During plan review on a recent project, the inspection department required a switch be installed at each door capable of being used as an entry point to the building. Reference was made to sec. 1006 in the Building Code having to do with egress illumination. I can see that having a switch at every entrnce is good desing practice, but how is it that this portion of the Building Code requires a switch? Are there other portions of the Building Code that address this question?

I amnot aware of any such requiewmwnt ... that is, that a person entering a building (or room)be able to turn on a light as they enter.
Logical? Sure. Common sense? No doubt. Good design? Absolutely. Code requirement? No way.

Now, residences do require an EXTERIOR light, controlled at the door. I suppose you could infer that some of this light would spill into the building, making your entry easier ... but that just a supposition.

I can think of many, many commercial buildings, and public areas, wher a deliberate effort was made to NOT have any accessible lighting controls.

Some of this is being indirectly sffected by the sundry 'energy' codes, which are calling for a variety of motion sensors and timers. Ironically enough, even these codes continue the presumption that your typical person isn't competent to operate a light switch.

I think the problem is the typical person has no problem turning on the switch, it is turning it off that they have a problem with

I have lost count of the number of motion detectors I have around here but it is over 20. The lights follow you wherever you go inside or out and turn off when you leave.

Reno- Look at the electrical code again. I don't see where the switch has to be at the door. There are some words that talk about locating a switch in a customary location and now we have to agree on what is customary.

R-1, R-2 and R-3 pretty much include all houses, duplexes, apartments, models and everything short of nursing homes. Good idea? Yes. Required by 1006? No.

Electrical switching devices having stationary and movable contacts are preferred.

sydney electrical rewiring

Steve:
The section you quote is regarding egress lighting, not general illumination.

Basically, it requires illumination be provided for the egress path to exit a structure, and it includes illumination thru the last exit door to 'the public way'. ie: emergency lighting at the exterior of exit doors, and the egress pathway to those points of exit.

George, you are correct; the NEC is silent as to where the switch would be located.

Indeed, it's even possible to consider one light as illuminating multiple doorways.

Anybody read 210.70 in its entirety?

NO, the 'location' of the switch is not spelled out within the NEC, that is design, common sense, good trade practice, etc.; however a switch controlled lighting outlet is required.

The OP did not say resi or comm, but he mentioned a Building Code that deals with egress illumination. IF he is going comm (egress) then 1006 of the Bldg Code specs illumination.

I might use a main lighting fixture to light up many of the doorways.

In California Title 24 extensively covers all manner of lighting and the switching thereof.

So, they are covered by the Building Code -- just not the National Electrical Code.

It's not enough to just know the NEC. There are many, many, Code requirements that affect electrical installations that are driven by non-electrical safetly considerations.

Parking lot illumination is but one of the many.

Such complexity is why residential electricians normally lose their shirts when shifting over to commercial jobs. (And vice versa.)

keeping in mind the various requirements of code and title 24 is the city's own requirements, many times a specific city may go over and beyond any code or ordinance not necessarily the state minimum requirement.

Checking with the city you're planning to work within is very important as well, unless the details are spec'd out on a city approved stamped print.

Lovely thread here, over 4 years in the making...

Revived by someone in '12 and revived again by a new member who was off the subject.

I got into it with an Archy over his desire for a prox detector in parking garage stairwells

210.70B EX2, which allows for automation like proximity detectors

But this was @ a hospital, and i felt that the old folks who move really slow might be left in the dark

~S~

Sparky:

The stairwells that provide egress are always 24/7 here. Hospital parking decks, mall parking decks, office bldg parking decks. I do not know what 'code' requires it, and I will ask the Bldg guy Thursday when I get back to the office.

Wsa the Archys reasoning to meet Energy Code requirements??

I'm unsure of energy codes, although it would behoove me to bone up on them HotOne

The particular scenario was 24/7 public access, spec'd out for a lotta T5 vaportights

The whole facility was contactor controlled 208 3ph lighting, with the 3rd leg left on 24/7 as 'night lighting'

There may have been an energy code the Archy had in mind, but he didn't impart it to me, so i put the stairs on the NL circuit there.

My ahj didn't seem to have much of a prob with the change i made, everyone else wanted a piece of me though

~S~

~s~:
FWIW, the T5s for sure work very well into the Energy Code.

IMHO, you made the right move going to the 24/7 circuitry.

Just an FYI for me....who else wanted a piece of you?

The PM and the owners of the place HotOne

they see it as a waste of energy

i kinda see it as a shield from liability

I didn't ask, but i get the impression (code wise) the ahj would have had to pass it w/prox detection

Butcha know how they fare in a public parking garage.....

I wasn't too popular as Mr design build .....~S~

Failure of a sensor, falling of a person in the unlit area, will keep a flock of lawyers happy.

Out my way, such illumination is part of the state building code.

The stairwells not only have to be on 24/7 -- but they have to have bug-eyes with battery back-ups, too.

Further, the elevator code requires 24/7 illumination at EVERY floor that the car opens on... right on out to the street....

Public spaces are not permitted to go dark since, unlike a home, it would be a rare person who knew their way around without illumination.

Here they also require a 4-hour battery pack inside the elevator car.