Little Help Here....Conduit Requirement

[jbwilkins]

Before I go digging through the NEC I thought I'd ask you guys......

25x30 detached garage on a residential lot and I was planning on leaving the walls 'open' (no sheetrock).....Inspector is telling my electrician that all wiring will have to be in conduit since there is not sheetrock being installed. Is this an NEC requirement or just something he wants?

I know fighting code on this is useless (he's a one man office so can't go over his head), but I just want to know for my reference .....Electrician also says this guy can be a jerk so fighting him probably isn't worth it.....

 

[alfredeneuman]

It's an NEC requirement. He's not just pulling it out from thin air.

Any cable that's subject to physical damage requires conduit (as in open walls) or some sort of protection against damage.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

"Subject to damage" is really a subjective term that will have different meanings to different people.

However, its very easy to snag cable when its around 18" off the floor sitting in a stud bay.

 

[ard]

Might be cheaper to insulate and sheet rock....

 

[109jb]

Don't know the code specifics, but I wired a garage several years ago with Romex and the inspector just had me run a2x4 band around the garage flush with the inside surface of the studs with the Romex behind it. I guess the theory was that the 2x4 provided protection for the wire.

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[tyme2par4]

Don't know the code specifics, but I wired a garage several years ago with Romex and the inspector just had me run a2x4 band around the garage flush with the inside surface of the studs with the Romex behind it. I guess the theory was that the 2x4 provided protection for the wire.

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^This
The wiring in my garage was run along the floor plate. I'm not sure if that's allowed anymore. I plan to insulate next year, so I rerouted it through the studs for now.

 

[pgray007]

I had the same requirement here in SC but it was allowable to run romex down a stud, just not across an open stud bay, so the few outlets that were run went across the ceiling and then down the bay where the outlet was located.


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[jbwilkins]

He came back and said we only had to run conduit up to 8'.....and I'm having the outlets placed at 42".....so not as bad as I first was told.....I'm not going to push it since he's 'the man' and I don't want to tick him off....

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

Might be cheaper to insulate and sheet rock....

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

He came back and said we only had to run conduit up to 8'.....and I'm having the outlets placed at 42".....so not as bad as I first was told.....I'm not going to push it since he's 'the man' and I don't want to tick him off....

That's considered ceiling height in most places.
Around here you only need to have the wire protected to ceiling height in most places except in omaha,omaha likes to think they're Chicago .

 

[MushCreek]

Different inspectors have different interpretations. Mine said that I didn't have to cover vertical runs! In other words- straight up from the device to 8' or above, then run horizontal. I disagree, and covered mine.