In supported NM: Is this "ok" in California.

tortuga said:
I think in Wisconsin where your from all residential electrical work is supposed to be performed by licensed electricians no matter what.
California last I checked and this was a few years ago, they have one of a kind dual system, where they let general contractors "General B" pull all the permits for a home and use their employees to do electrical with no licensing or certifications whatsoever and on the other hand the state regulates EC's to death requiring all their employees to be 'certified' or apprentices.
A builder can use a in house crew to do plumbing, hvac, electrical, roofing, solar you name it.
Electrical contractors that just specialize in electrical work are called a "C10" and are tightly regulated.
Its called the "General B loophole" is common on large developments like condo/town homes and results in comical looking romex jobs like you see.
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California,, enough said!
 
ramsy said:
What 10 amp wire are you talking about?

How do you figure 10 amp circuit breakers?

Get with the program, 16/2 available now is half the cost of 14/2, rated 75C, and 300v.

We all know as more disastrous GC's find this crap, CA combination inspectors will green tag it without looking twice.
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Oh, OK.

You are saying the branch circuits for buildings around you are being wired with CL2, CL3 low voltage cable (speaker wire). Sure, I believe that.

16 AWG building wire and 10 amp breakers are now part of the NEC.
 
curt swartz said:
You are saying the branch circuits for buildings around you are being wired with CL2, CL3 low voltage cable (speaker wire). Sure, I believe that.

16 AWG building wire and 10 amp breakers are now part of the NEC.
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I'm saying General Contractor's (GC) don't care, since laborers doing electrical use the cheapest-material choice, or buy it on Amazon.

I'm saying 16-Awg building wire will be a disaster in California, with GC laborers doing electrical.

Real Electrical Contractors (EC) will become whistleblowers, if not pulling permits for developers, sacrificial RMO's, or GC whipping boys.
 
16/2. I recently found a piece of 10/2 copper clad the first time I have ever seen it. It breaks if you look at it. Don't know if the alloy has changed but I wouldn't use it. I was practicing cutting and stripping it and a tiny nick will cause it to break when bent.
 
pipe_bender said:
Good luck getting homeowners insurance with any kind of aluminum branch circuit wring.
Good luck getting home insurance at all in some places.
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The new CCA "copper clad aluminum" was just approved by the NEC standards council at the end of August 2025,
for residential use, on 10 amp breakers. Inspectors and insurance agents will have to learn what's "new" aluminum, and what's old aluminum.

I for one feel they screwed up royally by not mandating much more clear and evident markings for the new stuff: at a glance and on the wire fine print.
 
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