supporting raceways

[willieahrens]

i have have a friend who is also a electrian and at the company where he works they dont use caddy clamps to support the pipe. they use #12 wire to secure it to beams . all i find in the code book is the distance of supports but nothing on if the support has to be made of. anyone know if its in the code book .if so where, i dont belive that #12 wire is a good support but i dont own the company.

 

[iwire]

Re: supporting raceways

Supports for EMT do not have to be listed, and as long as these made supports meet this requirement they are OK.

300.11 Securing and Supporting.
(A) Secured in Place. Raceways, cable assemblies, boxes, cabinets, and fittings shall be securely fastened in place. Support wires that do not provide secure support shall not be permitted as the sole support. Support wires and associated fittings that provide secure support and that are installed in addition to the ceiling grid support wires shall be permitted as the sole support. Where independent support wires are used, they shall be secured at both ends. Cables and raceways shall not be supported by ceiling grids.

You can even do this if you choose.

Look at the center picture, that is 3 EMTs supported by a 12 AWG steel wire, in order to do this the bottom end of the wire must also be fastened.

It sounds like in your case they just 'tied' the EMT to the beams which could be very secure with 12 AWG steel wire even if it looks like %*#@.

Many times the quality of the job has more to do with the person installing the work than it has to do with NEC requirements.

 

[bphgravity]

Re: supporting raceways

Made supports and straps for raceway systems may not be required to be listed, but they will need to be approved. Consult your AHJ before any non-typical installation.

I have used tie-wire for building conduit racks, and there is a technique that works very well for holding the conduit secure. I believe there are a few "made" support methods shown and described in the American Electrician's Handbook as well.

 

[willieahrens]

Re: supporting raceways

i agree that it would look like crap.now the wire that is being used is copper not steel. my freind dose not like doing this but he is not the jw. thanks for the input