<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"></div><div dir="ltr">Have you looked at the unirac GFT </div><div dir="ltr">They have a stamped ballasted design which can be above ground or built into the ground. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s got the updated stamp. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Jay</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Apr 1, 2026, at 12:07\u202fPM, William Miller via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">\ufeff<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)"><style>@font-face { font-family: Calibri; }
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div.WordSection1 { page: WordSection1; }</style><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Friends:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">I have a client that is trying to meet a 4/14/26 deadline to construct a grid-tied system under the NEM2 rate structure. She contacted me late in the process to see if I could design a system that could be permitted and built by that date.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Her roof is inadequate so I proposed a ground-mount. Any racking system that penetrates the ground would need a soils study to avoid a forest of posts with concrete. Without a soils study the assumption is the ground has the consistency of beach sand. We did not have the time for a soils study. Therefore I suggested a ballasted ground mount.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The AHJ favors \u201cpre-engineered, ready-to-use\u201d designs (their quote). Unirac provides this service for their RM10EVO product and also stipulates approval for ground mounting. We entered the information into the U-Builder web portal, including a California address, and received an engineering report certifying a design with the required parts and ballast blocks.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The AHJ failed to recognize this as a pre-engineered, ready-to-use design and called for a wet-stamped engineering report. For a mere $350 Unirac offered to provide this, a fair price. In the process of requesting this report we were informed that the California code cycle had updated on 1/1/2026 and new standards are in place. The old standard is ASCE7-16. The new one is ASCE 7-22. Unirac told me that they have yet to be certified for 7-22 for the RM10EVO. Oddly the U-builder report states compliance with 7-22 but apparently this is an error. Unirac will not provide a wet-stamp certifying compliance with 7-22 and the 2025 California Residential Code and/or the 2025 California Building Code.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">I write this for two reasons: 1. This is a big heads up if any of you have projects in the pipeline that depend on these codes, and 2. Do any of you know of any ground-approved, ballasted racking systems I should be considering?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Thanks in advance for any input.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">William</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal">William Miller</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Miller Solar</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><a href="http://www.millersolar.com/">www.millersolar.com</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CA License C-10 77398</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div>
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