TL;DR
Rigid metal conduit is the heaviest-wall steel raceway in the electrical trade, threaded like water pipe and galvanized, providing maximum physical protection plus a code-recognized equipment grounding path through its own body. The NEC permits it everywhere—buried, embedded, exposed, and in hazardous locations—with a shallower burial allowance of 6 inches thanks to its strength.
What it means
Rigid metal conduit is the heaviest-wall steel raceway in the electrical trade, threaded like water pipe and galvanized, providing maximum physical protection plus a code-recognized equipment grounding path through its own body. The NEC permits it everywhere—buried, embedded, exposed, and in hazardous locations—with a shallower burial allowance of 6 inches thanks to its strength. Mast risers for overhead services and exposed runs subject to impact are its classic residential uses; IMC is its lighter cousin.
Where it sits in the glossary
Rigid metal conduit is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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