Premature Electrical Installation

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LightBulbMan

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Minnesota
Hello,

I have a new school addition currently under construction. The electrical contractor has recently installed an electrical panel and conduit and boxes in the addition. The addition doesn't have a roof on it yet so all of the conduit, boxes, wiring, and panel are subject to the environment. We have already had a couple on inches of rain so the contractor covered and taped the panel with poly to keep it dry. However the conduit and boxes are not protected.

The specifications cover the electrical panel but are silent on the conduit and boxes with regards to installation. The conduit is standard EMT and steel j-boxes. There are some areas where they have also pulled wiring but most of the conduit and boxes are empty. However, the electrical panel is energized.

Should I be concerned with the possibility of the boxes and conduit corroding down the line. Or the wiring that has been pulled? A roof is scheduled to be installed within the next few weeks. Is this period of time enough to cause concern?

Has anyone come across this type of installation?

Thanks
 
Not the greatest workmanship but will likely not cause any problems in most cases. EMT and galvanized boxes are permitted in wet locations, and the wire is quite possibly THHN/THWN-2 which is also rated for wet location use.
 
The NEC recognizes that stuff sometimes just gets wet:
Location, Dry. A location not normally subject to dampness or wetness. A location classified as dry may be temporarily subject to dampness or wetness, as in the case of a building under construction.
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The wiring and hardware will be fine. My biggest concern would be keeping water out of sensitive equipment like the breakers. Destructive corrosion can be established in those pretty quickly.
 
LightBulbMan said:
However, the electrical panel is energized.
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You normally wouldn't energize an electrical panel at this stage of contruction as you would still be useing temp. power. You wouldn't even install the guts until you pull the wire (gets in the way). You wouldn't want to deal with it live because that's a safety violation.
 
I dont know of an EC or electrician that would install anything other than maybe boxes before the building is dried in. I thought it code, but maybe convention, or that electrical is typically done after other trades like plumbing (and roofing). Maybe it's just a good excuse to not get rained on/sunburnt?
 
LightBulbMan said:
Hello,

I have a new school addition currently under construction. The electrical contractor has recently installed an electrical panel and conduit and boxes in the addition.
Click to expand...

JFletcher said:
I dont know of an EC or electrician that would install anything other than maybe boxes before the building is dried in. I thought it code, but maybe convention, or that electrical is typically done after other trades like plumbing (and roofing). Maybe it's just a good excuse to not get rained on/sunburnt?
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This being a school there is probably lots of slab work and PVC and boxes in block walls. He didn't say how many stories high the school is but if it's two or more then it's possbile to do a lot of work before the roof goes on.

They probably are in there running ducts and sprinkler pipe and plumbing.
 
JFletcher said:
I thought they went first because if you go first your stuff gets torn up.
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Yes, they don't know how to go around anything they just go through it or block access to items that need access. Now maybe sometimes they have codes we are not aware of that might make more sense but other times you look at what they did and just wonder why they did it that way.

Had a sprinkler system added in a building one time and they ran a dry pipe right over the attic access hole. Not so close you couldn't get through, but still in the way, guess what got used for a hand hold from that point on when entering that space?
 
kwired said:
Yes, they don't know how to go around anything they just go through it or block access to items that need access. Now maybe sometimes they have codes we are not aware of that might make more sense but other times you look at what they did and just wonder why they did it that way.

Had a sprinkler system added in a building one time and they ran a dry pipe right over the attic access hole. Not so close you couldn't get through, but still in the way, guess what got used for a hand hold from that point on when entering that space?
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I've run into that before as well. We once did a motel refurb in Covington, VA. Despite the fact demo wasnt even complete, they wanted us to "go go go" because we were holding up the job. They also wanted us to start on the hotel lobby side, even tho things like ceiling detail and GM/AGM offices werent finalized. We got it all boxed, wired, even terminated. All of the wire had to be run in furred down ceilings of the exterior 2nd floor walkway.

Two days later, the super pulled me aside, and informed me that the free-standing port-a-chere in front of the building was wrong by the prints, that it was attached and had large I beams across it that went thru the building to the back wall, to carry the load (all the existing load bearing columns and walls were (being) removed to allow a completely open floor plan) of the 2nd floor. Guess where those 14" high I beams were going? Across my cable runs, a bundle of cat5/6/CATV nearly 4" in diameter (probably 200 cables).

All of it had to be unterminated, unstapled, firestop removed, pulled back and huge loops of cable hung from the walkway, then done again a second time, this time involving redrilling old dimensional lumber to get maximum distance/run.
 
JFletcher said:
I dont know of an EC or electrician that would install anything other than maybe boxes before the building is dried in......
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We sometimes have to. It's not completely uncommon for steel to get delayed, and we end up starting a rough-in before bar joists are set. Framers just have to set temp supports to the floor to hold walls up.

It's not ideal, but schedules usually don't change just because one trade is behind. Have to keep moving.


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LightBulbMan said:
Hello,

I have a new school addition currently under construction. The electrical contractor has recently installed an electrical panel and conduit and boxes in the addition. The addition doesn't have a roof on it yet so all of the conduit, boxes, wiring, and panel are subject to the environment. We have already had a couple on inches of rain so the contractor covered and taped the panel with poly to keep it dry. However the conduit and boxes are not protected.

The specifications cover the electrical panel but are silent on the conduit and boxes with regards to installation. The conduit is standard EMT and steel j-boxes. There are some areas where they have also pulled wiring but most of the conduit and boxes are empty. However, the electrical panel is energized.

Should I be concerned with the possibility of the boxes and conduit corroding down the line. Or the wiring that has been pulled? A roof is scheduled to be installed within the next few weeks. Is this period of time enough to cause concern?

Has anyone come across this type of installation?

Thanks
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the only thing that really might be adversely affected is the panel interior,
not the can. all this stuff is galvanized, and the wire could be pulled into
underground conduits and left there, and those usually fill up with water
over time, and stay that way.

why you'd heat up a panel at this stage of construction, as others have
noted, is a mystery. on a positive note however, if it gets water damage,
you'll know right away, and he can buy new guts to replace them with, after
they get wet, and short out.

:lol:

around this part of the country, when it used to rain, once upon a time,
it is common to pipe and pull wire in unclosed structures.

however, if you have some unwanted rain, we could use it over here.
 
Electricians.... The first ones on the job and the last ones to leave the job!!!
Our components are the most important on almost any job, but get out of everyone else's way!!! Including no-mind drywallers!!
 
JFletcher said:
I dont know of an EC or electrician that would install anything other than maybe boxes before the building is dried in. I thought it code, but maybe convention, or that electrical is typically done after other trades like plumbing (and roofing). Maybe it's just a good excuse to not get rained on/sunburnt?
Click to expand...

With the time frame we work under we will install pretty much anything but panelboards, breakers etc.

We are often pulling MC cable through the joists from all terrain lifts because we are in the building before the slab and well before the walls
 
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