Tenant Improvement Title 24: NRCC & Lighting Checklist

01Define the affected scope, not just the tenant name

A tenant improvement is a project description, not one universal energy form. A lighting replacement, office subdivision, storefront change and mechanical replacement can affect different requirements. Before requesting an NRCC package, mark what is new, altered, relocated or retained and identify the designer responsible for each system. “The landlord already has Title 24” is not enough information to scope the tenant’s work.

For permit applications on or after January 1, 2026, current planning starts with the 2025 California Energy Code. Confirm the AHJ-recorded application date, building classification and any later application changes. NRCC design compliance is not the single-family CF1R pathway, and nonresidential acceptance testing should not be booked as a generic residential ECC visit.

This guide helps architects and applicants assemble a usable package. It does not decide a local submission rule, professional signature requirement or exemption. Title 24 Part 6 energy documentation is separate from Part 11 CALGreen and other permit disciplines; those boundaries belong in the proposal and handoff.

CEC Energy Code Support Center forms hubCommercial NRCC preparation serviceConfirm the applicable code edition

02Tenant scope versus full-building and shell scope

Draw the tenant boundary and the affected conditioned/unconditioned areas. Identify any shared equipment, retained shell envelope and work outside the suite. A shell report can provide evidence of the earlier design, but it does not automatically demonstrate that a later fit-out complies after lighting, systems, partitions or use change.

Ask the landlord or shell team for the relevant accepted documents, not just a cover sheet saying compliance was completed. Ask who can confirm base-building equipment and controls. If the tenant’s mechanical design relies on a shared system, identify the source of its performance information and the party authorized to resolve changes. Unknown shell assumptions should remain visible, not quietly become modeled facts.

A whole-building study and a limited tenant package are different scopes. Do not assume that modeling unrelated landlord improvements can offset a tenant design without checking the permit boundary and applicable rules. Conversely, do not price a limited lighting scope as every system in the building before identifying what is actually affected.

03System-by-system intake checklist

Create a scope matrix with a drawing reference, status and responsible person for each row. Record “not affected” with an explanation where appropriate; a blank row leaves the preparer guessing.

• +Permit basis and boundary: application date, edition, occupancy/use descriptions, tenant area, conditioned boundary, work outside the suite and relevant shell records. Distinguish the project’s affected area from the entire landlord property.
• +Indoor lighting: identify what is replaced, moved or retained; provide room/use areas, luminaire quantities and input power, fixture identifiers and control sequences. Ask which lighting calculation method fits the actual permit scope.
• +Mechanical: identify equipment, areas served, ventilation and controls that change. Include responsible-designer schedules and available existing-system evidence; an unchanged equipment count does not prove the mechanical scope is unaffected.
• +Envelope: identify affected storefront glazing, doors, roof/wall work and changes to the conditioned boundary. Separate retained shell assemblies from new or altered features rather than assigning one description to everything.
• +Other affected systems: identify water heating, outdoor/sign lighting, electrical-power distribution or covered-process work where relevant. This checklist is not a claim that every listed system needs a new certificate on every TI.
• +Handoff and exclusions: identify installers, applicable installation records and the acceptance-testing party where required. Confirm who obtains final records and who answers reviewer comments; do not leave these responsibilities until occupancy review.

Prepare the complete plans and project-data packet

04Indoor lighting: LTG shorthand, NRCC-LTI and the Area Category Method

LTG is common drawing shorthand for lighting; the CEC uses the NRCC-LTI designation for its indoor-lighting compliance certificate. Use the current CEC forms catalog and the actual form instructions, rather than guessing a form number from an old project. Lighting alteration requirements depend on the affected work and applicable provisions; this article supplies no universal fixture-count or percentage trigger.

The 2025 nonresidential lighting manual describes the Area Category Method as applicable to permit situations including tenant improvements. It assigns allowances by the primary function areas of the design. That makes accurate room/use descriptions important: an office suite may include meeting rooms, circulation and support areas, not simply one unlabeled rectangle. Have the responsible designer select the applicable categories and method.

Lighting-power compliance and control compliance are separate questions. A lower connected wattage does not automatically establish the required manual, shut-off, daylight-responsive or other applicable controls. A control sequence must relate to the actual rooms and fixtures. Do not assume that switching to LED technology completes the compliance demonstration.

Use the 2025 manual for current requirements. The supplied CEC PDF with a 2025-07 URL actually contains 2019 manual material; it is linked below as legacy background, not a current fact sheet or source of 2025 thresholds. The current chapter and certificate are the appropriate starting points for this edition.

CEC 2025 indoor-lighting manual chapterCEC 2025 NRCC-LTI certificate and scope fieldsCEC legacy indoor-lighting background PDF

05Worked example: office lighting plus HVAC changes

ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY — these quantities are teaching inputs, not a compliance calculation or an approved allowance. A 2,400 sq ft office fit-out shows 1,600 sq ft of open office, 400 sq ft of meeting space and 400 sq ft of support/circulation space. The layout proposes 40 luminaires at 22 watts each: 880 watts before any applicable calculation adjustments. A substitution of 40 fixtures at 28 watts would instead be 1,120 watts.

That arithmetic does not prove that either option passes. The lighting designer must confirm the relevant function areas, applicable method, allowed power and control requirements using current rules. The documentation team reconciles the fixture tags and quantities with the plans. A product substitution needs the actual input-power data and compatible control information, not an assumption that any LED is equivalent.

The project also creates an enclosed meeting room served by modified mechanical equipment. The mechanical designer supplies the revised equipment, ventilation and control scope; the energy preparer does not infer that only lighting changed because the permit is called a TI. The landlord supplies the relevant existing-system information so retained shell assumptions can be checked.

A useful handoff row for this example names the fixture tag, drawing revision, quantity, input-power source, control zone and responsible designer. A separate column identifies the installer and applicable acceptance record. If the fixture data is still provisional, mark the row open. This small matrix prevents a drawing change from looking like a completed installation or a passed functional test.

At handoff, the team identifies applicable NRCC design records, NRCI installation records and required NRCA acceptance work. The contractor and testing party receive the coordinated schedules and sequences. If the fixture count changes after review, the applicant records the change and coordinates the affected drawings and documents before treating the earlier package as current.

Review a changed design with energy-modeling supportPlan-check corrections and controlled revisions

06Do not collapse the construction-stage documents

NRCC documents design compliance. NRCI records the applicable installation certification. NRCA records required acceptance testing, while NRCV addresses applicable verification scopes. These are separate families, not successive signatures that the report preparer can supply on behalf of every participant. The actual affected systems determine what applies.

The CEC Support Center states that NRCA forms ending in -A are completed by certified Acceptance Test Technicians through an approved certification provider’s process. Forms ending in -F have a different field-technician pathway. Confirm the actual form and qualification; “all acceptance forms require the same technician” would be too broad. Identify applicable testing early enough to coordinate access and functional operation.

Current ECC terminology belongs where the applicable verification pathway calls for it. HERS is legacy language on older-cycle records, not a replacement name for commercial lighting acceptance testing. Do not ask an energy modeler to sign an installation or testing declaration merely because they prepared the NRCC.

Nonresidential forms overview: NRCC, NRCI, NRCV and NRCACEC current forms and technician responsibilities

07Before permit resubmittal or construction handoff

Check tenant area, room uses, system identifiers, fixture counts and controls against the current drawings. Give each unresolved item an owner and status. A preliminary study may contain placeholders; the final design package needs coordinated inputs and appropriate declarations. Keep the accepted revision and subsequent substitutions together so the installer is not working from a superseded schedule.

For corrections, copy the complete reviewer comment into a response matrix and identify the affected drawing and compliance record. Distinguish a documentation error from a client design change or a larger model rebuild using the published revision menu. Do not assume every resubmittal is one fixed-fee task or that paying for a revision guarantees the department’s next review outcome.

Title 24 Lab’s report-preparation scope excludes field testing, acceptance testing, registry fees, CALGreen and AHJ permit fees. Design-document support does not claim engineering design, commissioning, contractor certification, a particular credential or control over city staffing. Agree the documentation scope and separate participants before production.

08Six tenant-improvement documentation questions

The answers identify practical next steps without assigning a universal permit trigger.

09Next step: request the package your scope actually needs

Review the existing commercial square-footage menu and exclusions, then send the current plans and scope matrix through Get a Quote. Describe lighting, mechanical and envelope changes separately; mark retained shell assumptions and missing evidence. Intake is not payment, production acceptance or an assurance of permit approval.

Educational information, not legal advice. The AHJ determines permit requirements and local amendments; responsible designers and qualified construction/testing participants resolve project-specific technical work. No local fee, review deadline, office or credential is asserted here.

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