High-Performance Raceways for Electrical Systems: Specifier Resources
Introduction
Steel conduit protects electrical systems for the life of a building. Whether that protection ever reaches the field depends on how the project is specified. These two resources help design teams make the case for high-performance steel raceways and write them into construction documents so the intended product gets installed, not substituted later by a general or subcontractor.
Use them together. The first builds the value argument for owners, developers, and design-build teams. The second gives you the language to specify it.
Resource 1: A Case for High-Performance Raceways for Electrical Systems
This document explains why steel conduit is the right performance choice across a building’s life cycle. It covers survivability in physical, chemical, fire, and explosive environments, EMI and RF shielding for IT and medical applications, security benefits for data centers, and the role of steel conduit in resilient lifeline infrastructure. It also addresses recyclability, alignment with the Common Materials Framework, and life cycle cost.
Design teams, manufacturers, and contractors can use it in conversations with owners, developers, and design-build entities. Owners can incorporate it into their building or campus standards and hand it to the design team alongside the Guide Specification.
Resource 2: Guide Specification, Section 26 05 33.14
This is the companion construction specification for steel conduit in electrical systems. It is written for the design team to adapt into a project-specific spec, and it covers the three primary steel conduit types: Rigid Metal Conduit (RMC), Intermediate Metal Conduit (IMC), and Electrical Metallic Tubing (EMT), plus stainless steel and PVC-coated options.
The specification sets minimum mechanical properties that some imported products may not meet, restricts substitution of other raceway types, and includes Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) requirements with a manufacturer certification provision. Specifier notes throughout guide your edits, and bracketed selections mark the choices you make for each project.
The engineer of record must edit this specification for each application. Download the editable Word file to start.