I m building a new home outside the city limits in liberty county in texas my electrician ran the main power feed wire from the meter through the exterior wall up into the attic and down into the breaker panel without any conduit.
Is conduit required in attic.
It will be easier to repair wires if there is a short in the line.
It is not required by the nec in a residential attic.
A loose cable like in the photo above gets caught in the spring mechanism of a pull down folding ladder at the attic opening and frayed.
There are a few rules you need to follow but conduit is not one of them.
Code requires that romex be installed in a conduit.
Using conduits will ensure that your wires are kept together.
Always check in with the local building code authority.
Conduit also protects your wires from exposed surfaces such as rough bricks in a basement.