The Indiana building code calls for draft stopping material to be used where holes have been made in the top plates of framing wood in 1 and 2 family dwellings. Some local inspectors insist on fire caulk. I have never understood the reasoning for fire caulk to be used to seal a hole in combustable materials. It is obvious why it should be used to seal around holes in concrete, brick, block or steel, but those holes require metallic raceways if they are for conductors. I wired a house a few years ago where the insulating contractor used silicone caulk to seal all the wires where they went through the top and bottom plates. The inspector insisted they all be re-caulked with fire stop. The GC agreed to comply but asked why. The inspector didn't have an answer. The GC said that if this house ever burned down for some reason we could always dig through the ashes, pick up a little red ball of putty and say "Thank God we had these!" The inspector didn't insist on fire caulk the next house, just draft stop.
