GEC attached to bottoms of floor joists or bored holes?

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richwaskowitz

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Shelby Twp. MI, near Detroit
Can a GEC be fastened to the bottoms of joists in an open ceiling (as in an unfinished basement) or must it be run through bored holes as if it were a cable like NM? If so, does the wire gauge come into play at all? In my case, I am running a 2 AWG AL conductor clear across a 75 foot long basement ceiling to get to the water meter and would really like to know if I am required to bore holes or not. Would it make a difference if it were a 6 or 4 copper? I tried to find a code article for this but could not think of where it would be.
 
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richwaskowitz

Senior Member
Location
Shelby Twp. MI, near Detroit
Thanks for the reference. I really should have known to look in 250. I would have thought that the requirement for protection for a GEC would not be as particular as it would be for NM for example. I guess my question really is, how many inspectors would consider an installation where a GEC attached to the bottoms of floor joists in an unfinished basement in a residence constitutes subject to abuse? It does not make sense to me that a 3 conductor number 8 NM is OK stapled to the bottoms of the joists, but a number 4 solid copper GEC right next to it is at risk? I am not arguing, I would just like an explanation of the reasoning here.
 
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