Damn I hate this gettin' old

[JC]

Call your inspector.

[Bob F]

A bunch of wires going through a hole on 2x stock is not the same as bundleing. If there are airpassages through a collection of loose wire betreen the studs/joists, heat dissapation increases. Heat with the hole will be conducted to the wire that can dissapate heat.

[Tom Horne]

That depends what happens to the wire on each side of the whole. If you run several cables through the same set of holes it has the effect of bunching the cables together. The ampacity of cable is given in free air. If air cannot readily circulate around each cable the conductor ampacity of the cable should be derated. By how much is a matter of interpretation. That is a job for the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ).

-- Tom Horne

[Harry K]

Seems that is what has been suggested to you...repeatedly. The bottom line is that no matter how well you know the code, how many cites you can come up with, the inspector is the one who has to be satisfied. Right or wrong his ruling is what is going to allow you to proceed or not as the case may be.

Harry K