I'm working at a new company and today an apprentice pointed out to me that a conduit needs to be supported within 3 feet of a coupling! When I told him I never heard of this, he said "oh yeah it's one of the first things I learned".
I asked for a code reference and he looked up 358.30A and really couldn't find exact wording. The closest he came to was the "tubing termination". Well, as far as I can see, a coupling is a extension of the pipe, not a termination.
What say you Joe Tedesco?

I'm no inspector, just a wannabe... But if one would space the straps say, 7 or 8 feet apart rather than 10 (which is pushing the limits I think, what if one ended up with two straps 10' 1/16" apart?) then it would be inevitable, given a long enough run, to have two adjacent straps as far as 3-1/2" to 4" away from a coupler and still meet the letter of the code.

Not to say that it isn't good practice to support near a setscrew connector.

Comments?

[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 10-30-2002).]

I don't have my ROPs and ROCs here at work but this question was addressed 2 or 3 code cycles ago. The panel action and comment made it clear that the code does not require a conduit support within 3' of conduit couplings.
Don

Resqcapt19:
What are ROPs and ROCs, and how can I find the info?

Thanks!
Brian

The ROP is the "Report on Proposals" and the ROC is the "Report on Comments". These documents are the "legislative history" of the NEC. Prior to the '96 code cycle the titles of these documents were "Technical Committee Report" and "Technical Committee Documentation", respectively. I don't know the availability of copies of these documents after the code cycle has been completed. During the code cycle these documents are automatically sent to any one who makes a proposal, comment or makes a request to the NFPA for a copy. The documents for the 2002 code cycle are available on line at: ROP and ROC
Code Making Panel 8's comments on proposals 8-159, 8-160, 8-162 and 8-163 for the 93 code cycle makes it clear that the code does not intend to require a support within 3' of each coupling.
Prior to the 93 code 348-12 said; "Electrical metallic tubing shall be installed as a complete system as provided in Article 300 and shall be securely fastened in place at least every 10 feet and within 3 feet of each outlet box, junction box, cabinet, or fitting." The word fitting, based on the Article 100 definition includes conduit couplings. The above listed proposals removed the word fitting so that support would not be required within 3' of each coupling. Proposal 8-162 was the one that was accepted and it changed the wording to read; "...junction box, cabinet, conduit body, or other tubing termination." The code making panel does not consider a coupling as a "tubing termination". A "tubing termination" only exists where the conduit is joined to something other than another piece of conduit.
Don

[This message has been edited by resqcapt19 (edited 11-01-2002).]