ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Residential vs. Commercial Recessed Cans

I've noticed on small commercial buildings that residential cans are installed. Instead of romex, MC cable is run. Recently I changed some bulbs on a job and wrote down the model of the can:
http://www.junolighting.com/product_detail.asp?ino=2171&Sel_Id=1706&brand=1

Is it okay to install a residential can and what is the difference? Is it mostly up to the architect?

Thanks,
Byron

Why are you saying 'resi can'??

Other than 110.3(B), the code does not distinguish between "residential" and "commercial" products. This is likely a design consideration only.

Yeah I don't see what the difference would be a lot of building owners by cans like that because of the cost you can by them cheap at the ORANGE apron place.

The OP is in CA.; perhaps a State thing??

Not a CA thing at all.

Look at all the different grades of wiring devices.
There's residential grade, commercial grade, specifications grade, etc.

Nothing says you can't use specification grade devices in a residence, or "cheapy" residential grade devices in an industrial building. It's a design issue.

The same applies here, to the lighting package.

As electure stated, I've never heard of any regulation, even on the county or city level, making a distinction between these products.

Traditionally, you would use a more robust product in a commercial environment due to long hours of operation, harsher environments, etc. On the other hand, residential usually denotes a stricter budget. These are design and $$ considerations, not parameters designated by any orginization or AHJ that I'm aware of.

Other than the fact that commercial renovations are generally 100% tax deductible I never understood why you would use a more expensive luminaire in a commercial setting like a strip mall. In a residence people are more likely to actually look at it and most of these strip malls get gutted and rebuilt every 4 or 5 years around here. I am sure most of the space they are building right now will not last 5 years. This looks like the 80s to me where we built several million square feet of commercial in a couple years and never actually rented more than 75% of it.