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What is a Ufer ground and how do you install one?
A Ufer (concrete-encased electrode) uses the footing itself as the grounding electrode. It's one of the best grounds you can get, and if it's there, you have to use it.
The breakdown, in plain English
- It needs at least 20 feet of rebar (½ inch or bigger) or 20 feet of bare copper (4 AWG or bigger).
- It has to be in a footing or foundation that's in direct contact with the earth, with at least 2 inches of concrete around it.
- Plan it before the pour. A rebar stub sticking up where the panel will go makes the hookup easy.
- If a building has one, it's part of the grounding electrode system. You can't skip it.
- The conductor to a Ufer doesn't need to be bigger than 4 AWG copper.
Codes to look up
Describes what qualifies as a concrete-encased electrode: length, size and concrete cover.
All grounding electrodes present at a building are bonded together into one system.
The grounding electrode conductor to a concrete-encased electrode doesn't need to be larger than 4 AWG copper.
These are plain-English summaries, not the code's exact wording. Always check the full section in the NEC edition your area has adopted, plus local amendments.
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