Electrical rough in meaning?

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Hi, I'm putting a subpanel and circuits in EMT in my garage. My inspector wants two inspections, one at rough in and one on completion. My question is where do you stop for the rough in? Is that the subpanel, conduit, and wiring? I'm thinking rough in means no switches or outlets. Is that right? Thanks

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Alan....That's typically what my electrical inspector wants at rough-in. DO NOT HAVE ELECTICITY IN THE NEW CIRCUITS. They want to see the wire in the boxes....make sure the wire is the proper size and secured properly as it enters and leaves boxes...make sure the bends are the proper radius......Make sure the boxes are the proper size and proper height if required by local code. They want to see it before it is covered.

Then the final inspection is with the insulation, walls covered and outlets, switches etc. installed and covers in place.

[Dennis Peacock]

I agree with what Ken stated. No plugs or switches installed. The inspector should be looking at the conduit runs, wiring installed prior to hookup. No power to any circuit...in fact, the wiring should only be "ran" to your primary panel and NOT hooked up.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Thanks Ken and Dennis, So I'll just do the conduit and wiring then call for the first inspection. Maybe I should call my inspector to check on specifics like box height/size. I was going to use the largest boxes that HD or Lowes uses. Thanks again. If anybody else has suggestions on running conduit please chime in. Alan

[Roland Chung]

If you are required to run a secondary or mechanical ground, they like to see that in place. I crimp at least couple of leads off of the ground wire in each box and hook one up to each box and have one available to connect to each switch or outlet.

I got bawled out once about not leaving enough wire hanging out of the box-leave at least a foot hanging out.

No more than 3 90 degree turns in a run. If you need to make more turns, add another box that you can pull from.

If your conduits and boxes are all surfaced mount, figure out how to use "industrial plates" (I think that is what they are called).

Check out the Garden Web's electrician forum and get help if you need it. A mistake with a woodworking tool can cost you a finger - a mistake with electricity can be worse. Good luck!

RC

[Bruce Wrenn]

Alan, I hope you are putting in 3/4" EMT, and not 1/2" EMT. This will give you room for expansion later if machinery changes. My machine circuits are multiwire branch circuits. A two pole breaker furnishes both 110 circuit and 220 circuit. If you are using EMT for the ground, at each box, you will need to have a ground wire bonded to the box on rough in, along with circuit conductors.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Thanks Bruce and Roland. Great ideas.


Any other suggestions? How about box sizes. Are the ones sold in HD and Lowes big enough? I plan to do 4 outlets/box. Is there a certain cubic inch recommendation. I want to have plenty of room for connections. Thanks!

[Steven Triggs]

Is there a certain cubic inch recommendation.

Yes, there is a calculation for the cubic inches required of a box. You add up the following:
2 for each yoke (a switch or a duplex outlet is 1 yoke)
1 for all grounds combined
1 for each current-carrying conductor (hot or neutral)

You then mulitiply the resulting total by 2, 2.25, or 2.5 for 14 AWG, 12 AGW, or 10 AWG respectively.

For example:
one box on circuit that is wired with 12 AWG
(2 for one yoke) one duplex outlet
(5 for 2 hots, 2 neutrals, and all grounds) one 12-2 cable feeding the box, one 12-2 cable exiting the box to feed the next box)
total = 7
multiply by 2.25
15.75 cubic inches required

[Darrin Vanden Bosch]

Alan,
The best advise I could give you is to ask your inspectorany questions you have, he/she will tell you what you will need, i.e. number of fixtures on a circuit for wire size as well as amps. This is their job so they shouldn't have a problem helping you out with any question regarding your electrical concerns. They want you to be as safe as possible when all is said and done.
If you do not feel comfortable doing this yourself I urge you to hire a qualified, licensed electrician to do this for you, electricity is not something to play around with if you don;t know what you are doing.

Darrin

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Thanks Steven and Darrin, That's interesting how you figure the box size. I can do that. I am comfortable working with electricity( have done a lot in the past) but have never had an inspector look at my work. I'm just trying to get this right the first time. So I will give him a call to get things off on the right foot. Thanks again for all the useful info. Alan