[Question] How many spikes needed

[Sacul20]

Good day to all. I have no knowledge of electrical matters and am just a homeowner who is trying to get a certificate of electrical compliance. I was told that there is an earth problem and the reading was 200 ohm - this would require 6 copper earth spikes to be dropped to get the required 20 ohm. Now that the work has commenced, I have been advised that after 5 spikes the reading is only 160 ohm. The contractor has come back to me and said that his electricians report had initially stated 1200 ohm and he had mistaken it for 200 ohm when he quoted me. The solution is apparently to drop more earth spikes but how many additional required is not known at this stage. I would like to know if this is a common problem and whether it is being dealt with fairly and correctly. Thank you in advance, your advice will be appreciated.

[GQE]

You should not be having earth spikes put in rather have the council come fix there issue, you clearly have no earth from the supplier.

[Simon123]

You should not be having earth spikes put in rather have the council come fix there issue, you clearly have no earth from the supplier.

Am I correct (asking only due to the fact that work is resuming on my build after 3 month break due to me firing builder and all his sub-contractors, and sorting out the ensuing legal BS) in saying the earth in my DB is supplied via the municipal feed? I've not seen an earth spike anywhere on my new installation...

[Rifrug]

Normally you would get a good earth from your municipality, but I have seen terrible earth readings on farms and more rural areas where the council has just knocked a earth spike next to the transformer and hope it’s a good earth. If thats the case contacting the municipality and give them the reading taken by your electrician might get them to resolve it. A few years ago I had a similar problem at a hotel in mountains with a terrible earth, I installed six spikes and the reading barely came down. They eventually had to get a professional earthing company in to resolve it that did cost into thousands.

[bergie]

Good day to all. I have no knowledge of electrical matters and am just a homeowner who is trying to get a certificate of electrical compliance. I was told that there is an earth problem and the reading was 200 ohm - this would require 6 copper earth spikes to be dropped to get the required 20 ohm. Now that the work has commenced, I have been advised that after 5 spikes the reading is only 160 ohm. The contractor has come back to me and said that his electricians report had initially stated 1200 ohm and he had mistaken it for 200 ohm when he quoted me. The solution is apparently to drop more earth spikes but how many additional required is not known at this stage. I would like to know if this is a common problem and whether it is being dealt with fairly and correctly. Thank you in advance, your advice will be appreciated.

how hard is the ground? dont add more spikes in parallel. go deep. at least 2 x 2.4m spikes on top of each other. 3 if the ground is very soft .