ᐅ Concrete foundation grounding (frost protection skirt) improperly installed

Please check the attached files. I am unable to open them (using my mobile phone).

These are PDF files. A smartphone should normally be able to handle them. I have now attached them again as image files.

Regards

EDIT: Attachments had to be removed. Sorry

Mr Unkown schrieb:
If I’m interpreting this correctly, my grounding system is useless.

It violates several important standards, but it’s not completely useless. Just when you think you’ve seen every kind of foolish “we’ve always done it this way” incompetence, a new variation turns up.

If it can be proven that a stainless steel wire made of V4A with a diameter of 10 mm (0.4 inches) was installed, it is still possible to retrofit the missing continuous grounding loop in the soil. Since 2007, materials in contact with the soil must no longer be hot-dip galvanized, and V2A stainless steel is also insufficient.

I assume in favor of the construction company that the grounding loop wire does not form a closed loop only because they ran out of material. In that case, this would be a surface earth electrode of type A. As long as the trench is open, the loop can still be closed and upgraded to a type B earth electrode. Naturally, connectors buried underground must be permanently corrosion resistant and sealed against soil ingress afterward using special tape.

According to standards, the loop resistance of all connections must be measured; if the connection tag passes through uncut, this measurement must formally be done at the two new connectors.

The missing functional equipotential bonding conductor and the additional connection to the grounding loop required by standards—except at the connection tag—can now only be corrected through costly demolition and rework.

Among architects, site managers, contractors, and even electricians who haven’t even heard of the now-superseded standard DIN 18014:2007-09, even skeptics like me can only quote a biblical saying: Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do!

Electricians, with or without supernatural abilities, who only need a glance at a connection tag to bless grounding systems they have never seen before in a meter installation without batting an eye, are always around.

Dipol schrieb:
I assume in favor of the construction company that the ring earth conductor does not form a closed loop simply because the material ran out

I would agree with that.
We should definitely still be able to correct the ring earth conductor, even if the foundation pit has already been backfilled.

Dipol schrieb:
If a V4A stainless steel wire with a diameter of 10 mm (0.4 inches) is verifiably installed, it is at least possible to retrofit the missing earth ring closure in the ground

It should be round steel with a diameter of 10 mm (0.4 inches) or more, but how can I tell if it is V4A stainless steel?

Dipol schrieb:
The missing functional equipotential bonding conductor and the additional connection to the ring earth required by standards everywhere except at the connection tab can only be retrofitted at disproportionate costs by demolition.

Is a standards-compliant ring earth conductor type B sufficient, or do I definitely need the functional equipotential bonding conductor connected to the reinforcement? That would be disproportionate and could lead to demolition of the building.

Dipol schrieb:
Electricians with and without supernatural skills, who only need one look at a connection tab to bless grounding systems never seen before in the meter registration without batting an eye, are always around.

Sure, they do exist, but would you really feel safe with your family in such a situation?

How would such a retrofit look in an older building where this is only partially present?

Mr Unkown schrieb:
Certainly they exist, but does one really feel safe with their family then?

*laughs*

Tens of thousands of buildings now have to be demolished...

Mr Unkown schrieb:

It should be round steel with a diameter of 10mm (0.4 inches) or more, but how can I tell if it is V4A stainless steel?

You will hardly be able to perform the so-called dot test yourself; you will probably have to request proof from the shell construction company.

Mr Unkown schrieb:

Is a standard-compliant ring earth electrode Type B sufficient, or do I definitely need the FPAL connected to the reinforcement? That would be disproportionate and could lead to the demolition of the building.

It depends on how much you are willing to endure. You would be the first builder to insist on your legal claim for 100% compliant execution after concreting, with all the resulting consequences such as legal disputes and later occupancy.

When making compromises, you are in the following conflict zone:

• Earth electrodes should ideally have low impedance.
• Type B earth electrodes distribute transient lightning currents more widely and with less step voltage than linear surface electrodes of Type A.
• According to lightning protection standards, it is already considered sufficient if ring electrodes are 80% conductive and 20% closed internally. According to your design sketch, the 80% requirement would be met with a closed ring via an FPAL.
• For antenna grounding, round or strip steel as a two-part radial or single-part surface electrode with a length of 5 m (16.4 ft) at a minimum depth of 0.5 m (1.6 ft) is sufficient, whereas ring electrodes for new buildings must be installed at a minimum frost depth of 0.8 m (2.6 ft) according to current standards.

Caspar2020 schrieb:
*laughs*

As a builder involved, you would be in tears.