Some projects can have miles of underground conduit while others may have very little.
A free-standing new building such as a car dealership will have many underground conduits supplying parking lot lighting, other detached buildings, and monument signs. A remodel to turn an existing business office into a dental office might not involve new underground conduits outside the building envelope, but it will likely require concrete slab cutting and underground conduits installed to each location where a dental exam chair will be placed inside the building.
Make sure to communicate with the electrician and find out when the site work and paving will be completed. If there will be parking lot lighting installed, be sure to follow the plans when inspecting the lighting pole bases. For parking lot lighting, inspecting the conduits may take some coordination if other trades are setting the form and installing the rebar. Often, the electrical inspector or a combination inspector is responsible for all aspects of the pole base inspection including verifying the hole is at the proper depth, inspecting the form, inspecting rebar (where required) and inspecting the electrical conduits.
Many jurisdictions will have combination inspectors who will expect to see the entire pole base as well as the electrical conduit and any required grounding ready to go for a single inspection. The inspector wants to be called out for inspection of the pole bases when everything is 100% installed and ready, but just before the concrete is poured.
Be mindful of any additional grounding specified by the electrical engineer. The NEC® does not specifically require ground rods or a grounding electrode conductor to be installed inside a light pole base, but many engineers show them on the plans as an additional measure that is above the minimum code requirements.
In most cases, when the inspector arrives to inspect the pole bases, the following is expected to be ready:
Refer to the image of the pole base detail.
What size electrical conduit is specified?
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