What Is a Good Ground Resistance Value?

What Is a Good Ground Resistance Value? (on photo: Fluke clamp meter reading ground resistance without
auxiliary rods - news.thomasnet.com)
Zero Ohms Not Really!
The goal in ground resistance is to achieve the lowest ground resistance value possible, that makes sense
economically and physically, when contacting the earth, also known as the soil/ground rod interface.
Ideally, a ground should be zero ohms of resistance, but
Unfortunately, there is not one standard ground resistance threshold recognized by all certifying agencies.
The NFPA and IEEE recommend a ground resistance value of 5 ohms or less while the NEC has stated to
Make sure that system impedance to ground is less than 5 ohms specified in NEC 50.56. I n facilities with
sensitive equipment it should be 5ohms or less.

Copper Earth Rod thermoweld connection at a 33kV Substation in Nakheel, UAE (photo by Muhammad
Adnan; Substation Designer via Flickr)


The telecommunications industry has often used 5 ohms or less as their value for grounding and bonding
while electric utilities construct their ground systems so that the resistance at a large station will be no more
than a few tenths of one ohm.
In general, the lower the ground resistance, the safer the systemis considered to be.