semi inground swim spa wiring

[Shrymp]

We just purchased a semi inground swim spa.  We are on our third electrician and now trying to pass the inspection of the wiring.  We are now told that we need a ground wiring all the way around the swim spa 18" down.  Its an enclosed swim spa that was put in 24" under ground and backfilled.  This whole project has been a nightmare.  The inspector did not want to speak to the electrician just my husband who has no electrical background.  He just failed our inspection.  The report was confusing to the certified electric company and the inspector has not returned or answer any of the phone call or text so they can verify what needs to be done to pass the electrical. We have a conduit going underground. The inspector wrote that we need to go down 12" under pavement.  We re-dug even more to get to the 12".  Now we are told 18" underground.  How many times do we have to dig to get our swimspa electrical passed. 

[CanadianSpaTech]

Sorry you are having trouble. Sinking any spa below grade or into a deck limiting access is NEVER a good idea and will lead to pain and heartache if you ever need to remove side panels for service. Hope you have considered this. 

[cranbiz]

Unfortunately, you are at the whim of the inspector. Local codes can be more stringent than NEC. Metal or plastic conduit?

In general, NEC says you need to bury PVC conduit 18". 8" depth is required for EMT (hard metal) conduit and 24" depth for direct burial, unprotected cable.

What is the material used for the spa? The inspector is specifying grounding based on a conductive surface, in which concrete is considered conductive. If the shell is fiberglass or acrylic, the inspector is interpreting the code incorrectly and you may have an point to discuss. If there is any conductive material on the shell, the inspector can require the ground system he said you need.

Your electrical contractor should have known this as the conduit depths are well known. 

[RDspaguy]

3 hours ago, cranbiz said:

Unfortunately, you are at the whim of the inspector. Local codes can be more stringent than NEC. Metal or plastic conduit?

In general, NEC says you need to bury PVC conduit 18". 8" depth is required for EMT (hard metal) conduit and 24" depth for direct burial, unprotected cable.

What is the material used for the spa? The inspector is specifying grounding based on a conductive surface, in which concrete is considered conductive. If the shell is fiberglass or acrylic, the inspector is interpreting the code incorrectly and you may have an point to discuss. If there is any conductive material on the shell, the inspector can require the ground system he said you need.

Your electrical contractor should have known this as the conduit depths are well known. 

This.

By putting it in the ground you have made it an inground pool, which requires a bonding grid by code. You should have put it in a concrete pit, with no earth contact anywhere but the bottom, in which case it is still an above ground and does not require bonding. The inspector is not mis-interpreting the code, you changed the designation by backfilling. It's a technicality, and not actually necessary in this case, but it is the code. Nowhere does the material of construction change the bonding requirements.

5 hours ago, CanadianSpaTech said:

Sorry you are having trouble. Sinking any spa below grade or into a deck limiting access is NEVER a good idea and will lead to pain and heartache if you ever need to remove side panels for service. Hope you have considered this. 

But this is your biggest concern. If you think digging a trench for electrical is a problem, then you're going to be hating life when you have to dig the spa out to fix it. Remember, warranty does not cover access, so if it doesn't work when you first turn it on you'll still have to pay for removing it for access, even though the "repair" is under warranty.