How Many Degrees of Bend Can a Conduit Run Have Between Pull Points?
The limit is 360 degrees, described in the Code as the equivalent of four quarter bends, and it applies between pull points such as conduit bodies and boxes. The number is identical across the raceway articles: 358.26 for EMT, 344.26 for rigid metal conduit, 342.26 for intermediate metal conduit, 352.26 for PVC, 348.26 for flexible metal conduit, and 350.26 for liquidtight flexible metal conduit.
Counting offsets correctly
The mistake that puts runs over the limit is counting an offset as one bend. An offset is two bends. A box offset is two bends. A saddle, sometimes called a three point saddle, is three bends. Every change of direction in the pipe counts its own degrees, and they all add up.
Work an example. A run has two box offsets at 10 degrees each and two other offsets at 40 degrees each. The two 10 degree box offsets contribute two bends apiece at 10 degrees, so 4 bends times 10 equals 40 degrees. The two 40 degree offsets contribute two bends apiece, so 4 bends times 40 equals 160 degrees. Total is 200 degrees. That is legal, and it leaves 160 degrees of headroom, which is one 90 and one 70, or almost two more 90s.
A common residential service run of two 90 degree bends and one 30 degree offset comes to 90 plus 90 plus 60, or 240 degrees. Add a second 30 degree offset and you are at 300. Add a third 90 and you are at 390, which is over. That is when a conduit body goes in.
Why the limit exists and what to do about it
Pulling tension climbs roughly exponentially with total bend angle because of the capstan effect: friction at each bend multiplies rather than adds. Four quarter bends is roughly where a normal crew with normal lubricant can still pull the conductors without damaging insulation. Beyond it, tension can strip jackets, stretch conductors, and in bad cases pull a conductor apart inside the pipe where nobody will find the break until it fails under load.
When a run needs more than 360 degrees, add a pull point. A conduit body such as an LB, LL, or T resets the count to zero on the other side. A pull box or junction box does the same and gives you room to hand feed. Size any pull box you add per 314.28, which requires straight pulls to be at least eight times the trade size of the largest raceway, and angle or U pulls to be at least six times the trade size plus the sum of the other raceways in the same row.
Two related limits are worth remembering with this one. Section 314.16(C)(2) prohibits using a conduit body as a splice point unless it is durably and legibly marked with its volume and the splice fits within the box fill calculation. And the minimum bend radius from Chapter 9, Table 2 still applies to each individual bend, so you cannot buy back headroom by making the bends tighter.