IES 500-06

This Recommended Practice is a National Electrical Installation Standard (NEIS) designed to improve communications among specifiers, purchasers, and suppliers of electrical construction services as they apply to the installation of indoor commercial lighting systems. It defines a minimum baseline of quality and workmanship for installing such electrical products. This Practice describes installation procedures for lighting systems commonly used inside commercial and retail buildings. The main sections of this Practice are: definitions giving an explanation of important terminology; general installation practices discussing every necessary procedure from receiving material on site to completing the installation and providing the building owner with spare parts and a lamp list; recessed lighting systems providing step-by-step instructions that apply to suspended accessible (grid) ceilings and to wallboard and other inaccessible hard ceilings; and surface and suspended lighting systems giving the rundown on many typical mounting situations on (or beneath) a finished ceiling including track lighting. In addition, Appendix A provides guidance in ordering the appropriate troffer types for different applications; Appendix B lists standard downlight ratings that apply in many U.S. jurisdictions; while Appendix C contains two example illustrations of special-purpose mounting devices useful for installing suspended luminaires in commercial lighting systems.