Attribute Schema Library
Attribute schemaelectrical distribution

Wire & Cable Attributes for Electrical Distributors

Wire & cable spans building wire (THHN/THWN-2, XHHW-2), metal-clad and armored cable, tray cable, portable cord, control and instrumentation cable, and low-voltage communications cable. Buyers are electrical contractors, plant maintenance, and panel builders, and they buy by code permission, not by product name.

One conductor is many products. A 12 AWG stranded copper conductor becomes THHN, XHHW-2, MC, or SOOW depending on what gets extruded over it, and each carries different wet, sunlight, oil, and cable-tray permissions. The specs that close the sale (ampacity, overall diameter, weight per 1,000 ft) sit in a manufacturer PDF table indexed by AWG, not in the product record.

Standards references drift. The NEC ampacity table was 310.16, became 310.15(B)(16) in 2011, and reverted to 310.16 in 2020 when medium voltage moved to Article 311. Datasheets in circulation still cite the old number. Suppliers disagree on kcmil versus MCM, on how to punctuate THHN/THWN-2, and on whether M means a thousand feet. Then every type multiplies out by size, stranding, color, and put-up.

Core

Every SKU needs these. Without them the record is not a product, it is a row.

Cable Type Designation
enum
THHN/THWN-2

The first filter on every rail. Type is what the NEC permits, not a marketing name: THHN is dry-only, THWN-2 is wet or dry.

Conductor Size
enum · AWG or kcmil
12 AWG

The primary sizing filter. Runs 18 AWG down to 1 AWG, then 1/0-4/0, then 250-2000 kcmil, so it needs one ordered ladder to sort at all.

Conductor Material
enum
Bare annealed copper (ASTM B3)

Copper and aluminum are not interchangeable at the same size. NEC 310.14 requires AA-8000 series alloy for aluminum building conductors.

Conductor Count
text
3 conductors + ground (12/3 w/G)

Sold as size/count. Count plus ground presence decides whether the cable serves the circuit at all.

Stranding / Strand Count
enum
Stranded, Class B, 19 strands

Solid vs stranded is a hard filter. Class B is standard concentric; Class C and bunch stranding buy flexibility for pulls and cord.

Voltage Rating
number · V
600

Code-limiting. 600 V covers most building wire; control and instrumentation run 300 V; medium voltage moved to NEC Article 311 in 2020.

Temperature Rating
text · °C
90°C dry / 90°C wet / 75°C oil

Dry, wet, and oil ratings differ on the same SKU and set the ampacity column a designer may use at the termination.

Insulation / Jacket Construction
enum
PVC insulation, 0.015 in, with nylon jacket

Sets insulation thickness, OD, and abrasion resistance. Nylon over PVC is what lets THHN pull through conduit; a CPE jacket is a different product.

Insulation Color
enum
Green/Yellow

Buyers filter by color because color is circuit identification. Green and green/yellow are the equipment grounding conductors.

Put-Up
enum · ft
1,000 ft reel

Price basis and freight in one field. Wire prices per 1,000 ft, cut-to-length is non-returnable, and reel vs coil vs spool changes handling.

Manufacturer Part Number
identifier
12THHN

The key contractors quote, and the key that joins your record to the manufacturer's datasheet and UL listing.

GTIN-14 / UPC
identifier
00012345678905

Required to syndicate through IDEA Connector and to list on any marketplace. Also the scan key in the warehouse.

Country of Origin
enum
United States

Drives duty, and it is the input to every Buy American question. Cannot be inferred from the brand, since brands run multiple plants.

Differentiating

What buyers actually compare on. This is where catalogs win or lose the filter.

Ampacity
number · A
30 A at 75°C (12 AWG Cu)

How buyers actually size wire. NEC Table 310.16 value for not more than three current-carrying conductors in a raceway at 30°C ambient.

Nominal Outside Diameter
number · in
0.140

The conduit-fill input. NEC Chapter 9 Table 5 is built on it, and it varies by insulation type at the same AWG.

Approximate Weight
number · lb per 1,000 ft
25

Freight, reel handling, and whether the dock can take delivery. Published on every datasheet as net weight in lbs/kft.

Compliance & identifiers

Standards, regulatory data, and the identifiers channels reject you for missing.

UL Standards & File Number
text
UL 83, UL 1063, UL 1685; ASTM B3, B8

The submittal field. Engineers reject packages that name a listing without the standard and file number behind it.

Flame & Fire Test Rating
enum
VW-1, FT-1, CT rated (1/0 and larger)

Decides where the cable is permitted. VW-1 is the vertical-wire flame test; CT rating gates cable tray use, generally 1/0 and larger.

The fields that aren't in the schema at all

What most wire & cable catalogs are missing.

The table above is the schema most catalogs already have. These are the attributes that usually aren't in it — each one surfaced by a signal from the live market rather than by an audit of what's already there. This is what Anglera's Schema Foundry does on a real catalog, in this category.

Search signal
+ Ampacity (with NEC table basis)

Buyers search 'wire for a 100 amp feeder' and '60 amp wire size'. Catalogs carry AWG only, so the query returns nothing. Every manufacturer datasheet prints an ampacity column beside the AWG column.

The sizing question is the buying question. It dead-ends on the site and moves to a phone call, a third-party ampacity chart, or a competitor who published the number.

Supplier signal
+ Nominal Outside Diameter

NEC Chapter 9 Table 5 keys conduit fill off conductor OD, and THHN datasheets list it to three decimals for every size. Distributor records rarely carry an OD field at all.

Contractor cannot size the raceway from the page. The conduit on the same order is wrong, or the pull won't make it and a cut reel comes back.

Competitor signal
+ Sunlight Resistant / Direct Burial

Specialist cable sites expose sunlight-resistant and direct-burial toggles. The rating is size-conditional (THHN is sunlight resistant only in 8 AWG and larger), so it cannot be set at brand level.

Outdoor and buried jobs filter your catalog out. Or the toggle gets set from the brand sheet, a smaller size ships to a UV-exposed run, and it fails inspection.

Supplier signal
+ Approximate Weight per 1,000 ft

Datasheets print net weight in lbs/kft for every size, and it climbs fast: a THHN chart puts 500 kcmil copper at roughly 1,640 lbs/kft. Product records stop at the reel.

Freight is quoted off a guess. LTL class is wrong, the reel needs equipment the dock doesn't have, and the margin on the line goes to the carrier.

Supplier signal
+ Buy American / BABA / ARRA status

Federally funded work asks for the compliance statement at submittal, and the claim flows from the manufacturer. Catalogs show country of origin at best, which is not the same claim.

The quote gets pulled at submittal on IIJA- and DOT-funded jobs. Not a lost line but a lost project, and the contractor sources the whole package elsewhere.

How Schema Foundry finds these

Messy in, governed out.

The same value, spelled every way electrical distribution suppliers spell it. A filter only works once they agree.

Conductor Size
500 MCM500 KCMIL500 kcmil500,000 CM#500500M
500 kcmil

MCM predates the 1990 NEC switch to kcmil; suppliers still send both. One sort key must span 14 AWG to 4/0 to 1000 kcmil.

Cable Type Designation
THHN/THWN-2THHN-THWN-2THHN/THWN2THWN-2/THHNTHHN THWN 2T90/THWN-2
THHN/THWN-2

Six spellings of one dual rating fragment the type filter. THHN alone is not THWN-2: the '-2' is the 90°C wet rating.

Insulation Color
Green w/Yellow StripeGRN/YELGreen-YellowGN/YWGreen with Yellow Tracer
Green/Yellow

Color is how buyers filter grounding conductors. Five spellings split one facet, so the search misses stock that actually matches.

Put-Up
1000FT REEL1M FT1000'1000 Foot SpoolCTMSTR
1,000 ft reel

Put-up sets price basis and freight. 'CT' is cut-to-length and non-returnable; 'M' means a thousand feet, not meters.

What buyers ask

Every one of these should be answerable from the attributes above. If it isn't, that's a gap.

  • What size wire do I need for a 100 amp feeder?
  • Is this rated for wet locations, or is it dry-only?
  • Can this be direct-buried, or does it have to go in conduit?
  • How many of these will fit in 1 in. EMT?
  • Is this copper or AA-8000 aluminum, and what's the equivalent size?
  • Solid or stranded, and what stranding class?
  • Is this Buy American compliant for a federally funded job?
  • What does a 1,000 ft reel of this weigh, and can my dock take it?

What channels require

The same SKU, different mandatory fields per destination.

IDEA Connector / Industry Data Warehouse (IDW)
Manufacturer Part NumberGTIN-14 / UPCBrandUNSPSC classificationVoltage RatingPut-up / packaging hierarchy
Distributor's own faceted catalog
Cable Type DesignationConductor SizeConductor MaterialStranding / Strand CountInsulation ColorPut-Up
Amazon Business
GTIN-14 / UPCManufacturer Part NumberBrandCountry of OriginApproximate WeightUL Standards & File Number

Wire & Cable data, in practice

Why isn't AWG enough to spec a wire?

AWG describes the conductor, not the product. A 12 AWG stranded copper conductor ships as THHN/THWN-2, XHHW-2, MC cable, SOOW cord, or PV wire: same copper, different extrusion, completely different code permissions. THHN is dry locations only; THWN-2 is wet or dry at 90°C. Insulation also changes the overall diameter at the same AWG, which is why NEC Chapter 9 Table 5 lists OD by type and not just by size. A record carrying AWG and nothing else cannot answer where the wire is allowed to go, how many fit in a raceway, or what it is permitted to carry.

THHN and THWN-2 are printed on the same wire. Do we need both in the schema?

Yes, because they are different permissions and buyers filter on the difference. THHN is rated 90°C in dry locations. THWN-2 is rated 90°C in wet or dry locations and 75°C where exposed to oil; the '-2' is what carries the 90°C wet rating. Most 600 V building wire is dual-rated and surface-printed with both, often alongside MTW, AWM, and T90 for the Canadian market. If the record collapses that to 'THHN', every wet-location filter drops the SKU. If it stores the raw supplier string instead, you get six spellings of one rating and the facet fragments.

Ampacity depends on installation conditions. Should it live on the product record?

Yes, with its basis stated. NEC Table 310.16 gives ampacity for not more than three current-carrying conductors in a raceway, cable, or earth at 30°C ambient, in three termination columns: 60°C, 75°C, and 90°C. Publish the table value with its conditions and column the way datasheets do (12 AWG copper, 30 A at 75°C). Do not publish a bare number, and do not publish nothing. Derating for ambient and conductor fill is the designer's job; giving them the starting value is yours. Note the table's own number moved: 310.16, then 310.15(B)(16) in 2011, then back to 310.16 in 2020.

How should cut-to-length and reel SKUs be modeled?

Put-up is an attribute, not a packaging footnote. It sets the price basis (wire prices per 1,000 ft, and 'M' means a thousand feet, not meters), the returnability (cut lengths are non-returnable), and the handling (a coil, a spool, a reel, and a master reel are different dock problems). Model put-up as a governed value on the variant, keep the length in feet as a number so buyers can filter and sort on it, and carry weight alongside it so freight gets quoted rather than guessed.

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