Polices that are "above code"?

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mdshunk

mdshunk

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A couple of quotes today jogged my memory about a question I've been meaning to ask:
peter d said:
Since our company policy is to pigtail everything,
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iwire said:
The company I work for requires we use them and I would use them anyway.
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What are some of your "company policies" or personal policies, that are above code? Some of mine are to pigtail everything on commercial work, no pipe under 3/4 on commercial work, and no receptacle circuit less than #12. Along with that are policies as to phase color and order for certain systems, along with purple travelers. Use multi-wire circuits whenever reasonably possible. These are a few off the top of my head.
What are some of your policies?
 
mdshunk said:
A couple of quotes today
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Peter and I work for the same company. :)

I can not speak much about it as it is 'proprietary' but the company Pete and I work for has a large book of standard methods that cover everything from which KO will be used for feeds and switch legs, to traveler colors, to making of boxes, to how temp wiring will be supported.

I try to do most that you suggested as a matter of personal standards.

I find that 1/2" is worthless for power wiring in most cases.
 
Policies that are "above code"?

Policies that are "above code"?

I can't say it's anything as formal as a "policy;" 'practice' or 'approach' might better apply.

I give a lot of thought to 'design issues." As in, where will a receptacle be needed? I don't just start marking off 12 foot increments!

This means that I actually talk to the final customer as to their desires. Heck, maybe they want that receptacle abobe the nightstand, rather than behind it!

I look at future growth. This might mean oversize conduit, or an empty pipe stubbed out of the panel. It might mean some additional junction boxes.

I try to make things "user friendly." This might mean a GFI in every bath ... rather than every bath protected by a GFI in the crawl space!

I plan my circuits so the description on the panel makes sense. This usually means every room has it's own circuit .... rather than a few circuits that hop all over the place.
 
Funny that you quoted Bob and I since we both work for the same company. :)

We have an entire manual of very detailed standard installation practices, including diagrams, that everyone in the company is supposed to know and follow. At the very least, the foremen are supposed to know the information and pass it down so every job is done the same way. Obviously, this is done because people are rotated through jobs and the person who roughed will likely not come back, and it makes troubleshooting easier.
 
iwire said:
the company Pete and I work for has a large book of standard methods that cover everything ...
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I bet so. I'm thinking I need to make such a book.

Some "standards" are so standard among electricians that it goes without saying almost. Some things are worth putting in a book. When I was toiling for others, the most I ever had in print was maybe a few pages. Some standards are to accomodate future expansion. Some are to facillitate quick troubleshooting later. Some are to speed the overall workflow. Some are so that one guy can pick up where another guy left off and know, inherantly, what's going on. I'd be interested in hearing comments on all of them.
 
mdshunk said:
I'm thinking I need to make such a book.
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I highly recommend it, especially if you have employees. And it is an absolute must for any large company like the one I work for. Anytime I have a question about something related to installation, all I need to do is check the book. You can make it as detailed as you like. As Bob said, our spec book is to be kept among employees only, but I can assure you that nothing in it is rocket science. All it takes to come up with one is common sense. :)
 
A former boss of mine had a set of rules all his own. He was an electrician who went back to school and became an engineer. So his "rules" generally made sense, since he knew what the installer would have to go through, to implement our designs.

Some of his rules, however, I never could understand. I mean they were acceptable design practices, but I could not figure out the reason they were imposed. This was several years ago, and I can only recall one example. He never wanted to see 1--1/4 inch conduit on any drawing. We could use 1 or 1--1/2, but never 1--1/4. :-?
 
charlie b said:
He never wanted to see 1--1/4 inch conduit on any drawing. We could use 1 or 1--1/2, but never 1--1/4. :-?
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This is just a WAG.

1/2", 3/4" and 1" all hand bend easily.

1-1/2" and above must be field bent using a power bender.

Now 1-1/4" can be hand bent, and I do hand bend it less than 45 degrees.

However when you try to hand bend a 90 degrees in 1-1/4" EMT it sometimes wrinkles the EMT on the inside radius or it may not bend a smooth radius.

Other times you can bend it 90 degrees with no issues, a lot depends on the batch of EMT.

Perhaps he had seen to many installed bends that looked bad.

As I said it's just a guess. :)
 
Good guess Bob, but my two guess's are......
1) He only weighed in @ 125 lbs. or
2) He slipped off of the 1-1/4" kick bender and twisted his ankle once and is doing his best to keep us from doing the same.

As far as the OP goes, we really don't have any written policies but this post has me thinking of putting some of the "standard" things that we do in writing. Things such as switch leg colors, traveller colors, max. distance between pull points in conduit runs, etc.
 
We have the same "policy" (no 1-1/4" conduit) where I work now. The feeling seems to be that 1-1/4" is "hard to get" and about the same price as 1-1/2" (even installed?), so you may as well get the larger size. The same goes for #3 and #1 wire; in fact, (some of) our designer/drafters will bump up the wire size without comment. Or maybe they're just checking to see if I'm paying attention?

As far as places where I typically exceed the NEC, the only one I can think of is in conduit sizing. If the wire fill is more than 75% of what the NEC requires, I go to the next size up. I'm trying to help the contractor out.

Matt
 
I would love to have a good policy program like you guys but we haven't slown down long enough to figure one out may you should copy write yours and sell them on Mikes web site.
 
shelton said:
I would love to have a good policy program like you guys but we haven't slown down long enough to figure one out may you should copy write yours and sell them on Mikes web site.
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Now that I've had time to think more, I guess the NECA standards are sorta like these policies I'm asking about. I've never seen those standards with my own two eyes to know for sure. I don't know anyone that has those standards either, for that matter.
 
peter d said:
Funny that you quoted Bob and I since we both work for the same company. :)

We have an entire manual of very detailed standard installation practices, including diagrams, that everyone in the company is supposed to know and follow. At the very least, the foremen are supposed to know the information and pass it down so every job is done the same way. Obviously, this is done because people are rotated through jobs and the person who roughed will likely not come back, and it makes troubleshooting easier.
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That is one great idea! Wish we had that:mad:
 
We often have spec's that are more stringent than code so each job is has to be treated differently.

On a job with no spec's there are a couple of "general rules";
no 14 gauge wire, no 1/2 inch except for switch legs, we stay away from some of the oddball pipes like 2-1/2, no tie-wraps for MC, always use pig-tails, insides of 4 square covers get labeled with panel and circuit #, lots of Brady tags. And of course, the ultimate rule, no 3-piece unions on rigid pipe. :smile:
 
Dave58er said:
And of course, the ultimate rule, no 3-piece unions on rigid pipe. :smile:
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Really? Are you joking because that sounds utterly ridiculous. We did a job recently where we had no choice but to use them because of numerous obstructions that prevented us from threading the pipe together. They do have a place and a use when you need them.
 
Pete, I bet that he means unless all other ways have been tried.

Price some 3 piece couplings and you will see the issue. :)

Obviously in some cases there is no choice, however many times with better planing or harder labor you can avoid them.
 
iwire said:
Pete, I bet that he means unless all other ways have been tried.

Price some 3 piece couplings and you will see the issue. :)

Obviously in some cases there is no choice, however many times with better planing or harder labor you can avoid them.
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I'm sure that's the case.

Of course, the customer we were working for supplied all the materials and said we could use as many 3-piece couplings as we needed. :D

I just see a prohibition on them as being slightly absurd.
 
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