Dennis, I'm going to pick your post apart, advance warning.
Dennis Alwon said:
If the conduit is below grade you would have to run cable that is UG listed.
Not by the NEC. See 300.5(B), they are required to be listed
wet.
In our area you must use UF cable if a conduit is used as a sleeve below grade.
For it's
wet listing, or
direct burial listing? You can use THWN in conduit, right?
Below grade is considered outside the building and thus must be listed for wet areas.
Not all outside areas are wet, some are damp. 300.5(B) works to eliminate any confusion by requiring all underground installations to contain conductors listed for wet locations.
I know that nm cable has thwn in it but the jacket is not listed fot the use.
There has been a lot of discussion about what the conductors are inside NM cable - do you have a document that clears this up, or are you taking an educated guess like the rest of us?
I agree with your main principle, that since NM is not listed for wet locations, it is not permitted to be used underground, by 300.5(B).