Conduit Install By Another Contractor

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Did the conduit contractor know he wouldn't be installing the wire & that it might be a while before any did? If so, he may have been pretty sloppy with the install.

I've seen as many as 8 ea 90's plus some offsets without a pull box. Kinked pipe. Loose fittings that kept you from being able to blow string. Unreamed cuts with burrs that would peel insulation.

Do the project specs give you a recourse if you find problems with the conduits? Or is it your problem how to make it work?

Do the drawings give you the run length of the pipes? If not, you may find that the contractor went way around some obstructions that you can't see now & the pipe runs look more like spaghetti. Are you having to guess on the lengths? As-builts are rarely ever accurate or complete, because no one ever checks them.

I've seen underfloor conduits with pull lines in them (required by spec)...when we tried to use the pull line, it was tied to a wad of paper stuffed into the pipe a few feet. Never could get anything through them. Had to run new pipe overhead.

If the conduits are very large, and the wire is pretty large, I'd pull a mandrel through each pipe before pulling wire. A mandrel is a capsule shaped gizmo that's sized for the conduit (Greenlee makes them) -- you tie a rope to each end and pull it through the conduit - one rope to pull it in, and the other to pull it back out if it won't go around a bad 90 or a kinked pipe. But it probably won't catch a poorly reamed cut.

This type of job can have a lot of risk -- how much of that risk is the owner putting on the contractor bidding on pulling the wire? Price the job according to the risks involved.
 
Did the conduit contractor know he wouldn't be installing the wire & that it might be a while before any did? If so, he may have been pretty sloppy with the install.

I've seen as many as 8 ea 90's plus some offsets without a pull box. Kinked pipe. Loose fittings that kept you from being able to blow string. Unreamed cuts with burrs that would peel insulation.

Do the project specs give you a recourse if you find problems with the conduits? Or is it your problem how to make it work?

Do the drawings give you the run length of the pipes? If not, you may find that the contractor went way around some obstructions that you can't see now & the pipe runs look more like spaghetti. Are you having to guess on the lengths? As-builts are rarely ever accurate or complete, because no one ever checks them.

I've seen underfloor conduits with pull lines in them (required by spec)...when we tried to use the pull line, it was tied to a wad of paper stuffed into the pipe a few feet. Never could get anything through them. Had to run new pipe overhead.

If the conduits are very large, and the wire is pretty large, I'd pull a mandrel through each pipe before pulling wire. A mandrel is a capsule shaped gizmo that's sized for the conduit (Greenlee makes them) -- you tie a rope to each end and pull it through the conduit - one rope to pull it in, and the other to pull it back out if it won't go around a bad 90 or a kinked pipe. But it probably won't catch a poorly reamed cut.

This type of job can have a lot of risk -- how much of that risk is the owner putting on the contractor bidding on pulling the wire? Price the job according to the risks involved.


Awesome post. Thanks.
 
Thanks Don, I ws thinking along those lines. What layouts create a more difficult pull? THe guys pulling the cable would get as-builts so theyt would know pull points etc., correct? THanks again.

A 100 foot pull with 4 90's, pulling #10 solid wire to max fill is pretty tough. Or max fill with 8 or larger. Longer than 100 feet between pull points guarantees difficulty with getting a fishtape through.

Boxes, LB's, etc in awkward places complicate a pull.

I have seen layouts with most overhead boxes in a panel room set up face down with conduit out the top, makes a straight feed from floor. Useful if you have to make some pulls alone.
 
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I worked on a supermarket job where original EC had gone bankrupt. Our co. would only take it on T/M. Good thing too. Most conduits in the air looked good, but lots of loose fittings, loose straps, etc. Some buried conduits were full of concrete. Some conduits dead ended into walls. Every screwup you could think of had been done on that job.

T/M is the only smart way to do a rescue operation.
 
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