conduit on rooftop

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Pierre C Belarge said:
David
In "our neck of the woods", we rarely get to see the prints. Even though the state requires prints for jobs, it has never been the practice to let electrical inspectors see the prints.

How do you find the time to look and dissect the prints and then do the actual inspection? It would seem there is not enough time to do both and do both well.

In NJ (I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong), they have a division that does the plan review and the inspector goes to inspect the work.

In my estimation, to do a really thorough job as an inspector could take the whole day for a commercial project of any size...think about it. The contractor and his men could be on the job for weeks, maybe 1000s of hours of work, plus all of the time spent mulling over prints. The electrical inspector may spend about an hour or so on a job such as this for a rough inspection (possibly without ever seeing a set of prints, and if looking at prints, a fairly brief time at that).

I am not saying the process is a good one, it could use some massaging, but to improve the process would take training and a culture change...all of which costs money.

Just something to think about.
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It's true that there is the possibility of an unlimited amount of time that could be spent on a commerial project checking every detail and there is also the possibility of a "driveby" by an inspector where he throws the approval ticket out the window of his car. . The key is finding the most logical point somewhere in the middle.

Determining where the best point is in the middle ground could be debated extensively. . But there are some obvious issues that jump out.

Pierre C Belarge said:
Even though the state requires prints for jobs, it has never been the practice to let electrical inspectors see the prints.
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Pierre C Belarge said:
In NJ (I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong), they have a division that does the plan review and the inspector goes to inspect the work.
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Even if you have perfectly designed project plans and the best plan review that's ever been performed, how does that translate into a good or even competent inspection if the inspector doesn't have access to the plans ?

David
 
dnem said:
It's true that there is the possibility of an unlimited amount of time that could be spent on a commerial project checking every detail and there is also the possibility of a "driveby" by an inspector where he throws the approval ticket out the window of his car.




Even if you have perfectly designed project plans and the best plan review that's ever been performed, how does that translate into a good or even competent inspection if the inspector doesn't have access to the plans ?

David
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The highlighted part...that is very funny. We have an inspector in our area called "4-40"...4 inspections at 40 mph.


We do not inspect to the prints, only to what would be required as minimum by code.

There are buildings here from 10,000 to 1/2 million SF that are quite complex. I rarely get to see much of the prints, unless there is an issue on the job.
 
chris kennedy said:
Wouldn't you rather use RNC? The R stands for RIGID. As satcom said pay close attention to expansion joints. And add your own as per 352.44
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As for engineers I recently did a roof top install of about 5,000 ft of rooftop RNC on a City project. The engineer specified support every 8ft: When I complained it should be every 3ft of course the reply came back: AS PER PLANS AND SPECS. Now these supports cost over $5.00 each so I just did as he said until the CEI called me and literally said: I'm not gonna take out a tape measure btu even I can tell 3 ft from 8ft. I got my expensive change order.
I say let the engineers keep doing the specs.
 
Hey guys thanx for the reply's. Here's the deal..

Customer has a 2yr old high rise and conduits installed by original Elect. Contractor on rooftop run right down the middle of the walkways and cross etc. Facility guy wants to redo tight to the center of the structure or on the outside crossing in possibly 1 or 2 places.
I bid the job in EMT beceause it's not subject to phsyical damage and standard practice. The original Contractor tells him EMT is illegal and it has to be rigid. Spoke to city inspector EMT is fine as long as I use "Raintite" UL approved connectors and couplings and support accordingly. All conduits are 1" or less. so weight isnt an issue. In one of the posts they talk about supporting rigid every 3ft. The guys crazy. *ft would be fine and a inspector would NOT tell him to do it every 3ft. 3 Meters yes, not 3ft.
Reading some of the replys surprised me. Who else besides the forman or Electrician installing it lays out the conduit runs on almost any electrical job? Plans are diagramatic from point to point only. I've been doing this for 30yrs and the first thing I do is check the prints for errors, Double-check quantities and types etc. and I never find errors. Do it right the first time and go on to the next job. Thanx for your guys time and feedback MGE
 
I wanted to show these rooftop conduits that required a stamp of approval relative to placement and support spacing. The conduit is rigid aluminum, the supports are every 10' eventhough the nec is 20'.
Rick
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BENAROUND,

supports for RNM conduit vary if it's on the wall, in the air, on the ground, or in the ground. My post was for Rigid Metal Conduit, code says 10', I go about 8' or so. Not counting fittings and box supports.
MGE
 
A fair amount of the stuff I do gets installed in industrial facilities. Often they have pipe racks already in place and the conduit is run on the underside. You can bet someone designed the pipe racks.

But for a few runs of small conduit? I'd bet most are just routed on the fly.
 
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