What Is Title 24 Lighting Acceptance Testing?
It is the on-site functional test that proves installed lighting controls actually behave as the design claimed. Occupancy sensing, automatic time switches, daylight response and demand response each have their own NRCA form.
The forms, and what each covers
- NRCA-LTI-02-A — occupant sensing and automatic time switch controls
- NRCA-LTI-03-A — daylight responsive controls
- NRCA-LTI-04-A — demand response controls
- NRCA-LTO-02-A — outdoor lighting controls
A project completes the forms matching the controls it installs. A relight with occupancy sensors and a time switch produces one; the same relight with daylight dimming and demand response produces three.
The occupancy sensing test is specific
This is where designs most often fall short, because the requirement is measurable rather than descriptive. For multi-zone occupant sensing in an office larger than 250 square feet, the control zones have to be 600 square feet or less. When a zone is unoccupied the sensor must reduce lighting in it by at least 80 per cent at the preset time delay. When every zone is unoccupied the controlled lighting has to switch off at the preset delay.
A single sensor covering a large open office therefore fails on zoning even if the sensor itself works perfectly.
Daylighting credits are tested, not just drawn
Where a design claims a Power Adjustment Factor for a daylighting feature — a clerestory, horizontal slats, a light shelf — the feature has to be documented in the construction documents and verified in the field by acceptance test. A credit taken in the calculation and not installed as drawn is a compliance failure, not a detail.
Who performs it and how it reaches the inspector
A technician certified for lighting controls acceptance testing. The forms are completed through an approved certification provider's database, and the authority having jurisdiction requires them to demonstrate compliance — so the certificate is part of closing the permit, not an optional record.