I don't know, but I like it. It's a bit glam, yet wouldn't get in the way of reaching clothing on the upper shelves.

Ask your AHJ. Their interpretation is the one that matters.

There's actually a code for what type of light fixture is allowed in closets? Dang! I keep thinking I've checked all the applicable codes and then I find out there's more I don't know about.

Oh - and what is an AHJ?

Thanks!

For the purpose of the code, if it accepts an incandescent bulb, it is considered an incandescent luminaire even if you put a fluorescent or LED bulb in it.

National Electrical Code (2008)

410.16 Luminaires in Clothes Closets

(A) Luminaire Types Permitted. Listed luminaires of the following types shall be permitted to be installed in a closet:

(1) A surface-mounted or recessed incandescent luminaire with a completely enclosed lamp

(2) A surface-mounted or recessed fluorescent luminaire

(3) Surface-mounted fluorescent or LED luminaires identified as suitable for installation within the storage area

(B) Luminaire Types Not Permitted. Incandescent luminaires with open or partially enclosed lamps and pendant luminaires or lampholders shall not be permitted.

(C) Location. The minimum clearance between luminaires installed in clothes closets and the nearest point of a storage space shall be as follows:

(1) 300 mm (12 in.) for surface-mounted incandescent or LED luminaires with a completely enclosed light source installed on the wall above the door or on the ceiling

(2) 150 mm (6 in.) for surface-mounted fluorescent luminaires installed on the wall above the door or on the ceiling

(3) 150 mm (6 in.) for recessed incandescent or LED luminaires with a completely enclosed light source installed in the wall or the ceiling

(4) 150 mm (6 in.) for recessed fluorescent luminaires installed in the wall or the ceiling

(5) Surface-mounted fluorescent or LED luminaires shall be permitted to be installed within the storage space where identified for this use.

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410.2 Definitions

Closet Storage Space. The volume bounded by the sides and back closet walls and planes extending from the closet floor vertically to a height of 1.8 m (6 ft) or to the highest clothes-hanging rod and parallel to the walls at a horizontal distance of 600 mm (24 in.) from the sides and back of the closet walls, respectively, and continuing vertically to the closet ceiling parallel to the walls at a horizontal distance of 300 mm (12 in.) or the width of the shelf, whichever is greater; for a closet that permits access to both sides of a hanging rod, this space includes the volume below the highest rod extending 300 mm (12 in.) on either side of the rod on a plane horizontal to the floor extending the entire length of the rod. See Figure 410.2

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http://freenec.com/T244.html

AHJ = Authority Having Jurisdiction.

The term comes from the Life Safety Code (written by the National Fire Prevention Association as NFPA 101) in order to include various authorities like state Fire Marshalls. Residential building codes like the IRC generally use the term Building Official.

Modern residential building codes like the IRC have an electrical chapter that either restates portions of the National Electrical Code (written by the NFPA as NFPA 70) or references the NEC in its entirety.

If you flip back to the Electrical Chapter of your building code book you will find the restrictions for light fixtures in closets with a nice diagram or a reference to the NEC/NFPA 70 that contains that information.

If you intend to design or build a house there is no substitute for reading the building code and local amendments. You can't always rely on others to correct your mistakes.

Official definition ;D

Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ). An organization, office, or individual responsible for enforcing the requirements of a code or standard, or for approving equipment, materials, an installation, or a procedure.

FPN: The phrase "authority having jurisdiction," or its acronym AHJ, is used in NFPA documents in a broad manner, since jurisdictions and approval agencies vary, as do their responsibilities. Where public safety is primary, the authority having jurisdiction may be a federal, state, local, or other regional department or individual such as a fire chief; fire marshal; chief of a fire prevention bureau, labor department, or health department; building official; electrical inspector; or others having statutory authority. For insurance purposes, an insurance inspection department, rating bureau, or other insurance company representative may be the authority having jurisdiction. In many circumstances, the property owner or his or her designated agent assumes the role of the authority having jurisdiction; at government installations, the commanding officer or assumes the role of the authority having jurisdiction; at government installations, the commanding officer or departmental official may be the authority having jurisdiction.

http://freenec.com/T1.html

Since the creation of the ICC (a collection of former regional building code authors) in the late 1990s and the early departure of the NFPA from the joint fire code writing effort, the NFPA Life Safety Code has generally either been dropped from state regulations or retained and enforced only by state fire marshals for larger commercial buildings. Accordingly, over the last 15 years the NFPA term "Authority Having Jurisdiction" has gradually become archaic and been replaced by the ICC's term "Building Official".

However, in some situations, where there is no statewide building code or the building code is adopted locally or a county public safety agency provides building inspections, etc., AHJ covers more possibilities although these days using it for a single family house seems a bit pedantic. But code experts live for such distinctions.

I don't think that "authority having jurisdiction" is archaic or pedactric. It is still used in both the IRC and IBC. If anything, "AHJ" is less literally accurate or formal than "building official" as AHJ covers the whole gamut ;) and I have never called an electrical inspector on a single family home a "building official", nor have I ever had a "building official" try to inspect an electrical installation, as they are not generally qualified, authorized, or have jurisdiction for such things. I have never seen an electrical inspector inspect the structure of a building either.

Thanks for all the info! I have actually tried to read all the IRC codes, but it is so huge and then there's some sections that don't seem to apply to my situation, to say nothing of all I read and then forgot, that I really need to re-read everything and try to make sure that I'm not missing anything. Right now my head is spinning from reading everything related to flood and high wind, both of which apply to me.

As I pointed out, AHJ is appropriately used when it is not known if the authority is a local building official and might involve a state agency. That would be rare in an ICC code and would usually be stated as: "the building official or other authority having jurisdiction".

The ICC considers all inspectors, even electrical and plumbing inspectors, to be "Building Officials". This has been the case since CABO (former name of the ICC) published the first national One and Two Family Dwelling Code in the early 80's. Therefore, when referring to getting a light fixture approved it would be more appropriate to describe the person to ask as a building official. Certainly the abbreviation, AHJ, is not helpful to homeowners in an online forum.

The ICC made a valiant attempt to bring together the code text and philosophy of fire and building codes in the late 90's. its collaboration with the NFPA was brief, difficult and unsuccessful but some of the fire code terminology got in and remains. You would certainly expect that to be the case in the electrical section since it is taken directly from the NEC with permission from the NFPA.

BOCA, CABO, NFPA, ICC and CSI have promoted simplification of code and spec language for decades and I strongly support it.

WOW, JDS, talk about pedantic!

In the real world, permits and inspections are NOT one stop shopping. The official definition of AHJ is NOT just being redundant when it mentions both building officials AND electrical inspectors.

When I build a house, I must get separate permits. One is called a "building permit". Then there is the "electrical permit", "plumbing permit", and "septic and drainfield permit" where there is no common sewer. The building official inspects the structure. The electrical inspector inspects the electrical. The plumbing inspector inspects the inside plumbing, and the county health inspector inspects the drain field.

The IRC DOES NOT include the use of "authority having jurisdiction" just because it was in other publications, but because from a practical standpoint, the "building official" has no training or license required to be qualified for those inspections, and is not within their purview in most states, regardless of how the IRC is worded. The IRC also uses the term "authority having jurisdiction" when referring to matters of wind, flood, and sanitation, not just electrical. And they put those terms in the IRC all by themselves knowing that those things are not within the pay grade of the "building official".

In many situations, I get a "building permit" from the city, septic and well permits form the county, and electrical and plumbing permits from the state. When I have to get the electrical permit from the state, it is because nobody works for the city in that capacity even though there is a "building official". I often have to wait 3 days after the completion of work to get the inspector there that lives 100 miles away because the local "building official" IS NOT ALLOWED to do THAT inspection.

Most states have opted to not ACTUALLY adopt the electrical portion of the IRC, and still refer to the NEC as the adopted text, and using inspectors independent of the "building official". Only about 12 states allow the simplified version of the NEC that is in the IRC to be used as a standalone electrical code. Regardless to how the IRC is worded, the electrical section is mostly only in there as a courtesy to those that own the book.

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https://www.nema.org/Technical/FieldReps/Documents/Adoption%20of%20the%20National%20Electrical%20Code%20by%20State%20or%20local%20jurisdiction.pdf

Thank you, the helped so much!!! I have a couple more questions, if you don't mind.

1.) Are cloth shades permitted?

2.) In the light I originally posted a picture of, it is enclosed, but only by wire and crystals, which means there are small openings. Would that be permitted with incandescent bulbs or no?

3.) So no matter how exposed the bulb is, if it ONLY takes LED bulbs, it's ok?

I am in Louisiana.

Looks like this is a case for "Post Inspection Swap Man!"

It appears to be written that if you can touch the bulb in any way, UNLESS that bulb is ONLY POSSIBLE TO BE an LED, then it's open and the answer is no. Obviously a concern about fire hazard and clothing touching the bulb and igniting.

Right, I just don't know how people find pretty lights for their closet otherwise!

I know life can be filled with rules and requirements that aren't helpful. But as a regular homeowner without the wisdom of those posting above, one area I wouldn't try to bypass requirements or even come close to doing something questionable is electrical. I'd get an approved fixture and focus on other ways of getting the look and style I wanted.

Omelet, I certainly agree with this. I was joking in my last comment. I'm certainly not looking to bypass code....I was just hoping to find something nice looking that would pass code.

"1.) Are cloth shades permitted?"

No. One of the major purposes of this part of the code is to ke"keep broken or exploding bulb filaments OFF of flammable materials such as cloth. If the fixture is of a dedicated fluorescent or LED type, and is "UL approved" with the cloth, then it can go in a clothes closet as long as the distances to storage areas is met. If it is an LED fixture that specifically says it is listed for use WITHIN the clothes closet storage area, then it can be used anywhere in the closet.

2.) In the light I originally posted a picture of, it is enclosed, but only by wire and crystals, which means there are small openings. Would that be permitted with incandescent bulbs or no?

NO. "which means there are small openings" means that the bulb (lamp) is not "completely enclosed". In addition, it would not be permitted with any kind of bulb because someone could always just switch back to incandescent bulbs.

3.) So no matter how exposed the bulb is, if it ONLY takes LED bulbs, it's ok?

Not exactly. The NEC still calls for an enclosed light source with LEDs unless the LED fixture is specifically "listed" and "labeled" for use within the closet storage area, but these are getting more common every day. Also, the light source of most LED luminaries ARE enclosed in order for them to look pretty bcause of the nature of the LEDs. What they are really trying to eliminate with all this language is using things like bare/exposed LED tape in the closet, opposed to a fixture that will already be enclosing the individual diodes.

I am in Louisiana.

Louisiana uses the NEC for electrical work, and not the IRC.

E4003.12 of the IRC is NOT a direct quote from the NEC (as JDS tried to claim as the reason to leave in "authority having jurisdiction"), but it tries to say the same thing, so it may be helpful in your understanding of the code.

http://premiumaccess.iccsafe.org/document/code/272/4714729

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a direct quote of the 2014 NEC online to paste here, but it is about the same as 2008, with the word "LED" inserted into (A)(1).

Thanks for taking the time to explain this. Much appreciated and this helps me so much.

I have no way of knowing what code the OP's project would be subject to and I'm not going to guess but it would be quite unusual if it was not some version of the NEC.

I did not "claim" that the IRC electrical section was a "direct quote" of the NEC. I said it "either restates portions of the National Electrical Code ... or references the NEC in its entirety." That is true for the Luminaires in Clothes Closets (section 410.16) of the 2014 NEC which is shown below. All NFPA codes are available for free on the NFPA.org site.

---------------------------

The NFPA also restates the provisions of NFPA 70 (NEC) in NFPA 70A, "National Electrical Code Requirements for One and Two Family Dwellings" as shown below.

"The ICC considers all inspectors, even electrical and plumbing inspectors, to be "Building Officials". ... Therefore, when referring to getting a light fixture approved it would be more appropriate to describe the person to ask as a building official. ...but some of the fire code terminology got in and remains. You would certainly expect that to be the case in the electrical section since it is taken directly from the NEC with permission from the NFPA."

The only way one would expect that to be the case is if they were set on using direct quotes, especially if the ICC was truly set on getting rid of the term "authority having jurisdiction". Nor does that explain why the term is used in other sections of the IRC.

The IRC is scrutinized (word by word) every 3 years. Surely, if they really intended to substitute "building official", and eradicate "authority having jurisdiction", it would have already been done sometime in the past 15 year.

The IRC has certainly taken enough liberties with 410.16 to prove that they have no qualms with doing so.

The point is, that the term "authority having jurisdiction" isn't as archaic as you think, and still provides a valuable difference in meaning from "building official".

The term, "Building Official" is used to describe the person responsible for enforcement in every national building code I have ever used. That is the case for the 20 codes I own including 1970 and later UBC; 1970 and later BOCA; 1986 and later CABO, 1994 and later SBCCI and 2000 and later IRC/IBC.

NFPA finally authored a building construction code (NFPA 5000) in 2002 and predictably used the term Authority Having Jurisdiction for the people responsible for enforcing the code but it does not treat one and two family dwellings separately and it jumps around between Construction Types and Occupancy Types like the old Life Safety Code which is horribly tedious and of little use to builders. I don't know of a place it is used but I haven't been looking.

Some of NFPA's 300 codes and standards like for sprinkler and electrical systems are referenced by the above national building codes or even partially restated in them but the use of AHJ does not supersede the enabling chapter of building codes where the person responsible for enforcing the entire code, including electrical, fuel gas, fire suppression, etc. is legally defined as a "Building Official."

The NEC was first published in 1897 long before national building codes existed and used terms like AHJ and luminaries. IMO, it is not fair to use a cryptic acronym like AHJ in a home forum visited primarily by homeowners as if it were a common term they should recognize. I wouldn't use building inspector since that is a specific job title within a building department but everyone should understand what is meant by building official even if they have never read Chapter 1 of a national building code.

I was a member of BOCA and NFPA for about 20 years but when NFPA was so stubborn about changing their archaic philosophy and format and gave BOCA's successor, the ICC, such a hard time, I quit. I still think they need to revamp their entire organization and make their codes easier to use. I hear NFPA and ICC have created an organization called the "Coalition for Current Safety Codes (CCSC)" for what I purpose I don't know. I'm just glad NFPA didn't win the "code war."

"the use of AHJ does not supersede the enabling chapter of building codes where the person responsible for enforcing the entire code, including electrical, fuel gas, fire suppression, etc. is legally defined as a "Building Official."

The IRC as written is just an idealized model code. It is not "legally" anything until the state passes a law enacting all, or just parts of it.

In the real world, like my state, and many others, the "Building Official" in most cities/towns is NOT certified by the state to enforce ANY electrical or plumbing codes. Only the independent (not working for a "building official") state certified electrical inspectors are authorized. The only thing the building official is authorized to do is sign the certificate of occupancy AFTER the electrical inspector (that does not work under the building official) carries out the duties of inspecting and enforcing the electrical code.

Junejewel,

The Phillips Ledino is one of my favorite lights. I have it installed in a closet where my washer is. It puts out a ton of light. I think these would be great in a clothes closet. The white shade is actually glass and when lit up it sparkles.

Good luck!

I think, as long as it is on a ceiling, and far from clothing in the closet, you will be good. I think that is what all the diagrams and words above would indicate. Am I right? (Simplify!!!)

I am not sure that is correct Kirkhall. Items can inadvertently be placed close to the ceiling and spark a fire. It is also because it is an enclosed space.

I was totally surprised that I can't put in the kind of lighting in my closets in my build that I have in my current home. A bare light bulb with a string dangling down. Yes, there's now a code! I'm sure it varies from state to state, and region to region. I don't know if a bare bulb will or will not pass, but I do know I have to have toggle or rocker plates to operate said lights. At any rate, I'll go enclose those bulbs...

My builder is recommending a flat LED disc (controlled by a motion sensor wall switch combo inside the closet) mounted above the closet door.

Something like this:

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-Versi-Lite-White-LED-Mini-Flushmount-3000K-FMML-7-830-M6/204648154

$30

Kirkhall, if the space meets the definition of a closet, incandescent and LED light sources must be completely enclosed regardless of their location in the closet. That does not apply to fluorescent fixtures and certain labeled LED and fluorescent fixtures. The distance requirements are for those allowed fixtures.

The concern of the authors of the NEC is not only the temperature of an exposed incandescent bulb near clothing but the temperature of the filament of a broken incandescent bulb even if the bulb was enclosed in a fixture. The only part of this issue that is based on speculation is the likelihood of breaking the future; the rest is from testing.

The NEC is written by the National Fire Prevention Assoc. so no one should be surprised that they take potential fire hazards very seriously and no one should be surprised that new houses have more life safety requirements than older ones.

If closet lights must be fully enclosed, how do those magnificently large closets with chandeliers pass muster?

No proximity to hanging clothes, I presume.

Also, how do LED lights, such as those built into the shelves, cabinets or hanging rods pass code? They are certainly closer than the required 6 or 12 inches...

"(5) Surface-mounted fluorescent or LED luminaires shall be permitted to be installed within the storage space where identified for this use."

Presumably certain low voltage devices are UL tested for use as designed but I would not use them close to clothing.

LED lights emit small amounts of heat compared to other bulbs, which means that things that could be flammable can be located much closer to them. I just put in LED lights under some shelves, where I previously had a couple of small conventional lamps and the LEDs give off more light, but things illuminated by them no longer get hot.

"LED lights emit small amounts of heat compared to other bulbs, which means that things that could be flammable can be located much closer to them."

This is not true for all LED lights.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are cool low-voltage lighting devices without a filament but an LED light designed for a typical line-voltage house circuit requires a "driver" to convert the higher-voltage, alternating-current to low-voltage, direct-current and keep the voltage and current at the required levels.

An external driver can serve a low voltage circuit with multiple low-voltage fixtures or it can be an internal driver built into the base of each lamp (bulb). These are sometimes called "retrofit" LED lamps because they are sold as incandescent and CFL replacements. These lamps can get very hot. LED lighting that usually uses an external driver are cove, puck, tape and outdoor lights so they are very cool.

Pay careful attention to what is written on the box of any lighting fixture (specially enclosed fixtures) to determine where it can be placed and what lamps care allowed to be used in them. Just because a lamp fits in a fixture doesn't mean it has been tested and rated for that use.

JDS-

Good caution. I was focused on the types of LEDs I've been installing and neglected to think about the retrofit types you describe.

That picture is of a dressing room, not a closet. That's why you can have a chandelier.