I had an e-mail exchange with an electrician at the local permit office. I told him I am planning on running EMT through my workshop and planned on using the EMT as the grounding wire. He said that is allowed by code, but he "strongly recommended against it" because one bad screw will break the path to ground. Are these connectors that prone to failure?
EMT Connectors – Are EMT Connectors Prone to Disconnecting?
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Best Answer
No. Code would not allow it if it was a significant risk.
Do be sure to properly tighten all the screws and threaded connections, but they don't just randomly break or "go bad."
Or: Consider that when you use grounding wires, "one bad screw will break the path to ground", too.