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I have an electrician installing 2-1/2” Schedule 40 PVC conduit and am not impressed with the cuts that his crew are making with a reciprocating saw. Some cuts are out of square by roughly 15 degrees. Is there any standard or tolerance for such things? Are there any consequences of the cuts not being square? Is there a higher likelihood of the wire being caught up on a lip when pulled? These conduits are in deep trenches so any issues will require lots of re-digging.

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    Maybe a bit too much "looking over the shoulder" of your hired subcontractor going on here ?
    – Kyle
    Commented May 2, 2022 at 6:42
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    Are you pulling the wires after they install the conduit or are they? If they're doing it, and they're making their own jobs more difficult by sloppy workmanship, what difference does it make to you? Unless, of course, they're billing you by the hour. It certainly won't make any difference to the "waterproofness" of the conduit, as all conduit is presumed to be filled with water from the moment it touches the ground.
    – FreeMan
    Commented May 2, 2022 at 12:51
  • @FreeMan the wire won't be pulled until later and it's a long run; this sub won't have to deal with the consequences
    – Zachary Russell Heineman
    Commented May 12, 2022 at 5:18
  • @Kyle maybe so ;)
    – Zachary Russell Heineman
    Commented May 12, 2022 at 5:19

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A square cut is best in order to get PVC glue on as much surface area of the two conduits being joined, but the snagging part is only an issue if they try to push fish tape through the conduit later. But I think, if it is a long run and/or large diameter conduit, they will probably use a vacuum to suck a line of string through instead, in which case there shouldn't be any snagging. Once they get past the small gaps caused by the uneven cuts and tie on to the wires to be pulled, they'll shape the head of wires to glide over any problem areas and shouldn't have any difficulty.

However, on the off chance they do have issues and remediation is required, take some pictures now of the cuts they are making. It may help. I think it will turn out fine, though. Some people can't make a straight cut to save their lives, but then again, they've also learned it isn't life and death important.

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