Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Quick NoteI have confirmed with Citizens Insurance this morning that Citizens is now writing policies on houses with aluminum with a
few provisions. They are only accepting houses that have been "pig-tailed" with Alumiconn or Copalum connectors.
They also have to have a state certified, licensed electrician sign off on the house that the approved connectors were
used and the aluminum wiring in the breaker panel is corrosion free, tight, and properly connected. They have finally
made the distinction between the 240 V multi-strand circuits and the 110 single strand branch circuits. All outlets,
switches and fixtures will need to be made up with either of these two connectors. These are NOT wire nuts, rather they
are a proprietary system tested by UL and NEC approved. Most "pig-tail" jobs that I've seen will not be accepted
under the latest requirements. The good news is that there is an alternative to the prospect of totally rewiring a house
with copper. These requirements can be met at about 1/10 of the cost of a total rewire. You can search for ALUMICONN
or COPALUM and get all the info that you need. if you are dealing with an aluminum wire house, buying or selling, this
will need to be dealt with if the house is going to be insurable. As it stands right now (as I've been told) Citizens
is the only insurer of houses with aluminum wiring and they are only insuring with these requirements met. I'm also
told by Citizens that they are looking at other ways of making the connections but for now these two are the only approved
ones. However due to the ever-changing nature of the insurance industry in Florida please understand that I can only
relate what I've been told. I've heard there is an insurance company that will take aluminum wiring on occasion but
I can't confirm that nor which company it was.
9:51 am edt
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