Commercial Occupancy Sensor Requirements Under Title 24
Occupant sensing comes in tiers. Offices of 250 square feet or less, conference rooms, classrooms and restrooms must shut all lighting off within 20 minutes. Warehouse aisles, corridors, stairwells, garages and larger offices must reduce power by set amounts. Every sensor must also meet device rules, and the installed sensors are tested on NRCA-LTI-02-A.
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Rooms that shut off entirely
Section 130.1(c)5 covers offices of 250 square feet or smaller, multipurpose rooms under 1,000 square feet, classrooms, conference rooms and restrooms. All lighting must turn off within 20 minutes after the zone is empty, and a manual off must work whatever the sensor says. Where multilevel control is required the sensor works as partial-ON at 50 to 70 percent power or as a vacancy sensor.
Areas that reduce power
- Warehouse aisles and open areas: at least 50 percent reduction, one sensor zone per aisle.
- Corridors and stairwells: at least 50 percent reduction, with full on only in the space that is occupied.
- Offices over 250 square feet: zones of 600 square feet or less shown on the plans, 20 percent power or less in an empty zone within 20 minutes, everything off when the whole office is empty.
- Garages, parking areas and loading areas: between 20 and 50 percent of full power, with no more than 500 watts per zone.
Under-shelf or furniture-mounted task lighting on a local switch plus a time switch or occupancy sensor is excepted from office zoning. See lighting controls and parking garage lighting.
What the sensor must be
Sections 110.9(b)4 and (b)6 require a sensor to turn lights off or down within 20 minutes of vacancy, to give manual-on controls a 15 to 30 second automatic grace period, and to show a visible status signal. A sensor may not include a switch that disables it without changing the control's settings. Ultrasonic sensors may not emit audible sound. Device specifics are on lighting control devices.
How the test samples
With up to seven sensors, all are tested; beyond seven, one sensor per group of up to seven more is tested, and a failure sends the whole group to testing. Multi-zone offices get an extra zone-size test against the 600 square foot limit. Tests are on NRCA-LTI-02-A, and no test is needed where controls are added to 20 or fewer luminaires in an alteration. Related: time switch controls and the commercial page.
Common Title 24 Questions
- When does a commercial project need Title 24?
- Does an office tenant improvement need Title 24?
- Does a restaurant remodel need Title 24?
- Does a retail tenant improvement need Title 24?
- What plans are needed for a commercial Title 24 report?
- What is an NRCC certificate of compliance?
Frequently Asked Questions
Offices of 250 square feet or less need shutoff sensing. Offices over 250 square feet need multi-zone sensing with zones of 600 square feet or less.
All of them when there are seven or fewer; above that, at least one per group of up to seven more, with the group tested in full if its first sensor fails.
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