Hello All, I'm planning on installing a new 200 Amp service to my house in the near future, unfutunately I need to add a new concrete walk on the service side of the house before the service, If I drive down 2 rods 6-7 ft apart, #4 between them and to the panel ,can I cover them with the walk?(no visual inspection possible). leaving them above would become a tripping hazard. Any Ideas?

250.68 Grounding Electrode Conductor and Bonding Jumper Connection to Grounding Electrodes.
(A) Accessibility. The connection of a grounding electrode conductor or bonding jumper to a grounding electrode shall be accessible.
Exception: An encased or buried connection to a concrete-encased, driven, or buried grounding electrode shall not be required to be accessible.

So an inspector would have no proof that the job was done properly?

That is always going to be the case with a buried or concrete encased electrode if it was existing when you do the upgrade.
Call the AHJ and see if they will be happy with pictures or pull your permit now and have the GEC inspected on a partial rough. How long will it be before you do the upgrade?

This would fall under the "under ground" inspection.
Meaning it must be inspected before backfilling it.
This is a standard here, perhaps not every where.

A question here ....

Would not a Ufer in the walk be a superior grounding electrode to a driven rod - and easier to instal as well?

The sidewalk would need to have a "footer" for a Ufer to be effective. With only a few inches of concrete above it would tend to be in a dry area.
Pull the permit early have the grounding rods and interconnect inspected and approved, then cover with the sidewalk. Make sure to have it noted on the permit or get a copy of the inspection report in case the inspector can't remember or you get a different inspector.
Just a point to remember: If you can make them fit, the ground rods can be installed INSIDE the building. This also elliminates the copper theives from cutting your wire.

Thanks for the input, sounds like I need to get this permit pulled earlier than expected, to be on the safe side. Thanks ALL.

The only downside is since they are out there they might want a permit for the sidewalk. Things are pretty slow down at the building department so they are drumming up business where they can.

I'm not sure about the sequence of events in your area. If I pull a permit to change a service. I must have in hand the SER # from the utility, to put on the permit. This is the utilities authorization # to break the seal on the meter. The catch 22 is you have to complete the upgrade within 90 days of pulling the number from utility. upon inspection by local inspector they will reseal meter, and put their crimp on connectors. In your case I'd suggest you pull a permit, and have it inspected for what it is a grounding electrode, leave the service change permit for when you actually do that. make sure you explain to the inspector your intentions. That would be the best course of action in my neck of the woods.

As you can see there is a multitude of ways to handle the ground issue.
What I would do would be to call the inspection department and talk with the inspector that covers your area and ask him/her directly.
Quite simple - a quick phone call and it's free. If they inform you to just go ahead and install and cover with out any inspection be sure to get the inspectors name (with correct spelling), the date and time of the telephone call, write down everything that you asked and the inspectors answer. Let the inspector know of your concerns about future issues.
Take a couple photographs of the installation. Close ups of the connection points of the copper to the rods, lay a tape measure along side of the copper between the rods and get a photo of this so the future inspector can see the distance between rods.
I did this when I built my house - as I drove my ground rods prior to back filling the foundation. The tops of my ground rods are 6 feet below the surface this puts the bottom of them at 16 feet - (yes I used 10' rods)