Specifications with ANSI conduit references

[DHkorn]

I recently had to price a job for a new young engineer. She was pretty conscientious had written a good spec.
However, instead of stating the raceway, fittings, and box types using the typical code names she had included references to different ANSi standards for the work in different areas of the building.
I looked for the standards on line and all I found was websites trying to sell them.
I called the engineer and she was helpful enough.
However, in the future I would love to find a reference, if any one has one, for the different standards and how they relate to raceway types, fittings, boxes and whips.

Can anyone help?
Thanks in advance.

 

[renosteinke]

Lots of luck. ANSi, UL, and the like consider their stuff to be their property, and work hard to protect their copyright. At $10/page, they're no bargains. Often, it impossible to tell, by title, just what a standard covers.
Nor is there an index.

Not that the NFPA is any better. Just try calling them, and asking what standard covers range hoods. It's amazing how hard they try to avoid answering with anything like "Our Standard XYZ focuses on commercial kitchen range hood extinguishing systems." Nope, they'll send you to the fuel gas code, the dry extinguishng agent standard, to every publication in their catalog. BTDT. They consider your expectation that they know their own publications to be unreasonable.

The engineer might as well have written the specs in Greek.

It's not a 'good spec' if the engineer has to spend all day answering calls asking 'what do you mean by this?' Explain to them that you need the spec to use NEC language. Say "EMT," rather than 'ANSI 123.4.' Rather than bury everything in obscure blather, the spec needs to highlight what is different or unusual.

You have better things to do than to argue over the fine print. Make no mistake ... those little trolls in training will deliberately hide stuff in the drivel, then play innocent when they catch you AFTER the damage is done. Then they'll go to the frat house and giggle all night about the 'stupid' contractor.

 

[DHkorn]

I know you're right

I know you're right

Of coarse I know you're right.
That's the root of half the contractor horror stories I hear year after year.
I have to force myself to keep my cynicism in check and was hoping maybe she was fresh out of school and might have a view from a different perspective.
But my goal when I read the specs is to get a create a picture of the finished job.
If they want to fog that picture that's fine.
But at the end of the day, fog is expensive.