SECTION 16452

GROUNDING
1. PART 1 - GENERAL
1.01 SECTION INCLUDES
A.

The Work shall consist of furnishing and installation

of the grounding system as shown on the drawings and
specified in this section.

1.02 REFERENCES
A.

B.

C.

NFPA - National Fire Protection Association

NFPA 70

National Electrical Code

NFPA 78

Lightning Protection Code

UL - Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.

UL 467

Electrical Grounding and Bonding Equipment

UL 486A

Wiring connectors and

With Copper Conductors

Soldering Lugs for

UL 486B

Wire Connectors
Conductors

Use

UL 869

Service Equipment

IEEE
Institute
Engineers
IEEE 81

D.

of

for

Electrical

With

and

Aluminum

Electronics

Guide for Measuring Earth Resistivity,

Ground Impedance, and Earth Surface

Material and Systems with equal quality to ANSI,

NEMA, NEC, and UL but made to SASO, IEC or ISO are
acceptable and can be quoted for.

1.03 SUBMITTALS
A.

Shop Drawings: Showing the location of system grounding

electrode connections and the routing of grounding
electrode conductor.

B.

Test
Reports:
resistance.

Certified

test

reports

of

ground

16452-1
Grounding

C.

Product Data and Material Samples.

1.04 QUALITY ASSURANCE

A.

Materials and equipment together

with method
of installation shall comply
in all respects
with IEE Regulations for Electrical Installations,
15th Edition as published
by Institute
of
Electrical
Engineers, London, and
other
applicable
Codes
and
Standards
specified
herein.

2. PART 2 - PRODUCTS
2.01 MATERIALS
A.

GROUND CABLE
1.

B.

Ground cables shall be soft drawn, bare stranded

copper wire conforming to ASTM B-8, or insulated
stranded copper wire conductor cable, as shown
on the
drawings.
The
grounding
cable
shall
have
a
minimum
section in accordance with the NEC 250 and in no
case smaller than 2.5 mm2(AWG 12).

GROUND RODS
1.

Unless otherwise indicated on Drawings, ground rods

shall be copper cladded steel with high strength
steel core
and
electrolytic-grade copper
outer sheath, molten welded to core, 19 mm
diameter rods, furnished in 3.00 meters length.
Ground rods shall be
driven
with
a cap
and
driven
stud.
Ground
conductors
shall
be laid with slack and buried to a minimum depth of
60 mm below grade.

3. PART 3 - EXECUTION
3.01 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
A.

The complete
electrically
providing an
of

grounding system shall be mechanically and

continuous and of durable construction,
independent current return
path
low resistance to ground sources.

B.

Tees and straight through joints in copper strip should

be made either by riveting and sweating, welding or
brazing.

C.

Where

connections

between

dissimilar

metals

must be

Grounding

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Grounding

made, these should be protected by painting over with a

moisture resisting bituminous paint or compound, or by
wrapping with a protective tape to exclude moisture.
D.

Bolted connections shall be of the

Bolts, washers and stop nuts
copper
alloy, everdur, durium, duronze
Ferrous
hardware
will
not
accepted.

multiple bolt type.

shall be of high
or silicon
be

bronze.

3.02 GROUND RODS AND GROUND CABLE

A.

Ground rods shall be driven with a cap driving stud.

The ground conductors shall be laid with slack and
buried to a minimum depth of 600 mm below
grade.

B.

All ground cable shall be carefully handled when

installed
to
avoid
kinking
or
cutting
the
conductors. All parts of the grounding system shall be
protected against damage during construction.

C.

1.

Ground
conductors
shall
equipment foundations.

2.

Exposed

not

be

embedded

in

grounding
conductors
shall
follow
the contours
of
the
surface
over
which
they pass.
Diagonal runs shall be avoided. The runs shall be
horizontal, vertical and parallel,
and
securely fastened to
the
mounting
surface without slack using galvanized
malleable iron straps.

Splices and Taps

1.

Conductors shall contain a minimum number of

splices throughout each run. Grounding conductors,
splices and taps shall be made by the exothermicweld
process.
The instructions
of
manufacturer shall
be
obtained
and
followed
in
welding connections. Particular
care shall be taken to use the correct
size
and
type
of mold
and
size
of
cartridge for each combination of conductors.

2.

Where a cross connection is required, it shall

be made with two T-connections spaced not less
than
457 mm apart. Connections of cable to ground rod
shall also be exothermic-welded. All ground cables
shall be thoroughly cleaned with
wire
brush
at connections before welding. All
welded joints shall be
checked
and
inspected
by the Engineer before being covered. Molds
Grounding

shall not be used to make more than the maximum

number of joints recommended by manufacturer,
or
when
otherwise
unsuitable for
further
service.
16452-3

Grounding

3.03 TERMINAL CONNECTIONS

A.

Connections of ground conductors to conduits shall be

made with copper clamps or straps or by grounding
bushings.
Ground
connections
to
piping
shall
generally
be
welded
or
brazed.
Non-conductive
protective coatings such as paint or enamel on the
conduits or fittings shall be removed from the threads
or contacts surfaces before
attaching
grounding
connection. After
ground
connection
is
attached, any exposed bare-metal shall be covered
again
with
a coating matching
the
original
coating.

3.04 EQUIPMENT GROUNDING

A.

Equipment

grounding shall consist

of
connecting
all
non-current
carrying
metallic parts of the electrical mechanical
installation
to the grounding sources.
Comply with NEC Article 250 for sizes and quantities of
equipment
ground
conductors,
except
where
larger
sizes or more conductors or indicated.

B.

Non-current
carrying
metallic
parts
of
the
electrical installation
shall include
such
items
as
metal
conduits,
raceways, outlet boxes, cabinets, panel
board,
switchgears,
exposed
metal
parts
of
apparatus, and other electrical equipment, protecting
or shielding electrical equipment from direct access by
unauthorized personnel.

C.

The series grounding of one piece of equipment to

another will not be permitted. All equipment grounding
connections shall be
tapped
from
the
applicable ground/source.

D.

Ground
continuity
conductors
other than metallic
conduits, trunking and cable armor shall consist of a
special green colored insulated copper conductor,
size as shown on the drawings.

E.

Computer and audio-visual equipment shall be grounded

to an equipment earth which will be run separately
to the building ground and will be connected to the
main ground bar.

3.05 GROUNDING OF VARIOUS METAL COMPONENTS

A.

Ground

all
extraneous
metalwork
such
as
steel structure,
concrete
reinforcement,
ducting,
piping,
suspended ceiling grids, enclosures, doors, grilles,
barriers and other metal components of building.
Grounding

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Grounding

3.06 GROUNDING CONDUCTOR

A.

A separate green colored insulated grounding conductor

shall be installed in all conduits and raceways. Sizes
shall be as shown on the drawings.

3.07 GROUNDING OF MOTORS

A.

Motors shall be grounded by connecting a green colored

conductor from a grounding bushing in the starter or
isolating
switch
to
the motor
frame.
The conductor shall
be
run
together
with the
circuit wiring and terminated in the
motor connection
box
provided the latter is
mechanically connected to the frame. If this is
not
feasible,
the grounding conductorshall
be
extended
through
an
insulated
bushed opening
in
the connection box and connected to the motor
base.

3.08 TESTING
A.

Contractor shall measure the ground resistance of the

ground well of the completely driven ground rod at each
location before connecting it to the ground grid. Upon
completion of the entire grounding system of the site,
including all necessary connections and backfilling,
Contractor
shall
measure
the
ground resistance
at
a
location
designated by the Engineer.

B.

Measurement

shall
be
made
with ground
tester.
All measurements
and tests
shall be
witnessed
by
the Engineer.
An acceptable grounding resistance shall not be more
than 3 ohm computer equipment and 5 ohms for general
building grounding. If test measurements exceed this
value,
the Contractor
shall install and connect
additional ground rods as directed by the Engineer
until this value is obtained.
END OF SECTION

Grounding

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Grounding