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Thursday, June 16, 2022

Question:

Good Afternoon Code Friends,

When physical protection is needed for a grounding electrode conductor, can Schedule 40 PVC be used? I'd rather not have to do the bonding at both ends of a ferrous metal raceway as required in 250.64€(1).

Your guidance is appreciated.

Larry Smith

A

Answer:

Hi Larry,

Thanks for the question. Your thoughts are on the right track as far as effectively eliminating the choke effect by installing nonmetallic PVC for protection of a grounding electrode conductor. The answer is found in Section 250.64(B)(2) in the 2020 NEC which clearly requires schedule 80 PVC when installing it to achieve required physical protection for grounding electrode conductors. Schedule 40 PVC does not have the required impact and crush-resistant characteristics that schedule 80 does.

Hope this is useful.

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