Title 24 Requirements for Restaurants in California
Restaurants carry more regulated systems in a small area than any other commercial occupancy. Kitchen exhaust, make-up air, dining lighting and conditioning are usually all in scope at the same time.
Two very different halves of one project
Front of house is a lighting and conditioning problem. Dining areas have their own category in Table 140.6-C, and a restaurant lighting scheme is designed for atmosphere, which means it runs closer to the allowance than a utilitarian space would.
Back of house is a ventilation problem, and it dominates. Kitchen exhaust, the make-up air to balance it, and refrigeration are all regulated, and the exhaust design follows the cooking equipment rather than the floor area.
The kitchen exhaust threshold
Where the total Type I and Type II kitchen hood exhaust airflow exceeds 5,000 cfm, demand ventilation is required on at least 75 per cent of the exhaust air. That is a hard line and it is set by the hood schedule, so it is decided by the kitchen designer well before the energy documentation is prepared.
Why the equipment schedule gates the programme
Hood sizing follows the appliances underneath. Change a range for a char-grill and the exhaust design changes, which changes the make-up air, which changes the mechanical documentation. Starting the energy compliance before the kitchen equipment schedule is settled usually means reissuing it.
Change of use is common here
Restaurants frequently move into space that was retail or office. Where an alteration changes the occupancy classification, the requirements apply to the new occupancy type — so essentially all of the mechanical scope is new work, and the shell's previous compliance carries nothing over.
What gets tested at the end
Mechanical systems and lighting controls both require acceptance testing by a certified technician. Commercial kitchen exhaust is tested on its own process-systems form. On a restaurant that is several site visits rather than one, and it sits in the same fortnight as everything else before opening.