Code for open conduit feeding main breaker

jr1783

Hello i have a open piece of conduit coming up through the 2cnd floor that feeds directly in the main breaker for a commercial building. Is there a code and if so what section that states the open conduit needs to be capped off or marked for high voltage? The building is an office building built in 1994. Thank you.

Saturday Cowboy

if its a commercial building all work must be done by a licensed electrician.

Sorry but do the number of exceptions that might apply to your situation it is impossible to tell.

__________________
Ragged Trousered Philanthropist


Please follow the code - its there for your safety no matter how inconvenient.

jr1783

I understand that a licensed electrician should take care of any electrical work in the building. The issue is that someone used that conduit to feed some phone lines through and due to it not being marked ended up sticking a metal fish tape in and almost got zapped! I was curious to what code in the NEC was it breaking that it was not capped and marked.... thanks.

nap

is there any power conductors running through it? If so, what type of wire was used?

there is no requirement to mark it. As to capping it; basically, yes, it must be closed off. Don't know the code section offhand.

It is also a poor installer who blindly sticks a metal fishtape into a conduit without knowing where it leads to. How did somebody use it for phone lines if it goes into the service panel? That was illegal.

jr1783

There were no lines running through the conduit. The rooms are stacked the tech needed to run a phone line from one room to another. He went above and saw that was the only open conduit in the room and tried to use it. No lines ended up being run but he tried to use it. I need to find out what code it is that says that conduit should have been capped. The open conduit that was feeding into the main breaker was also directly next to a sink. Common sense tells me that there shouldn't be an open conduit feeding into a large breaker like that near a water source either....Im really trying to find out what code this was violating. Thanks.

nap

what difference does it really make? Put a box on the end of the conduit and be done with it. The tech was an idiot for not being aware of the layout of the building and blindly running a fishtape down a conduit, that is obviously directly above the panel on the floor below.


Huh? if the open conduit and sink was on a different floor, the fact there was water is meaningless. You can put a panel right beside a sink if you want to as long as you respect required work clearances.

so, put a box on the conduit and move on with life. There are more important issues to deal with than worry about some number from a book.