Can conduit be laid on the ground under a low deck?

Question

I'm planning my run from my main breaker panel to a hot tub subpanel. all wiring will be in PVC conduit. At first, the plan was to bury the entire run. However, as it turns out I could greatly shorten the run by running it under my ~1-2 foot elevated deck. The problem I have since the deck is so low, I can't dig a trench under the deck.

Can I simply lay the conduit on the ground for the run that would only be under the deck?

Answer 1

The deck acts as the protection required by code. You could even use UF under the deck without conduit.

The conduit would be needed prior to exiting from underneath the deck.

Make sure you use a wet rated conductor. Most THHN is dual-rated, as is THWN. This is important because conduit outside is identified by code as a wet location.