Covered Bridge has been dealing with a moving target in addressing electric wiring issues:
Two years ago, our insurance company (CAD) told us that pig-tailing would be an acceptable "fix" for aluminum wiring. Last fall, CAD said pig-tailing was no longer acceptable. They also said they would not accept Copalum because Copalum connections are often disconnected when future
changes to electric wiring are made.
A few other insurance companies said they would accept either rewiring with copper or Copalum, but only after the remediation was finished. CAD had also told us that we could take 2-3 years to rewire with copper, but reversed its position at the last minute and cancelled our insurance. We switched our insurance to Philadelphia, at a cost of$89,000 more than we had budgeted for 2010, after which they overruled their representative who had promised us 2 years to rewire. We finally got Middle Oak to agree to give us insurance for 2010 at Philadelphia's price.
While insurance companies only require branch circuits to be remediated in units with aluminum wiring, the independent engineering consultant strongly recommended that dedicated wiring be remediated as well. Wires are dedicated to the oven, dishwasher, drier, and baseboard heaters. (Most baseboard heaters already have copper wiring).
Most units in Covered Bridge have Federal Pacific circuit breaker boxes. They have been outlawed in new construction because of fire risk. Our contractor's prices for rewiring the copper and for Copalum include replacing Federal Pacific boxes.
The engineering consultant informed us that connections to meters should be
tightened every year or two.
The engineering consultant found that the clubhouse also has aluminum wiring. We do not know what the future will bring.
Insurance companies may change the rules when the currently soft insurance market tightens.
We are subject to the risk evaluation of underwriters for condominium insurance compames.
Quote of the Month
"YOU PLAY THE HAND YOU'RE DEALT."
By C.S. Lewis