Chicago and most of the surrounding counties require conduit, EMT for interior, GRC or IMC for exterior, PVC allowed sometimes for underground. New residential all conduit, no MC cable or BX or NM cable. Smurf tube not allowed either in most areas. You gentlemen from other planets (cuz Chicago can be so weird it is almost a separate planet) would be amazed at how fast an experienced crew can rough a wood frame house - I believe our res guy said a typical 3 bedroom 2 story gets roughed in about 24-30 man hours... 3 guys usually a day or so.
Doug, my mom's house was built in the 1920's, we still have the original blueprints... was a big help when I did my first 'side job' rewiring the whole house. Got bit hard by my first 'Chicago 3-way'
