Legislation

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT
(ADA REQUIREMENTS)

This section is to assist you with the current requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that effect lighting fixtures designed/installed in hospitality and public areas. The laws and requirements listed below are subject to change and in no way represent the entire scope of requirements for all city, county, state or federal laws. Visit www.ada.gov for further reference.

Wall Sconces:
4.4.1 General
Objects projecting from walls (ex: wall sconces) with their leading edges between 27 inches and 80 inches (685 mm & 2030 mm) above the finished floors shall protrude no more than 4 inches into walks, halls, corridors, passageways, and aisles.

Switching for Lamps
4.24.4 Operation
Controls and operating mechanisms shall be operable with one hand and shall not require tight grasping, pinching or twisting of the wrist. The force required to activate controls shall be not greater than 5lbs. (22.2N)

TITLE 24 ENERGY REQUIREMENTS (CALIFORNIA)
Indoor lighting is one of the single largest consumers of energy (kilowatt-hours) in a commercial building, representing about 1/3 of electricity use. The objective of the Standards is the effective reduction of this energy use without compromising the quality of lighting or task work. The Standards restrict the overall installed lighting power in the building, regardless of the compliance approach. This means that installed lighting may be greater in some areas of the building and lower in others, as long as the total does not exceed the allowed lighting power.

Title 24 was incorporated and mandated in the State of California. However, it is quickly becoming the standard in many other energy conscious states including MA, NY, TX, AZ, WA, FL and GA. For specific information regarding Title 24 & your project, visit www.energy.ca.gov/title24

TITLE 20 (CALIFORNIA)
On January 1, 2010, California Title 20 requirements for lamps and portable luminaries went into effect. (This only applies to lamps being shipped to projects in California.) The state law offers five options for complying with energy-efficiency requirements:

  • Nicknamed “bulb-in-a-box,” the first provision requires that manufacturers include a compact fluorescent lamp in the product packaging so that a standard screw-based socket can continue to be used in the lamp, but the lamp would be considered energy efficient. If the portable lamp has a three-way socket or dimming socket, then the bulb in the box has to be compatible with that as well.
  • A second pathway is to build a portable lamp with a dedicated fluorescent socket, essentially resulting in a fluorescent portable lamp.
  • The third option is to build a portable lamp with a new kind of socket—GU 24—which cannot be used with incandescent lamps. That makes the socket compatible only with compact fluorescent bulbs.
  • Equip the portable lamp with an LED light engine that plugs in, screws in or is self-contained and meets certain efficiency requirements.
  • Lastly, portable lamps can be equipped with a single-ended, non-screwed based halogen lamp socket. This can be standard or low voltage light source, but the lamp must have a dimmer or high/low control and the maximum wattage allowed is 100W.

Exceptions

  • Portable wall-mounted adjustable fixtures—swing arm lamps—can be sold as is without a bulb in the box. Requirements for this exception are reduce the wattage to 53W until 2011 and 43W after that.
  • Single-socket picture lights have a maximum wattage of 25W. If they have multiple sockets, the maximum allowed is 15W.

Please visit www.energy.ca.gov/siting/title20 for more information.