How Many Bends in a Conduit Run?

A maximum of 360 degrees of total bends between pull points, which is the equivalent of four 90-degree bends. This is set by NEC 358.26 for EMT, 344.26 for rigid (RMC), 342.26 for IMC, and 352.26 for PVC, and the number is the same for every raceway type. Pull points are the boxes, conduit bodies, and cabinets where you can access the conductors to pull them, so the 360-degree limit resets at each one.

Four, if they are the only bends in the run, because four 90s equal 360 degrees, the maximum. But if the run also has offsets, saddles, or kicks, those angles count toward the 360 too, so you may be limited to fewer 90s. For example, a run with two 90-degree bends (180 degrees) and two 30-degree offset bends on each of two offsets can quickly approach the limit. Add up every bend angle in the run.

Yes. The NEC limit is total degrees of bend, not the number of 90s, so every bend between two pull points counts. An offset is two bends (two 30-degree bends add 60 degrees); a three-point saddle is three bends (a 45-degree center plus two 22.5-degree outer bends adds 90 degrees); a kick is one bend. Sum all of them. This is the part people miss: three 90s plus one offset can already be near the limit.

You add a pull point. Install a junction box, a pull box, or a conduit body (like an LB or LL) to break the run, and the 360-degree count starts over from that point. The limit exists so conductors can be pulled without so much friction that the insulation is damaged or the pull becomes impossible, so exceeding it is not just a code violation, it makes the wire pull fail.

That describes a saddle, which crosses an obstacle and returns to the original line. A three-point saddle uses three bends (one center bend and two outer bends), and a four-point saddle uses four bends (two offsets back to back). Both keep the conduit on its original run, and the total of those bend angles counts toward the 360-degree limit for the run.