Is EMT an acceptable equipment grounding conductor?

Yes. NEC 250.118 lists electrical metallic tubing as a permitted equipment grounding conductor when fittings are made up tight and the run is electrically continuous.

Does flexible metal conduit count as a ground?

Only under limits in 250.118: listed fittings, circuit protection at 20 amps or less, and no more than 6 feet total length in the ground path, otherwise pull a wire EGC.

Can Conduit Serve as Your Grounding Conductor?

A user asked the app whether the conduit itself can be used as the grounding conductor. Under NEC 2023 the answer is yes for the rigid metal families, with conditions, and the governing list is 250.118.

What 250.118 permits

Rigid metal conduit, intermediate metal conduit, and electrical metallic tubing are all named in 250.118 as permitted equipment grounding conductors. So is Type MC cable with an interlocked armor listed for grounding, and metal cable trays and auxiliary gutters under their own conditions. When you run EMT from the panel to a metal box with proper fittings, that tubing is a code recognized EGC and no green wire is required by the NEC itself.

The conditions that make or break it

The raceway has to be electrically continuous from the enclosure back to the source. That means every coupling and connector made up wrench tight, locknuts seated through paint, and bonding jumpers around anything that interrupts continuity such as concentric knockouts on service equipment per 250.92 and 250.97 where over 250 volts to ground. A sagging setscrew connector or a corroded compression fitting in a wet location breaks the fault path, and an open EGC is invisible until the day a fault energizes a box.

The flexible conduits are different

Flexible metal conduit and liquidtight flexible metal conduit qualify only within tight limits in 250.118: listed fittings, overcurrent protection generally 20 amps or less, and a maximum of 6 feet of flex in any ground return path. Beyond that, or where flexibility after installation is the reason the flex is there, such as on a vibrating motor, you must pull a separate equipment grounding conductor per 250.118 and 350.60. PVC and other nonmetallic raceways are never grounding conductors, so every PVC run carries a wire EGC sized per 250.122.

Why many jobs pull a wire anyway

Plenty of specs and many engineers require a wire type EGC in every raceway even where the tubing qualifies. Fittings loosen over decades, tubing gets separated during remodels, and a green wire is cheap insurance. The NEC sets the floor, not the ceiling, and a spec that exceeds it controls the job.

Want to know whether your specific raceway and fitting combination qualifies, with the section cited? That is exactly what Ask BONBON does, on your phone, in the time it takes to open the code book.