Australian Home Lighting Regulations – Building Code Of Australia (BCA) J7 Compliance
February 26, 2021
The Building Code of Australia (BCA) outlines the requirements for plumbing, insulation, heating, construction and many other aspects of home building – including Lighting.
All new Australian homes and renovations that require a planning permit must comply with the BCA code – and specifically with regard to lighting, the J7 section. Regulating maximum energy usage, the NCC BCA J7 (developed by the ABCB) means that all residences where a Building Permit has been issued must comply with the 5W/M2 requirement .
In plain English, compliance requires every light fitting in your home to be calculated based on its energy consumption, and across the entire home, you are allowed a maximum of 5 watts of lighting energy consumed per meter squared. .
To prove that your new home or renovation will meet the energy consumption requirements of BCA J6, you need a lighting plan that shows the light fittings you’ll be installing and then provide an accepted calculation to prove that the total energy consumption across the entire interior of the home will be 5 Watts per square meter (5W/m2) or less. Verandas and Porches are allowed 4 watts per square meter (4W/m2), and Garages 3 watts per square meter (3W/m2). There are the “exceptions” and adjustment factors which also come into play and can “earn” you more watts of energy available to be consumed by lighting.
Keeping it simple – by including lighting control equipment in your home, in the form of motion detectors at the most basic level, right through to comprehensive digital lighting control systems, you can “earn” extra watts which can be consumed by lighting. How much you earn is governed by how much control you install.
Calculating BCA J6 can be confusing, however professionals who deal with the BCA on a regular basis can assist you with navigating the process and ensuring you comply.
The BCA J6 is fantastic for ensuring high efficiency lighting installations in homes; however the biggest problem for home owners that this regulation creates is simultaneously very simple, and rarely discussed.
It is very easy to create a lighting plan which complies with the BCA J6 on energy consumption, but fails to produce usable light in your home. Energy consumption is not universally a clear indicator of light produced – especially with LED product. This is not to “pick” on LED – professionally I use it as it provides flexibility with light which is just not possible with other sources. The simple truth of the LED products available in Australia is that there are thousands of importers bringing product in and marketing it with no understanding of LIGHT – the focus purely on energy consumption and profit margins. A light fitting which doesn’t produce good light – seems a little pointless when you think it through. Even if it saves you energy – are you really in front if you can no longer see clearly?
Many low energy products in the market are in reality, not terribly efficient. Just because a light fitting consumes only 8W for example, does not guarantee that for that 8W you are getting an efficient conversion of energy to light. 8W used to create 480lm is great – 8W used to create 270lm – not very useful.
Using an independent lighting professional for advice or for a design service will remove the unknowns from your home lighting plan, however a bit of research on your own, and a keen eye for detail should be enough to allow you to take control of the lighting for your own home.
If you'd like to discuss lighting design for your home, please give the studio a call and chat with our friendly lighting consultants - MINT Lighting Design
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