All Tenant lights powered by the house panel

[Johnny B.]

I have a project where it was bid for lighting and power to be separated out. There are 3 tenant spaces and then the house space such as the stairwells and the elevator, corridors etc. The lighting designer did not separate out the lighting circuits per tenant space so I believe the intent is to have it all powered by the house. Does this violate NEC 240.24 with accessibility for the tenant to shut off their own lighting? Or does it work if all the lighting has override switches to their controls I am thinking it would count as supplementary protection from NEC 240.10. Bad design in my opinion to make the owner of the building pay for all the tenants lighting but I want to check also does this violate any code? I am also checking this because I have to show what circuits power the lights.

 

[LarryFine]

I would make sure it's not an error first. I am trying to figure why anyone would want that done.

Is the intent to have lights despite the tenants, or to not have lights despite the tenants?

 

[hbiss]

What kind of occupancy?

-Hal

 

[Johnny B.]

What kind of occupancy?

-Hal

Commercial Occupancy

 

[Johnny B.]

I would make sure it's not an error first. I am trying to figure why anyone would want that done.

Is the intent to have lights despite the tenants, or to not have lights despite the tenants?

I am not sure what the intent is. But the lighting designer just told me it has been confirmed with the architect its what they want.

 

[hillbilly1]

My guess is it would make changing tenant space size easier. Power cost is built into the square foot lease rate.

 

[synchro]

Another guess is that the owner may want to keep at least some of the lighting turned ON for security reasons, but would still want flexibility in how that would be done. If tenant spaces have light switches, then that goal might still be accomplished by 3-way switches, although it could be inconvenient to deal with it.

 

[hbiss]

Another guess is that the owner may want to keep at least some of the lighting turned ON for security reasons

That was my guess also. Since this is commercial space, why would the tenants care if the lights are on all the time, particularly since they are not paying for them.

-Hal

 

[hillbilly1]

Another guess is that the owner may want to keep at least some of the lighting turned ON for security reasons, but would still want flexibility in how that would be done. If tenant spaces have light switches, then that goal might still be accomplished by 3-way switches, although it could be inconvenient to deal with it.

I did that on a retail space that was remodeled, and the tenant got mad and wanted it off because they didn’t want to pay for the power it used. I told them if that one fixture was going to break them, they weren’t going to be in business long. I was right, they went out of business less than a year later, even though I removed it as a night light! LOL!