec from the meter is supplementary and that a direct connection to the neutral ground bus in the electrical panel was necessary. He did ask if the main shut off was at the meter,  because there wasn't it implied that this had some bearing on that requirement.

[Marc]

When a GEC goes to the meter, it runs into a lug on the neutral specifically provided by the manufacturer for that purpose.

I can't make sense of what this AHJ is saying, unless the GEC you're referring to connects only to a clip on the outside of the meter box itself.  Some communication installations use that method to ground their equipment when an easier connection to a solid ground isn't available.

Edited November 22, 2017 by Marc

[greyboy39]

No Marc, it does go into the meter box. I'm going to call the ahj back this evening to get some confirmation and reasoning behind what I heard from him this morning. Thanks for all your help in the meanwhile. I just typically see the GEC attached to the ground neutral bus so looked a little funny to me.

[Bill Kibbel]

There are 3 acceptable locations for connecting the GEC to the neutral. 

Some electrical inspectors don't like the meter can connection because the utility can put a lock on it, but it's not a violation of the NEC.

[Jim Katen]

As Bill & Marc said, the NEC doesn't require it to be a the service panel, but it's just the model code. Local jurisdictions often amend it when they adopt it. I suggest getting copies of the locally amended codes for your area. 

[John Kogel]

Seems to me if the meter has the ground, there needs to be a 4 wire connection to the panel, no? Maybe that is the issue here, lack of a bond between meter can and panel.

As already mentioned, if the meter is sealed as it is here, the ground connection is not accessible for inspection. So the connection is always made in the disconnect panel here, where it can be inspected and verified by an electrician or HI. Looks like the AHJ in your area feels the same way.

My meter can has a bus bar for a grounding conductor, which comes from the disconnect panel. I think that is what he meant by secondary connection, not another rod.

Edited November 23, 2017 by John Kogel