High drama at the NFPA. 14 AWG Copper Clad Aluminum Conductors

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brycenesbitt

Senior Member
Location
United States
There was more high drama at the NFPA.

The standards council rejected the vote at the technical meeting regarding 14 AWG Copper Clad Aluminum wiring.

The accusations and bad faith going back and forth were dramatic: accusations of vote rigging, test rigging, and apparently personal litigation against individual members of the CMP. It featured vendors who sell one type of product who passionately spoke about why the other guy's product was bad.
Wow. Someone needs to write a tela-novella or at least a podcast.

Allied Tube v. Indian Head, Inc. | 486 U.S. 492 (1988) was invoked multiple times.

Pretty high drama.
The SC dismissed all that, but focused on process:
During the present revision cycle, CMP 6 reached consensus on the inclusion of 14 AWG CCA and 16
AWG at both the First and Second Draft stages of the NFPA standards development process. The record
reflects that CMP 6 reviewed multiple reports submitted, including the FPRF Report. There were no
conflicting data or test reports submitted to oppose the research CMP 6 relied upon to add 14 AWG CCA
to Section 310.5(A).
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And while rejecting the claim the vote was rigged at the Technical Meeting, did disregard that same vote:
In the view of the Council, this appeal does present a clear and substantial basis upon
which to overturn the results yielded by the NFPA standards development process. Accordingly, the
Council has voted to uphold the appeal. The effect of this action is that NFPA 70, National Electrical
Code, will include Section 310.5(A) as amended by SR 8471
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So if you were in the room, that historic moment when CCA was approved, did happen.
The new rule is:
310.3(A) Minimum Size of Conductors.
The minimum size of conductors for voltage ratings up to and including 2000 volts shall be 16 AWG copper, 14 AWG copper-clad aluminum, or 12 AWG aluminum, except as permitted elsewhere in this code
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210.24 Minimum for 10A breakers is changed to match.
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Thus you will be able to run LED lighting circuits using the lighter weight wire, on 10A breakers.
Will 16 AWG CCA and 5A breakers be next?
Or just energy harvesting from WiFi signals for lighting?

Read all about it next year at https://www.nfpa.org/sc2026
Or today at https://www.nfpa.org/sc2025
 
Does the CCA have the same advantages of copper in terms of being able to ♻
Yes, and no.

No, in that it's worth less and who would bother.
No, in that it's mixed copper and aluminum and that can't later be separated.
Yes, in that in real world recycling a bit of copper in the aluminum alloy is beneficial apparently, the CCA if available in high volume with the right purity and the right metallurgical tricks, then it could offset the use of virgin copper.
 
brycenesbitt said:
The accusations and bad faith going back and forth were dramatic: accusations of vote rigging, test rigging, and apparently personal litigation against individual members of the CMP. It featured vendors who sell one type of product who passionately spoke about why the other guy's product was bad.
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I suspected was happening to cause all the over the top changes like AFCI and expansion of GFCI with each new code cycle. Looks like the political climate is spilling over and big money outside interests are taking control of the NEC.

Time to halt new code cycles until the NEC can get their act together.

-Hal
 
hbiss said:
Looks like the political climate is spilling over and big money outside interests are taking control of the NEC.
Click to expand...

The level of money fueled distortion was quite intense on the wire argument.

One side spoke passionately about safety, describing a failed wire test, where the new wire overheated under normal conditions.
The other side said yeah, but your wire tested under the same conditions fails in the same way. Like toddlers arguing. Each side's argument lined up exactly with their pocketbooks.

It's like there no way for the NFPA to say "we're going to get an impartial body to do fair and neutral test".

I certainly hope that the CMP did it's job on reviewing the various test data, and accelerated aging tests. I can say that what got presented on appeal was more like Cliff Notes from a cat fight, than test results.
 
brycenesbitt said:
Thus you will be able to run LED lighting circuits using the lighter weight wire, on 10A breakers.
Click to expand...
Nope....they missed changing 210.19(D) which sets the minimum size of branch circuit conductors as 14 AWG, and per 110.4 where the code does not specify a conductor material, it shall be taken as copper.
Sure we can run 10 amp circuits, but will have to use 14 AWG copper, or 12 AWG aluminum or CCA.
I see a TIA coming soon on this point.
 
brycenesbitt said:
@don_resqcapt19
does that put it at conflict with 210.24 the summary table?

View attachment 2579533
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It does, but the summary is just to be a summary of actual rules. The actual rule in 210.19(D) prohibits branch circuit conductors smaller than 14 AWG copper. In my opinion, the more specific rule in 210.12(D) governs. The parent text above the table even says:
See 210.19, 210.120, and 210.21 for the specific requirements applying to branch circuits.{/quote]
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Keep in mind what the NEC allows and what you can insure are two different things.
Here insurance carriers are non-renewing policies for a variety of reasons.
I am working on a huge job now rewiring condos that were all aluminum with FPE panels because they could not get insurance coverage.
The underground feeders are staying aluminum but all the interior branch circuits will be copper.
 
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