Why every electrical job needs a cable schedule
On a small tenant finish the panel schedule and the plans are enough. The moment a job has feeders to switchgear, an MCC, motor branch circuits and control cable, you need one list that says what every cable is, where it goes, what it's in, and where it stands. That's the cable schedule. The foreman cuts wire from it, the estimator orders from it, the engineer checks it against the one-line, and at turnover the owner gets it back with every cable marked pulled, terminated and megged.
The free workbook above has three working sheets: the Cable Schedule with a built-in fill check, a Pull Sheet that calculates pulling tension and sidewall pressure both directions, and a Pull Log to record what actually happened on each pull.
Filling out the cable schedule
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Cable ID | Match the drawings and the cable tags. A pattern like F-MSB-02 (feeder from MSB, #2) or P-101-PWR (power to pump P-101) makes the schedule self-explanatory. |
| From / To | Equipment tags, and bucket or breaker where it matters (MCC-1 3B). |
| # Conductors, size, insulation | Phase conductors plus neutral if there is one. For multiconductor cable (MC, TC-ER), enter 1 — it counts as one conductor for fill. |
| EGC size | Equipment grounding conductor. Wire footage adds one conductor when an EGC is listed. |
| Raceway ID and type/size | The raceway type matters — EMT, RMC, PVC Schedule 40 and Schedule 80 all have different internal areas at the same trade size. |
| Length and wire ft | Routed length. Wire ft = length × conductors — add your makeup and tail allowance when you order. |
| Areas, fill %, max fill | You enter one conductor's area, the EGC area, and the raceway's 100% area from NEC Chapter 9 (Tables 4, 5 and 5A) or the manufacturer, and the allowed fill % from Chapter 9, Table 1. The schedule calculates fill and flags OVER FILL. |
| Status | Not started → Pulled → Terminated → Megged → Complete. The totals row counts complete cables. |
The fill check is a planning tool — catch the 1-1/4" EMT that should have been 1-1/2" before it's roughed in, not after. For a one-off check, use the free conduit fill calculator or the conduit fill chart; conductor dimensions are summarized in our Chapter 9 dimensions guide.
Cable pulling tension: the math in the pull sheet
Big feeders don't fail on bid day — they fail at the tugger, when the rope is groaning and the dynamometer is climbing. A few minutes on the pull sheet tells you which end to pull from, whether you need another pull box, and whether the grip is the weak link. The worksheet uses the standard planning equations:
- Horizontal straight run: Tout = Tin + W × μ × wc × L
- Bend: Tout = Tin × e(wc × μ × θ), with θ in radians (90° = 1.571)
- Vertical up / down: Tout = Tin ± W × L
- Sidewall pressure: SWBP = Tout ÷ R (lb per foot of bend radius)
Where W is the total weight of all cables in lb/ft, μ is the coefficient of friction, wc is the weight correction factor for cables that cradle or triangulate in the raceway (use 1.0 if you don't have it), L is the length and R is the bend radius in feet. Every one of those comes from the cable and lubricant manufacturer — the worksheet makes them inputs and labels the example values as examples. See our cable pulling tension and sidewall pressure guide for more on where the numbers come from.
Why direction matters
The bend equation multiplies. A 90° sweep near the pulling end multiplies a high tension; the same sweep near the feed end multiplies a low one. In the example in the workbook — three 500 kcmil conductors, 228 ft of 4" raceway with four 90° sweeps — pulling one way ends at about 2,400 lb and the other way about 1,700 lb. The sheet runs both directions automatically (reversing flips vertical up and down) and recommends the direction that stays under the limits with the lower final tension.
Allowable tension
The allowable tension is the lesser of two things:
- What the conductors can take — a common guideline for copper pulled by a pulling eye is 0.008 lb per circular mil × number of conductors, often reduced (for example × 0.8) when three or more conductors share the load. Aluminum and some cable types are lower. The value is editable — use the manufacturer's.
- What the pulling hardware can take — a basket grip on the jacket is often well below the conductor limit. Enter the grip, eye or rope rating.
Bends between pull points
Most raceway articles cap total bends between pull points at 360° (for example 344.26 for RMC, 352.26 for PVC, 358.26 for EMT — verify for your raceway and edition). The pull sheet totals the bend degrees and flags anything over the limit you set.
What to do when the pull doesn't work on paper
- Pull from the other end. Check the reverse column first — it's free.
- Move the bends toward the feed end if the route isn't fixed yet.
- Use larger-radius sweeps. Sidewall pressure drops directly with radius.
- Add a pull box to split the pull.
- Better lubrication. μ drives both equations — the right lube, enough of it, applied as the cable enters.
- Pull with a pulling eye instead of a basket grip if the grip is the limit.
The pull log is your turnover record
On industrial and mission-critical work, the owner or commissioning agent will ask how each large feeder was pulled. The Pull Log records the calculated tension, the allowable, the actual dynamometer maximum, the lube used and the crew — and flags any pull that exceeded the allowable. Pair it with the free insulation resistance test report so every cable has a pull record and a megger test before it's energized.
Related tools
- Voltage drop calculator — check long feeders before you size the raceway
- Wire ampacity chart and ampacity correction factors
- Conduit support spacing and PVC expansion
- Electrical labor units — for pricing the pull
- Panel schedule template
- All free construction templates
Track every cable from pull to turnover
Field PM gives electrical contractors daily reports, crew time, QC inspections and hold points, test records and job cost in one app — so pulled, terminated and tested is visible from the office the day it happens. Start a free 30-day trial.
This workbook is a planning and field-record tool, not engineering advice. The cable manufacturer's tension, sidewall pressure and bending limits govern, and manufacturers use more detailed equations for inclined runs and cradled or triangular configurations. Verify raceway fill and bend limits against the NEC edition adopted by your AHJ.
