LED recessed lay-ins require top-access?

[RWC/NC.]

Gentlemen, this being after the fact & the Original Poster already having his answer.
But keep forgetting, not everyone's on the 2020 addition NFPA 70

*Seeing some are on 2017 and another on 2014. *So realizing my statement in post #5 being non-effective to previous addition(s). So going post entirely Article 410/ New Section #118.. This being something of expectations, if/when 2020 addition being adopted into your area.

(N) 410.118 Access to Other Boxes.
Luminaries recessed in ceilings, floors, or walls shall not be used to access outlet, pull, or junction boxes or conduit bodies, unless the box or conduit body is a integral part of the listed Luminarie..

 

[texie]

Gentlemen, this being after the fact & the Original Poster already having his answer.
But keep forgetting, not everyone's on the 2020 addition NFPA 70

*Seeing some are on 2017 and another on 2014. *So realizing my statement in post #5 being non-effective to previous addition(s). So going post entirely Article 410/ New Section #118.. This being something of expectations, if/when 2020 addition being adopted into your area.

(N) 410.118 Access to Other Boxes.
Luminaries recessed in ceilings, floors, or walls shall not be used to access outlet, pull, or junction boxes or conduit bodies, unless the box or conduit body is a integral part of the listed Luminarie..

I was not aware of this new requirement. Good to know. Thanks.

 

[hbiss]

And MN is on the 2020...

This is where the inspector should have cited the Code section that applies (and the OP should have asked for it). If he did that we would have known right away what was up.

-Hal

 

[kwired]

Gentlemen, this being after the fact & the Original Poster already having his answer.
But keep forgetting, not everyone's on the 2020 addition NFPA 70

*Seeing some are on 2017 and another on 2014. *So realizing my statement in post #5 being non-effective to previous addition(s). So going post entirely Article 410/ New Section #118.. This being something of expectations, if/when 2020 addition being adopted into your area.

(N) 410.118 Access to Other Boxes.
Luminaries recessed in ceilings, floors, or walls shall not be used to access outlet, pull, or junction boxes or conduit bodies, unless the box or conduit body is a integral part of the listed Luminarie..

I would guess the intent for that rule wasn't for it to apply to lay in luminaires in a accessible ceiling, though they possibly didn't word it well enough therefore it can be misunderstood to mean that.

Makes sense for it to apply to recessed luminaires in a "hard ceiling" and even more sense if there is no crawl space above that ceiling to gain access to the box.

 

[RWC/NC.]

That is the exact wording of it. .. It's new, so let's see what changes the 2023 NFPA 70 might bring to 410.118.. * It's not that far off & basically months away.

 

[macmikeman]

Ok, May I? I put in ten led troffer fixtures recently . There was top only access plates built in. So in regards to that the inspector has a point. However the fixtures weigh about a half pound total so while not completely easy to perform removal due to hanger wires in the corners, once you deal with that the fixture removal is next to almost no effort.

Instead you might want to look at the type of replacement Led tubes that don't use a tombstone at all. They come in several different lengths , have rare earth magnet clips to hold the tubes to the existing metal fixture , and a driver that is around two inches x two inches in size also with built in rare earth magnets to hold it to the fixture metal. The driver is easily contained inside the removable pan on the existing fixture. These tubes light up as bright as the original fluorescent tubes , if not more so. The cost comes to about sixty dollars to refit a 2x4 fluorescent fixture 4 lamp style. It's a no brainer for the situation you are in.

This link with a picture is the first one I found on the web to demonstrate. I haven't used this brand , but the ones I did are very similar. We did a twenty story office building top to bottom parking lot included with these 5 yrs ago and so far only two have had to be replaced. They are super easy to install to an existing fluorescent troffer light. https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Retrofit-Fluorescent-Replacement-Dimmable/dp/B07K6JHL3Y