Backside of finished wall in basement romex?

[corysold]

I'm finishing my basement and running 12/2 romex for the outlets (allowed by my city, job will be inspected).

There will be a large, unfinished storage area. Am I allowed to run the romex in this framed wall, since the backside will be exposed, or does that part of the wall need to be in conduit?

To be clear, there will be a finished space with drywall. That framed wall will be open on the backside to the unfinished storage area. Can I run the romex through the framing, or does it need to be in conduit since it is exposed on the back?

I called the city, but the building guy is out this week and no one else there knew and I'd like to keep working.

 

[Stuff]

It is a storage area so I would think it would be classified as exposed and subject to damage. It is up to your city but plan on installing drywall or at least ledger boards to protect it. Conduit would be overkill/too much work.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[WoodenTent]

You location says Illinois, if you are in Chicago area, I think they often want BX cable, so they might have a special rule in place.

If you wires are routed thru the framing of the wall as it would be in a normal finished wall (drilled studs, nail plates as required, properly secured, etc) there should be no issue. No different than an unfinished basement ceiling, or a garage, or any other space where the framing is often left exposed.

You can't run NM-B outside the framing, that is, down the surface of a wall, on the outside edge of studs, or across the bottom of a ceiling joist.

That said, having the wires spanning a stud bay, there is the risk of objects falling on it, or someone using them as a place to hook a coat hanger on and so forth. If you did blocking across the stud bays and stapled the wires to the bottom side, you would then provide protection of the wires from being hit from falling objects, plus provide small shelves to store small mason jars of random fasteners/nails/screws for posterity.