Retail Store Remodel Title 24 Requirements
A retail remodel is judged mostly on lighting. A sales floor is allowed 0.95 watts per square foot, with separate additions for wall displays, floor displays, display cases and fitting-room mirrors, but only for displays drawn on the plans. Storefront glass and the rooftop unit enter only if the work touches them.
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Where a shop's extra watts come from
Table 140.6-C adds to the 0.95 sales-floor figure, and the amounts depend on the mounting height of the display lighting:
- Wall display: 9.5 watts per linear foot up to 10 feet 6 inches, 11.2 up to 14 feet, 12.7 above that.
- Floor display and task lighting: 0.45, 0.52 or 0.60 watts per square foot at the same three heights.
- Valuable display cases 0.50, decorative lighting 0.35, and fitting-room mirrors 40 watts each if externally lit or 120 if internally lit.
Forty linear feet of wall at the lowest height therefore adds 380 watts. The plans must show each task area and the luminaires serving it, tasks used under two hours a day do not qualify, and general lighting fixtures cannot be counted. Lighting equipment that is for sale is outside the calculation altogether.
Controls specific to stores
Single-tenant retail may use control zones up to 20,000 square feet instead of 5,000, keep a time-switch override beyond two hours with captive-key control, and skip the holiday shut-off. Display, window and case lighting must be on separate controls, but an alteration need not separate existing shared circuits, only new or completely replaced ones.
Storefront glass and the unit on the roof
Replacing glass in an existing frame is a repair. Replacing more than 150 square feet of the building's vertical glazing brings a mandatory maximum U-factor of 0.58 and, on the prescriptive route, the Table 141.0-A limits; the solar heat gain and visible transmittance limits drop away at 150 square feet or less. A new single-zone rooftop unit under 65,000 Btu per hour follows Table 141.0-E-1 for retail.
The wider picture is on retail stores and retail tenant improvements. See power allowances, fenestration and lighting controls, or send plans to our commercial service.
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
No. Section 140.6(c)2G allows the additions only where the plans identify the task areas and the lighting equipment that serves them.
No. Climate zone and the existing building differ by address, so each location is documented separately.
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