Surface mounted mc cable ??

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Buck Parrish

Buck Parrish

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NC & IN
In a telemarketers office. I ran three mc cables, surface mounted to the sheet rock with one hole straps. Straight down in the corner. From the drop cieling down to under a desk wher I surface mounted 4 in. sq. outlet boxes. A little late now but, does code allow that ? The cables are out of the way where they won't be hit or even touched.
 
I say it might be, but things are pretty liberal in my area with regard to what all they consider "exposed to physical damage". I can see tougher areas not liking that at all. The code is, at best, fuzzy on your install. If these cables are arranged in such a way that they're going to get beat up by vacuum sweepers, it gets a thumbs down from me. I'm not so sure you can find many people that are going to give their blessing to MC running across an office floor.
 
Thanks,
I thought it was okay or may be a gray area in the code.
It's mounted to the wall above the floor. Behind all their telephone equipment.
 
buckofdurham said:
Thanks,
I thought it was okay or may be a gray area in the code.
It's mounted to the wall above the floor. Behind all their telephone equipment.
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In that case, it would be fine with me, but your mileage will vary. I wonder if you've worked in your particular geographical area long enough to know how hard, generally, inspectors are on the physical protection aspect of work? Some areas have set arbitrary 4' and 8' rules as a guidline to work by.
 
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mdshunk said:
In that case, it would be fine with me, but your mileage will vary. I wonder if you've worked in your particular geographical area long enough to know how hard, generally, inspectors are on the physical protection aspect of work? Some areas have set arbitrary 4' and 8' rules as a guidline to work by.
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We have so many cities in this area. We are always dealing with different inspections departments. What's up with the 4 and 8 ft. rule?
 
buckofdurham said:
What's up with the 4 and 8 ft. rule?
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I don't know. I suppose you'd have to ask the local folks that make these rules. In practice, they automatically assume any wiring below a certain level off the deck (like 4' or 8') is exposed to physical damage. I don't happen to agree with that, but it is nice that they've made rule that everyone can go by without confusion.
 
Local code could put this into their Sec 100.
Subject to Physical Damage. Wiring installed within 2.44 m (8 feet) of a walking surface or finished floor is considered subject to physical damage.
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Otherwise - if an inspector came up with some arbitrary rule of his/her own to interpet that definition - and they very well could - it would be something to just get used to.
 
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