BCAJ6

The Building Code of Australia (BCA) is a national code that

applies to all states and territories through their own building
control legislation.

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 CONTENTS

Artificial lighting and power 3

Building class 3
Adjustable lighting / Tracking systems 4
Abbreviations and Symbols 5
Room aspect ratio 9
Illumination power density adjustment factors 10
Dimming systems 13
Interior artificial lighting and power control 14
Interior decorative and display lighting 16
Artificial lighting around the perimeter of a building 16
Boiling water and chilled water storage units 16

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BCAJ6
ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING AND POWER

The Building Code of Australia (BCA) is a national code that applies to all states
and territories through their own building control legislation.

BUILDING CLASS

The BCA classifies buildings by their use. A building may be made up of a number
of classes if it has mixed use. The BCA identifies the following building classes:

Class 1(a) A single dwelling or attached dwellings (eg: terrace, duplex, etc) where each
dwelling is separated by a firewall.
Class 1(b) One or more buildings that constitute a boarding house, guest house, hostel of
small scale (ie: not exceeding 12 persons or 300m2 in floor area).
Class 2 A building containing 2 or more dwelling units (eg: flats, apartments, etc)
Class 3 A residential building for a number of persons such as a large scale boarding
house, guest house, hostel, the residential part of a hotel, motel, school, etc.
Class 4 A dwelling unit that is a part of a commercial use.
(eg: caretakers/managers flat)
Class 5 An office building.
Class 6 A shop or other building where goods or services are retailed directly
to the public.
Class 7(a) A carpark building.
Class 7(b) A storage building or building where goods are wholesaled (eg: warehouse).
Class 8 A laboratory or a building where a process takes place
(eg: factory, workshop, etc).
Class 9(a) A health care building (eg: hospital, clinic, etc).
Class 9(b) An assembly building (eg: community hall, sports hall, etc).
Class 9(c) An aged care building.
Class 10(a) A non-habitable building being a private garage, shed, or the like.
Class 10(b) A structure (eg: fence, wall, mast, swimming pool, etc).

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KEY POINTS:

• In a Class 2 or Class 4 building (commercial flats/dwellings)the lamp power

density / Illumination power density of artificial lighting must not exceed –
• Within the building, 5 W/m2
• On a Verandah/balcony of the building, 4 W/m2
• When calculating the LPD in AGi32, the total power of the installation must be
considered. For example: A Multifive 1x28w luminaire has a total wattage of
30w. The extra two watts for the ballast are also taken into consideration.
• The transformers / ballasts must be electronic when used for lamps.
• Halogen lamps must be separately switched from Fluorescent lamps.

ADJUSTABLE LIGHTING / TRACKING SYSTEMS

BCA requirements allow 100w Per. linear metre with a limit of 500w on a tracking
system or the maximum capacity the circuit breaker can withstand.
For example:

• 5 metres of track with 4 x 50w MH lamps will comply as the total wattage
equals 200w, 300w under the maximum wattage.
• If there is for example a large amount of tracking and fittings required which
exceeds the total of 500w, you take into account the maximum capacity that
the circuit breaker of the system can withstand. This data depends on how
much the particular circuit breaker can hold.

To determine the maximum wattage capacity of a 16 amp 240 v circuit breaker,

the following formula is provided with an example on how to calculate this:

16 amps / 240 volts = 15 Amps = watts / volts = 16 Watts = amps x volts = 3840 watts

• Aggregate designs are often useful as well. If one room fails by being 2w/m2
over the permitted wattage, but you have another room that is under by
2w/m2 they even things out and comply.
• Anything plugged in to the wall or if you have a display cabinet with lighting
attached to the cabinet itself, it doesn’t have to be included in your
compliance test.

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ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

ABBREVIATIONS

ABCB Australian Building Codes Board

ALGA Australian Local Government Organisation
AS Australian Standard
ASTM American Society of Testing and Materials
BCA Building Code of Australia
BCC Building Codes Committee
CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organisation
ISO International Organisation of Standardisation
NATA National Association of Testing Authorities
U-Value Thermal Transmittance

SYMBOLS

K kelvin(s)
Kg kilogram (s)
Kg/m kilogram (s) per matre
Kg.m2 kilogram (s) per square metre
kW/m2 kilowatt (s) per square metre
Lumens/W Lumens per watt
Lx lux
M metre (s)
M2 square metre (s)
M3 cubic metre (s)
mm millimetre (s)
mm2 square millimetre (s)
MW megawatt (s)
W watt
W/m.K Watts per metre per degree Kelvin
W/m2 Watts per square metre

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 SPACE MAXIMUM
ILLUMINATION
POWER DENSITY
(W/m2)
Auditorium, church and public hall 10
Boardroom and conference room 10
Carpark – general 6
Carpark – entry zone (first 20m of travel) 25
Common rooms, spaces and corridors in a Class 2 building 8
Control room, switch room, and the like 9
Corridors 8
Courtroom 12
Dormitory of a Class 3 building used for sleeping only 6
Dormitory of a Class 3 building used for sleeping and study 9
Entry lobby from outside the building 15
Health-care – children’s ward 10
Health-care – examination room 10
Health-care – patient ward 7
Health-care – all patient care areas including corridors where 13
cyanosis lamps are used
Kitchen and food preparation area 8
Laboratory – artificially lit to an ambient level of 400 lx or more 12
Library – stack and shelving area 12
Library – reading room and general areas 10
Lounge area for communal use in a Class 3 building or Class 9c 10
Museum and gallery – circulation, cleaning and service lighting 8
Office – artificially lit to an ambient level of 200 lx or more 9
Office – artificially lot to an ambient level of less than 200 lx 7
Plant room 5

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 SPACE MAXIMUM
ILLUMINATION
POWER DENSITY
Restaurant, Cafe, bar, hotel lounge and a space for the serving and 18
consumption of food or drinks
Retail space including a museum and gallery whose purpose is the 22
sale of objects
School – general purpose learning areas and 8
tutorial rooms
Sole-occupancy unit of a Class 3 building 5
Sole-occupancy unit of a Class 9c building 7
Storage with shelving no higher than 75% of the height of the aisle 8
lighting
Storage with shelving higher than 75% of the height of the aisle 10
lighting
Service area, cleaner’s room and the like 5
Toilet, locker room, staff room, rest room and the like 6
Wholesale storage and display area 10

SPACES/ROOMS NOT LISTED:

Consider the following maximum illumination power densities for the following
spaces that require a particular illumination average:

- Rooms to achieve < 80 lux: 7.5 w/m2

- 80 – 160 lux: 9 w/m2
- 160 – 240 lux: 10 w/m2
- 240 – 320 lux: 11 w/m2
- 320 – 400 lux: 12 w/m2
- 400 – 480 lux: 13 w/m2
- 480 – 540 lux: 14 w/m2
- 540 – 620 lux: 15 w/m2
- > 620 lux: Must have a maximum
efficacy of 80 Lumens/W

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NOTE:
The BCA allows you to reach compliance of a design as an aggregate through
their ‘Lighting Calculator.’

If some areas in a building don’t reach compliance, you may still be able to
achieve J6 compliance providing the rest of the building is far enough ‘in the
green’ to cover what you are over.

For example:
Room 1 is permitted 60w.
Say we achieve 50w. We are left with 10w in the green.

Room 2 is permitted 90w.

Say we end up using 110w. We are now 20w in the red.

Room 3 is permitted 90w.

Say we end up only using 50w. We are now back to having an extra 30watts
to play with and therefore we comply.

Just because one room fails doesn’t mean the design won’t comply.

To use the ‘Lighting Calculator’ please go to Eaglenet.

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ROOM ASPECT RATIO

For enclosed spaces with a Room Aspect Ratio of less than 1.5, the maximum
illumination power density may be increased by dividing it by an adjustment factor
for room aspect which is:
The Room Aspect Ratio of the enclosed space is determined by the formula
of A/(HxC)
A (Area)
H (Ceiling Height)
C (Perimeter)

To find the room aspect ratio, you have to multiply the height of the room by the
perimeter and divide it by the total area.

If the result is less than 1.5, you can then use the following adjustment factor:
0.5 + (Room Aspect Ratio result / 3) and then divided by the permitted Watts/Sq.m.

Example: Say it’s a small office with 9Watts/m2 permitted.

A (Area) = 5m
H (Ceil. Height) = 2.7m
C (Perimeter) = 10m
Multiply ‘HxC’ and you get 27.
Divide ‘A’ by 27 and you get 0.185.
Now that you know the room aspect ratio is 0.185 and it’s less than 1.5, you can
use the adjustment factor highlighted in red above.
0.5 + 0.185 / 3 = 0.56
Current Permitted Watts/Sq.M = 9
9 divided by 0.56 = 16

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ILLUMINATION POWER DENSITY ADJUSTMENT FACTORS

Where rooms have particular control devices such as a manual dimming system or a
motion detector, special considerations are allowed when calculating your w/m2.

Adjustment Factors apply only to luminaires controlled by a particular control device.

You can divide your total w/m2 for a room by the adjustment factor given for a
control system.
This can help reduce your w/m2 and potentially reach compliance.

Lighting Timer Corridor Only 0.7

Motion detector At least 75% of space is controlled by this device 0.9

Area less than 200m2 is switched as a block by one

or more detectors

Up to 6 lights are switched as a block by one 0.7

or more detectors.

Up to 2 lights are switched as a block by one

or more detectors. 0.55

Manual dimming system. Where at least 75% of the space is controlled by

Not including Class 2 a manual dimmer 0.95
and Class 4

(Class 2 and Class 4 only) Where at least 75% of the space is controlled by
a manual dimmer 0.85

Programmable dimming Where at least 75% of the space is controlled

system (DALI) by programmable 0.85

Dynamic Dimming Automatic compensation for

Lumen depreciation.
Fluorescent: 0.9
High Pressure Discharge: 0.8

Fixed Dimmer Where at least 75% of the area Is controlled by a

fixed dimmer % of full power of which the dimmer is
set, divided by: 0.95

Daylight sensor Lights within space adjacent to windows 0.5

(not roof lights)

Lights within space adjacent to roof lights 0.5

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EXAMPLE 1:

An office area illumination power density is to be less than 9 w/m2

Motion Detector

However, our design calculations read 9.4 w/m2.

How can we reach compliance?

Given that the above office space has Motion Detector installed, we can consider
the following equation:

9.4 w/m2 / 0.9 (adjustment factor for Motion Detector)

= 10.4 w/m2 allowance.

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EXAMPLE 2:

Whenever you’re dealing with two or more control devices in a room and you’re
unsure about which adjustment factor to use, an Average Adjustment Factor
must be nominated.

Motion Detector

Programmable
dimming system

Our same office than Example 1 now includes the following installations:

- Motion Detector (adjustment factor of 0.9)

- Programmable dimming system (adjustment factor of 0.85)

(a) Use the formula provided to work out the average adjustment factor:

A x ( B + [ (1 – B) / 2 ] )

A is the lowest adjustment factor (0.85)

B is the second lowest adjustment factor (0.9)

0.85 x ( 0.9 + [1-0.9) / 2 ] )

0.85 x ( 0.9 + 0.05 )
0.85 x ( 0.95 )
0.85 x 0.95
= 0.8075
9w/m2 / 0.8075 =
= 11.14w/m2 allowance.

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DIMMING SYSTEMS

MANUAL DIMMING:
Is where lights are controlled by a knob, slider or mechanism.
Eg: 1-10v dimmer.

PROGRAMMABLE DIMMING:
Is where particular dimming levels are pre-programmed and automatically
reactive to the time of day or an occupant sensor.

DYNAMIC DIMMING:
Where the lighting level is varied automatically based on lumen depreciation
of the lamps or the amount of daylight contribution.

FIXED DIMMING:
Lights are adjusted to a particular level and cannot be changed by the user.

LIGHTING TIMER:
Lights are active based on a time and duration period manually entered
into system.

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INTERIOR ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING AND POWER CONTROL

• Artificial lighting of a room or space must be individually operated by a switch

or any other control device.

• An ‘occupant activated device’, such as a room security device or a motion

sensor, must be provided in the sole-occupancy unit of a Class 3 building.

Not a requirement for aged care (Class 9c).

• An artificial lighting switch must be located and positioned within the space of
one or more adjoining rooms where the effect of the lighting systems, due to
the manual switching, are visible from the switch location.

For example, if I am switching a light on and off, I should be able to view the effect of that from
where I’m standing. (refer to image below)

Artificial lighting
switch/dimmer

• An artificial lighting switch or another control device cannot operate lighting

for a multi-functional area of more than 250m2 if in a Class 5 (office) building
or Class 8 (factory/lab) building.

However, for a single-functional space (ie: Swimming pool, auditorium, theatre,

sporting stadium, etc) ) it can be operated by a lighting switch/control device.

• In a multi-functional space (not including Class 5 or 8 buildings), a lighting

switch / control device cannot operate lighting of more than 250m2 within a
2000m2 area.

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However, if the area is greater than 2000m2, then 1000m2 or less can be operated
by the control system.

• 95% of light fittings in a building other than a Class 2, 3, 4 of more than 250m2
must be controlled by
• A time switch
• A motion detector

Therefore, an office building must be controlled by a time switch and motion

detector/s.

(a) In a Class 5, 6 or 8 building of more than 250m2, artificial lighting in a natural

lighting zone adjacent to windows must be separately controlled from artificial
lighting not in a natural lighting zone in the same storey expect where –
-The room is less than 20m2
-The room’s natural lighting zone contains less than 4 luminaires; or
-70% or more of the luminaires in the room are in the natural lighting zone.

(b) The requirements of (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) do not apply to the following:
(i) Emergency lighting
(ii) Where artificial lighting is needed for 24-hour occupancy such as for a
manufacturing process, parts of a hospital, an airport control tower or within a
detention centre.

(c) The requirements of (d) do not apply to the following:

(i)Artificial lighting in a space where the sudden loss of artificial lighting would
cause an unsafe situation such as in a patient care area in a Class 9a building or
in a Class 9c aged care building.
(i) A heated room where the heater also emits light, such as bathrooms.

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INTERIOR DECORATIVE AND DISPLAY LIGHTING

(a)Interior decorative and display lighting, such as a foyer mural or art display,
must be controlled –
(i)Separately from other artificial lighting
(ii)By a manual switch for each area, unless each area has the same operating
times such as a museum, art gallery, in which case they may be combined.
(iii)By a time switch where the display lighting exceeds 1 kW.

(b)Window display lighting must be controlled separately from other

display lighting.

ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING AROUND THE PERIMETER OF A BUILDING

(a)Artificial lighting around the perimeter of a building, must be controlled by a

daylight sensor or a time switch that is capable of switching on and off electric
power to the system at variable pre-programmed times and on variable
pre-programmed days.

When the total perimeter lighting load exceeds 100w, the artificial lighting around
the perimeter must have an average light source efficacy of not less than 60
Lumens/W, or be controlled by a motion detector.

When used for decorative purposes such as facade or signage lighting, the
artificial lighting must have a separate time switch.

(b)The requirements of (a) (ii) do not apply to the following:

(i)Emergency lighting.
(ii)Lighting around a detention centre.

BOILING WATER AND CHILLED WATER STORAGE UNITS

Power supply to a boiling water or chilled storage unit must be controlled by

a time switch.

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