Title 24 Outdoor Lighting Control Requirements, Explained

If you're bidding parking lots, building exteriors, canopies, or any commercial outdoor lighting in California, the control requirements live in the California Energy Code, Section 130.2. Get them wrong and the job can fail acceptance testing even with the right fixtures on the poles. Here's what the code asks for, in plain terms.

The big picture

Section 130.2(c) requires outdoor lighting to be independently controlled from other electrical loads, and to meet a stack of control functions: it has to shut off when there's daylight, run on an automatic schedule, and (for most ground-level applications) respond to motion. Each of those is its own requirement, and most outdoor jobs need all three working together.

1. Daylight shutoff

All installed outdoor lighting must be controlled by a photocontrol, an astronomical time-switch, or another control that automatically shuts the lighting OFF when daylight is available. In practice that's a photocell or an astronomical time clock so fixtures aren't burning during the day. This is the baseline every outdoor job has to hit.

2. Automatic scheduling controls

Beyond just day/night, the code requires automatic scheduling controls for all outdoor lighting. Those controls must be able to:

• Reduce outdoor lighting power by 50 to 90 percent, and separately be able to turn the lighting fully OFF, during scheduled unoccupied periods.
• Schedule at least two nighttime periods with independent light levels (for example, full light early evening, reduced light late at night).
• Allow an override that turns lighting back ON during a scheduled dim or off period for no more than two hours per override.

Scheduling controls can be combined with motion sensing and other controls on the same job.

3. Motion sensing controls

This is the requirement that catches people. Motion sensing controls are required for outdoor luminaires lighting general hardscape, parking lots, outdoor sales lots, vehicle service-station hardscape, service-station canopies, sales canopies, and non-sales canopies, where the bottom of the luminaire is mounted 24 feet above grade or lower. Those controls must:

• Be capable of reducing each controlled luminaire's power by 50 to 90 percent, and separately able to turn it OFF, during unoccupied periods.
• Reduce the lighting to its dim or off state no longer than 15 minutes after the area is vacated, and bring it back when the area is occupied.
• Control no more than 1,500 watts of lighting power per single sensor or as a single zone.

A few exceptions worth knowing: luminaires rated at 40 watts or less each don't require motion sensing; lighting for a building façade, ornamental hardscape, or outdoor dining is exempt from the motion-sensing requirement (though other controls still apply); and health or life-safety rules can override the dim level or time-out.

Don't forget shielding (BUG)

Section 130.2(b) also sets a shielding requirement: outdoor luminaires of 6,200 initial luminaire lumens or greater must meet backlight, uplight, and glare (BUG) limits per ANSI/IES TM-15-20. Signs, certain façade and monument lighting, and public-right-of-way luminaires are among the exceptions. It's not a "control," but it's part of passing outdoor lighting plan review, so spec fixtures with the right BUG rating.

What this means for your equipment list

To satisfy 130.2 on a typical parking-lot or site-lighting job you're generally looking at: photocontrols or an astronomical time switch for daylight shutoff, a scheduling control (often a networked control system or lighting control panel) for the two-level nighttime schedule, motion sensors on the qualifying fixtures, and 0-10V dimmable, properly BUG-rated luminaires so the dimming and shielding requirements are actually met. Keep each motion-sensor zone under the 1,500-watt cap.

For the indoor side of the code, see our Title 24 daylighting requirements guide. And acceptance testing applies here too, so the controls have to be installed, programmed, and verified, not just present.

How Rock helps

Rock Lighting & Electric stocks the outdoor fixtures and controls that meet Section 130.2: photocontrols, motion sensors, and 0-10V dimmable, BUG-rated LED area lights, floods, and wall packs from authorized brands, at contractor pricing with nationwide shipping. Send us your site plan and fixture schedule and we'll help you spec a compliant package. Start with the RAB collection or our RAB LED floodlight buying guide, or contact us with the job.

FAQ

This article summarizes California Energy Code Section 130.2 control requirements in plain language; it is not a substitute for the official code text or a licensed Title 24 / energy compliance professional. Confirm the requirements and the adopted code cycle for your jurisdiction and project.