earth rod location

[nelson19]

hello all, would like your views on this.
i have recieved a complaint about an earth rod location. this is not by the customer but by the next door neighbor. he is saying he doesnt want it in his garden but i would say its not technically his property as it is ran down the wall of the customers house then the rod is installed bout 4 inches from the wall. surely each dwelling must have a perimeter of a few inches for safety of services etc?

 

[pushrod]

Is the rod readily accessible without going onto the neighbours property? Would need more details really but i could certainly imagine a situation where the neighbour has a case as i imagine the rod could have been sited elsewhere even though it might have made it more inconvenient for the installer.

 

[telectrix]

not much to go on. you need to determine the exact boundary and make sure the rod is on your customer's side of it.

 

[nelson19]

the thing is it cant go anywhere else, and the location i have chose is below a window on my customers side. so with regards as to accessability of the rod, its as accessable as his own window for cleaning etc. my point being as the customers property has been empty for a few years, this neighbor has claimed the void between the 2 houses as his own extension on his garden and fenced it off. i wouldnt care but hes put a shed up in front of the window to block my customers viewand the rod is installed in the 12 inch gap between the wall and his shed, you cant even see it!

 

[malcolmsanford]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh a boundry dispute love it. Advise you customer to contact the land registry department and ask for copies of the boundries to his property, chances are if the 2 are that close it will be a street wide copy and his property will be high lighted, if indeed next door have "nicked" a little piece of common land between the properties, then lovely ...............time for court action and the joy of seeing him having to knock things down.

 

[pushrod]

Sounds like there is a legal dispute going on between the two that needs to be sorted by solicitors - there are laws about this sort of thing - i believe the time interval is something like a proved 12 years of sole use and then the land can become adopted. If you have installed the rod in that location because you have been told to by your customer because he thinks that it is his land i would think you just keep a copy but pass all correspondence to him. Also tell neighbour to deal with your customer in future, not you.

 

[telectrix]

time to look out the deeds to the property and establish who owns which land.

 

[Engineer54]

Nothing to do with this land dispute thing, but installing a rod 4'' from a wall is a bit daft!! As i've stated many times here, where there are walls there is builders rubble that's been buried to cover it all up.

Rubble + earth rod = bad soil to rod contact.... And lower Ra values!!!

 

[Deleted member 26818]

Last lot of rods I looked at, were inside the properties, quite close to the boards and meters.
The ones before that were beside the front doors at the juncture between the building walls and the pavement, which was tarmac.

 

[Engineer54]

Last lot of rods I looked at, were inside the properties, quite close to the boards and meters.
The ones before that were beside the front doors at the juncture between the building walls and the pavement, which was tarmac.

Does that mean they were driven in the best place for an earth rod then??

 

[Deleted member 26818]

I doubt it, the inside ones were added to an existing property, which had been subdivided into three units, it appears that holes were drilled through the concrete, and rods banged through to the sub soil.
The ones outside the front doors, were on a terrace, each property having individual rods in the same place.

 

[Des 56]

I it appears that holes were drilled through the concrete, and rods banged through to the sub soil.
.

I suppose they may have forgotten to take account of the damp proof membranes

 

[Engineer54]

I doubt it, the inside ones were added to an existing property, which had been subdivided into three units, it appears that holes were drilled through the concrete, and rods banged through to the sub soil.
The ones outside the front doors, were on a terrace, each property having individual rods in the same place.

Well if those rods outside these terraced houses, were as is normally used these days, ie,...1.2m 3/8'' rods, God knows how they are gonna ever get any dampness covered with Tarmac. I sometimes wonder what these modern day sparks expect from such systems. Never think twice about extending these ridiculously short thin rods. Still never mind, there's always that RCD device to rely on....

As Des 56 stated, if this existing property was relatively modern, then the membrane has been well and truly breached, another well thought out solution, as to where best to drive a rod!! ...lol!!!