Wall switch location? dwelling

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cowboyjwc said:
There's one more section in there that says that the light's controled must be able to be seen from the switch. So no bank of switches in the mangers office on a commercial project. But where in that area, is up to you.

You're right that nothing says that it has to be next to the door.
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Managers office just might have some 2 way mirrors so he can see the lights. Would that qualify ?
 
cowboyjwc said:
The CA Energy Code says: "All permanently installed luminaires shall be switched with readily accessible controls that permit the luminaires to be manually switched on and off."

Now that's in the residential code.

In the Nonresidential Code it says: "Independent lighting controls are required for each area enclosed by ceiling height partitions. In the simplest case, this means that each room must have its own switches; gang switching of several rooms is not allowed. This allows the lighting in each room to be controlled separately by the room's occupants."
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So the guy coming back from the restroom or concession in the basketball arena needs to be careful not to brush against the switch that will make the whole arena dark as he is making his way back to his seat? He is a room occupant in this case.
 
kwired said:
So the guy coming back from the restroom or concession in the basketball arena needs to be careful not to brush against the switch that will make the whole arena dark as he is making his way back to his seat? He is a room occupant in this case.
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Yeah, pretty much. I'm sure the guy in the control room can see the arena floor and may control the lights from there. What he has to be careful of is turning off the lights when he leaves the restroom.
 
Jim W in Tampa said:
Managers office just might have some 2 way mirrors so he can see the lights. Would that qualify ?
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As long as he could see the lights yes. The reason is pretty simple when you think about it. If the manager wants to work late you don't need all of the lights in the building on, so he can simply have his office lights on. Why have the stock room lights on if you're not working in the stock room.

Commercial lighting is responsible for 75% of energy usage.
 
cowboyjwc said:
As long as he could see the lights yes. The reason is pretty simple when you think about it. If the manager wants to work late you don't need all of the lights in the building on, so he can simply have his office lights on. Why have the stock room lights on if you're not working in the stock room.
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Exactly, what other rooms might he not be able to see and why should the lights be on in them unless he had to pass through them to get to his office. What if he is in the stock room and the office lights are on? What if after he is done he forgets to turn off the office lights? There are endless what if's making this a dumb rule. And how can security lighting even be allowed if it needs turned off when no one is present?

In areas of public occupancy for security and safety reasons you may not want public access to lighting controls, if the place is occupied it needs illumination. I can understand allowing automatic controls but like in my basketball arena example you can't have general occupants having access to lighting controls and same goes for smaller public places.

Maybe we all need to carry our own personal solar charged light wherever we go and only turn it on when it is too dark to see. - That would make a huge decline in parts of the electrical industry. You go to the basketball game if there are only 500 fans there will not be as much light as if there were 5000 fans but everyone brought their required amount.
 
kwired said:
Exactly, what other rooms might he not be able to see and why should the lights be on in them unless he had to pass through them to get to his office. What if he is in the stock room and the office lights are on? What if after he is done he forgets to turn off the office lights? There are endless what if's making this a dumb rule. And how can security lighting even be allowed if it needs turned off when no one is present?

In areas of public occupancy for security and safety reasons you may not want public access to lighting controls, if the place is occupied it needs illumination. I can understand allowing automatic controls but like in my basketball arena example you can't have general occupants having access to lighting controls and same goes for smaller public places.

Maybe we all need to carry our own personal solar charged light wherever we go and only turn it on when it is too dark to see. - That would make a huge decline in parts of the electrical industry. You go to the basketball game if there are only 500 fans there will not be as much light as if there were 5000 fans but everyone brought their required amount.
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Hey, I didn't write the code, I simply enforce it. You guys have no clue what we have to deal with here in CA. If you think the NEC added to the cost of a house, just be glad you don't have to install high efficacy lighting everywhere or manual on occupancy sensors or dimmers, etc.
 
cowboyjwc said:
Hey, I didn't write the code, I simply enforce it. You guys have no clue what we have to deal with here in CA. If you think the NEC added to the cost of a house, just be glad you don't have to install high efficacy lighting everywhere or manual on occupancy sensors or dimmers, etc.
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I agree. CA Title 24 requires a lot more than the NEC does for safety and energy conservation. One overriding requirement not mentioned in the NEC is the AHJ building department certification of the project electrical plans that can stipulate physical location of wall switches by drawing if indicated on the plan.
 
gndrod said:
I agree. CA Title 24 requires a lot more than the NEC does for safety and energy conservation. One overriding requirement not mentioned in the NEC is the AHJ building department certification of the project electrical plans that can stipulate physical location of wall switches by drawing if indicated on the plan.
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Shhhh, you'll start anthother thread about how we can't inspect to plans only to code.:)
 
cowboyjwc said:
Hey, I didn't write the code, I simply enforce it. You guys have no clue what we have to deal with here in CA. If you think the NEC added to the cost of a house, just be glad you don't have to install high efficacy lighting everywhere or manual on occupancy sensors or dimmers, etc.
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California can keep them issues there, thank you very much:)

I hear you are not allowed to have your vehicle idling more than 5 minutes or you can be ticketed for that too. Good thing they don't have extreme cold there, some places you don't shut the engine off in extreme cold or you will not get it started again.
 
kwired said:
California can keep them issues there, thank you very much:)

I hear you are not allowed to have your vehicle idling more than 5 minutes or you can be ticketed for that too. Good thing they don't have extreme cold there, some places you don't shut the engine off in extreme cold or you will not get it started again.
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That depends on where you live, in some areas you can't park your car on the street, it must be in the driveway, in other areas you can't have a commercial vehical parked in front of you house over night. Some places wouldn't let you run your business out of your house if you're storing parts there as that would be running a commercial business in a residential zone.

Like I said it depends on where you live.:grin:
 
The only places I am aware of that the NEC even comes close to dictating a location for the light switch is 210.70(A)(2)(c) and 210.70(C). Many other building and energy codes, including California's Energy Code (Title 24, Part 6) have more specific (albeit ambiguous) requirements.
 
I believe the ADA requirement is: 46 inches max for switches, 15 inches min for receptacles. This is to center of switch. And to center of bottom receptacle on a duplex. I install 19" to top of receptacle box, this allows for finish flooring to be up to one inch thick. I put switches at 42" to top of box to stay away from the drywall mud. For counter top switches ADA is 40" this makes it tough for formica manf backsplash.
 
iwire said:
How weird. :confused: :)
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It's an energy code thing. The international energy code (IECC) requires basically the same thing, but there is an exception allowing the omission of the lighting controls in the space if the remote switches identify what lights they serve and indicate the status of those lights. I guess they don't want occupants to accidentally leave a light on. Has the IECC been adopted in MA? I bet it has, or something like it. States loose some federal funding if they don't adopt something at least as stringent as the IECC.
 
mlnk said:
I believe the ADA requirement is: 46 inches max for switches, 15 inches min for receptacles. This is to center of switch. And to center of bottom receptacle on a duplex. I install 19" to top of receptacle box, this allows for finish flooring to be up to one inch thick. I put switches at 42" to top of box to stay away from the drywall mud. For counter top switches ADA is 40" this makes it tough for formica manf backsplash.
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Actually for switches it's max 48" measured to the top of the box and for receptacles it's no lower than 15" measured to the bottom of the box. Both measurements are AFF.

These numbers changed in the last IBC.
 
cadpoint said:
I took a few minutes to look at the ADA they give heights for devices but do not give widths off of an opening or doorway. Pull stations, switches, recepactacles, even an a elevator button, where all give in height(s).

I'll assume that it's just a single family dwelling, I always try to check the finish schedule, wide wood splashs are all the rage, lately.
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Can I ask what the heights are? this question of location has appeared on here before and to make it short you can put a switch for a light any where in the house you want with no code violation. You can put the switch for the back porch light by front door if you want
 
jetlag said:
Can I ask what the heights are? this question of location has appeared on here before and to make it short you can put a switch for a light any where in the house you want with no code violation. You can put the switch for the back porch light by front door if you want
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I looked at www.ADA.gov, there is an elevator detail, note there is no dimension off the edge of door! I can only remember looking at this site, and as others have said there might be local addiations to the vast requirements of the ADA.

This was the basis of my statement!

I could not find a nice complete all showing display/illustration presenting all the information, such as heights for switches and receptacles. In fact most drawing by design (sealed drawings) our devices are above or below the limit of reach of someone in a wheel chair.

Note forward reach and side reach in Figures 4 & 5.

Hope this helps...

PS: check the ADA design standards at the top of the page!
 
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