Do apartment light fixtures have to be JA8?

Yes. Section 160.5(a)1A requires every installed luminaire and light source in a dwelling unit to comply with JA8 and be marked, apart from listed exceptions such as appliance-integrated lighting and night lights under five watts.

Do apartment corridors need occupancy sensors?

Yes. Corridor and stairwell lighting must be on occupant sensing that reduces power by at least 50 per cent when the space is empty and turns fully on from every designed path of egress.

Is lighting acceptance testing required in an apartment building?

For common use areas, yes: Section 160.5(e) requires lighting controls there to pass acceptance tests before an occupancy permit. Dwelling-unit lighting has no acceptance test.

Does replacing fixtures inside apartments need Title 24?

The altered lighting must meet Section 160.5(a), including JA8. Existing recessed cans with screw-base sockets can stay if JA8-compliant trim kits or lamps are installed.

Multifamily Lighting Under Title 24

Section 160.5 splits a multifamily building in two: lighting inside dwelling units follows Section 160.5(a), with JA8-certified sources, wall-mounted dimmers in habitable rooms and sensors in bathrooms, laundry and utility rooms. Corridors, lobbies, garages and other common use areas follow Sections 160.5(b) to (e), with commercial-style controls, a lighting power limit and acceptance testing.

Choose your report
Upload your plans
Pay securely
Permit-ready report by email

Where the line falls

The Multifamily Compliance Manual draws it by use. Dwelling-unit rules cover living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation spaces within a unit, including shared living space with several bedrooms, as in a dormitory. Common use areas are the spaces outside the units shared by owners, residents and guests, including rooms used by managers and maintenance staff. Section 160.5(a) names dormitory and senior housing accommodations as dwelling units, and also covers outdoor lights attached to the building and switched from inside a unit. A common use area that provides shared living, eating, cooking or sanitation to units lacking them may follow Section 160.5(a) instead.

Inside the dwelling units

Efficacy: every installed luminaire and light source complies with Joint Appendix JA8 and is marked, apart from listed exceptions such as lighting built into exhaust fans and range hoods, night lights under five watts and outdoor LED sources. See JA8 lighting requirements.
Recessed downlights: no screw-base sockets, labelled airtight to under 2.0 cfm at 75 pascals, and sealed to the ceiling.
Controls: readily accessible wall-mounted on and off controls; wall-mounted dimmers in living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens and bedrooms; at least one luminaire on an occupancy or vacancy sensor in bathrooms, garages, laundry rooms, utility rooms and walk-in closets.
Separate switching: undercabinet, undershelf and display-cabinet lighting and switched outlets apart from ceiling lighting, and exhaust-fan lights apart from the fan.
Blank boxes: no more electrical boxes above five feet without a fixture than there are bedrooms.

These are mandatory measures. The manual notes that the performance budget assumes standard dwelling-unit lighting, so they cannot be traded off against other systems.

Common use areas

Common areas meet Section 160.5(b) controls and a power limit: on the prescriptive path, Section 170.2(e) keeps their indoor lighting power within the allowance. The mandatory controls include:

Manual on and off control in every space, which in corridors, stairwells and public spaces may be kept away from unauthorised users.
Continuous dimming from 100 to 10 per cent for general lighting in spaces of 100 square feet or more above 0.5 watts per square foot.
Automatic shut-off by occupant sensor, set at 20 minutes or less, or by time switch, with separate control for each floor.
Corridors and stairwells on occupant sensing that cuts lighting by at least 50 per cent when empty; parking garages to 20 to 50 per cent, with no more than 500 watts per zone.
Daylight-responsive controls where general lighting in daylit zones reaches 75 watts, or 60 watts in parking garage sidelit zones.

Before an occupancy permit, the shut-off, daylight, demand-responsive and outdoor controls are acceptance tested under Section 160.5(e) and a certificate of acceptance is filed; where Part 1 requires certification, a certified lighting controls acceptance test technician does it. How allowances and tests work is covered under commercial lighting. Prescriptive documents are LMCC-LTI-01-E up to three habitable stories and NRCC-LTI-E from four.

When lighting is altered

Under Section 180.2(b)4, altered lighting in a unit meets Section 160.5(a), and existing screw-base recessed cans may stay if JA8 trim kits or lamps go in. In common areas, altering 10 per cent or more of an enclosed space's luminaires brings the power and control rules, with exceptions such as up to 50 one-for-one replacements per floor a year.