Office Remodel Title 24 Requirements
An office remodel is an alteration, so only the lighting, mechanical and electrical parts you change are assessed. The office-specific numbers are a lighting allowance of 0.60 watts per square foot for offices over 250 square feet, controlled receptacles at each workstation if the wiring is replaced outright, and daylight controls at 75 watts in a sidelit zone.
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Allowances change room by room
Table 140.6-C does not give an office building one figure. An office area over 250 square feet is allowed 0.60 watts per square foot and one of 250 or less 0.65. Conference rooms get 0.75, lobbies 0.70, breakrooms 0.55, copy rooms 0.50 and corridors 0.40. Under-shelf or furniture-mounted task lighting adds 0.20 if a time clock or occupancy sensor controls it. A 2,400 square foot open floor starts at 1,440 watts.
Plug loads follow the wiring, not the floor plan
Section 130.5(d) requires both controlled and uncontrolled receptacles in office areas, lobbies, conference rooms, office kitchen areas and copy rooms. A controlled receptacle must sit within 6 feet of each uncontrolled one, with at least one controlled receptacle at each modular-furniture workstation in an open office, and plug-in strips do not count. In an alteration the rule reaches the room only when the power distribution system is entirely new or completely replaced (Section 141.0(b)2P).
Two controls that depend on the route
- Daylight responsive controls apply where general lighting in a sidelit zone totals 75 watts or more. They are required on the full compliance route but not on the 80 percent or one-for-one routes.
- Offices over 250 square feet need occupant sensing in zones of 600 square feet or less, except on the 80 percent and one-for-one routes.
Ventilation worth checking
Office space and reception areas are listed at 5 people per 1,000 square feet, so the 0.15 cfm per square foot area rate governs. A conference room at 33 people per 1,000 works out to 0.495 cfm per square foot at 15 cfm per person, and 33 is above the 25 that makes demand control ventilation mandatory where the unit has an economizer, modulating outdoor air or more than 3,000 cfm.
The building-type view is on office buildings, the older overview on office tenant improvements. See lighting power allowances, controlled receptacles and daylighting controls. Relights alone follow the lighting-only page; our commercial service prepares the NRCC set.
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
Only where the electrical power distribution system is entirely new or completely replaced. Rewiring part of a floor does not by itself bring in Section 130.5(d).
Yes. Its lighting allowance is 0.65 rather than 0.60 watts per square foot and it falls under the occupant sensing rule for small offices instead of the zoned rule for large ones.
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