TL;DR
Copper-clad aluminum is a conductor with an aluminum core metallurgically bonded to a thin copper skin, offering lower weight and cost than solid copper while presenting a copper surface at terminations. It carries less current than copper of the same gauge, so it must be upsized, and it may only land on devices and connectors specifically listed for CO/ALR or CCA use.
What it means
Copper-clad aluminum is a conductor with an aluminum core metallurgically bonded to a thin copper skin, offering lower weight and cost than solid copper while presenting a copper surface at terminations. It carries less current than copper of the same gauge, so it must be upsized, and it may only land on devices and connectors specifically listed for CO/ALR or CCA use. Found in some 1970s branch wiring and in modern budget cabling, it is also a red flag in cheap counterfeit electrical and speaker wire sold online.
Where it sits in the glossary
Copper-clad aluminum is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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