OT, but for all you pro's - what's the story with BX/MC/AC on exposed interior runs. All the pro's I've worked with - they pull pipe and run wire. Any notion of exposed clad wire (just short of circuit runs back to a main panel) is considered hack work by the professional electricians in my area.

What brought this up today, was my locksmith. Inside their control panel, instead of the typical 18/2-plug in transformer, they switched it to hardwire from a quad box that was close by. Instead of pipeing to their panel, they just ran BX to it...
I suppose they don't know how to use a pipe bender. I'm going to have our spark come by one day to run pipe and correct the exposed BX...

In your neck of the woods, is exposed metal clad wire considered hack work

 

Exposed BX/AC/MC/FMC on exterior walls IS hack because it's not legal. It's only for dry locations. In damp/wet locations you can only use LFMC and LFNMC (the gray whip between the AC unit and the cutoff) or EMT with compression fittings (as long as it is oriented to drain)..

There's nothing wrong with running armored cable exposed on INTERIOR walls (aside from its ugliness).

 

No, that's not hack work. It's done every day.

 

My guess is those who call it hack work and insist on bending pipe are IBEW. Union workers are pro anything that makes the job take longer and hence makes them more money. The requirements for all wiring to be in conduit in Chicago and many of its suburbs were largely driven by the unions to create more work.

 

They both have their places.

EMT can be a little excessive in some locations and MC cable can be a little hacky looking in others. It's mostly a personal preference issue.

 

They don't make more money by making the job take longer.... they drag ass instead, making the profit margin rise.
Sounds like a waste of money to me.

 

The Original Question could be a regional think. Sorta like East Coast- Sidewinders, West Cost - WormDrives.

Any interior space that has been done by a pro, it's always been pipe.
Even if it's running through a unfinished storage space or closet.
So yes, seeing that BX is eyesore...even though it's in the telcom closet.

 

I think yer right on the regional thing Pingable. When I worked at HD in VA...our electric room had plenty of BX. Same with controls for the rollup door and such. Now...the main to subpanels in the electrical room was all conduit....but any changes or add-ons were BX. Wasn't just hanging or sloppy though.

 

I would not spend any money to change it, especially in a closet.

 

I don't like to see MC or AC cable either, but just because I can see it doesn't make it illegal or hack work. I don't like seeing SEU cable on a residential service either, but it's not hack work, but done almost as a standard today. I prefer pipe/wire even on a residential service, but I wouldn't be very competitive if that was what I as a contractor exclusively installed.

 

There is nothing wrong with using bx. The only downside is that if you severe a wire or something, you cannot just pull a new one in.
I don't like looking at it personally though. I just finished a mechanical room at the site I'm on and used liquid tight flex to drop off the ceiling pearlings to the pumps, boiler, etc.
Sometimes bx is actually the preferable way to go. Can you imagine how dumb it would look if some hanging lights had pipe ran down to them instead of a bx neatly ran down the chain/aircraft cable etc.?

 

I believe the OP meant outside the wall, as in not concealed in a sheetrock wall.

We use pipe on a lot of out jobs even when it is concealed in a wall (most cases to the switch box) or above a suspended ceiling. This gives us the flexibility to make changes, or add later down the road. I can think of many buildings where the previous contractor just ran cable everywhere and it mad it almost imposable to add a simple receptacle in a wall. Don't get me wrong, we use plenty of cable, it is just always hidden from view.

I can see how things are going. It seems that build outs are wham, bam, and get the job done as fast as you can because the tenant is only going to be around for 2-3 years. Worst I have seen lately was where all the home runs were cable. They even ran MC inside 3/4 Sealtight to an outside sign. *sigh*

That would be true if they were only doing time and material jobs. However, if the job was bid the bosses will still want the job to get done as fast as possible. I have seen cable (mostly Core-clad) that is run exposed so it is neat and nice looking, but again, that takes time and a lot of tie wraps or tie wire. Most cases it is in the big warehouse type stores. You can always see me looking up while the wife is shopping.

 

Cheers to that!

"What are you looking at?"
"Some guy ran friday pipe, that 1/2" is crooked as hell!"