Alum. Wiring And Insurance

ron schenker

A friend of mine recently bought a house that was built in the 60's. Half of the wiring was copper (original) and the other half was aluminum, which was the finished basement done in the 70's when copper was less plentiful. Anyway, his insurance company didn't seem to care, or maybe they don't know. He has no intentions of letting them know, and I'm wondering what the repercussions could be if ever there was a (god forbid) fire. I offered to help him replace the receptacles with cu/al or pigtail with special connectors just for a little piece of mind. Then should he inform the insurance company? Does a certified electrician have to do the job? Should he do nothing and leave well enough alone?

mas2006

At a minimum you should check how the install was done. In college I stayed in a trailer with aluminum wiring. Most of the outlets didn't work, and the ones I checked had signs of heat stress. On the insurance question if you fail to disclose information you leave the company a way out of covering any losses.

CE1

Ron:
Retrofit what you can and replace as much of the aluminum wiring as possible. Pay special attention to high use circuits like the refrigerator. Microwave oven, Etc.

Concerning the "Does a certified electrician have to do the job?" question; Here in Vermont it would not be needed if the person doing the work had enough experiance and knowlage. In Canada you would know more than I would about this.

Personal Note: when I was an apprentice in California I was installing alot of aluminum in alot of houses. Glad I don't work in California.

Neil_K

Ron - I agree with your "peace of mind."

On the other hand, I consulted my wife (in the mortgage industry) who deals with inspectors and insurance companies, and she said there's no requirement to reveal that information (at least in the NC/SC area). If they're concerned, they should be able to tell the year the house was built, or when building permits for additions were obtained for construction to determine the possibility of aluminum wiring.

Neil