Occupancy-sensor lighting control test records before tenant move-in

Direct answer

Before tenant move-in, an occupancy-sensor lighting control functional test record should identify the project, suite, room, control zone, fixture group, branch circuit where needed, sensor tag, sensor type, manufacturer, model, control intent, approved sequence, programmed mode, timeout, sensitivity, daylight setting where applicable, manual switch behavior, automatic-on or manual-on behavior, vacancy response, partial-off or full-off response, override behavior, emergency or egress limitation, furniture and partition condition, HVAC motion influence, door swing or corridor spill concern, test method, test time, photos or screenshots, failed condition, correction, retest, person responsible, tenant exception, and final move-in release boundary.

Do not release a tenant space with only a statement that the lights came on. That note does not prove the correct room was tested, the sensor controlled the intended fixture group, the timeout was accepted, the switch worked as programmed, the lights turned off or reduced when vacant, or the sensor was not being triggered by motion outside the room.

Use this field note as documentation guidance only. The adopted electrical code, energy code, project drawings, control narrative, lighting-control submittal, manufacturer instructions, commissioning specification, owner standard, AHJ, code official, electrical contractor, controls contractor, and site safety plan control the actual installation, programming, testing, acceptance, and tenant release.

Tenant move-in is when weak control records fail

Occupancy sensors can look finished before they are useful. The device is installed, the wallplate is on, the lights respond, and the room looks ready. Then the tenant moves in, furniture blocks the sensor view, partitions change the detection pattern, a conference room stays dark after entry, a private office never times out, or a corridor sensor sees motion through an open doorway.

The record has to prove more than power to a fixture. It has to connect a room, a control zone, a sensor, a sequence of operation, programmed settings, and observed behavior. That evidence is what separates a move-in-ready space from a complaint waiting for the first day of occupancy.

The CEC acceptance-test references, IECC functional-testing sections, ICC guidance, OSHA installation references, and manufacturer instructions used for this package all point to the same field principle: automatic lighting controls have to be installed, adjusted, programmed, and tested against the intended operation. A field record should preserve the facts needed to show that happened.

Separate acceptance evidence from comfort tuning

The move-in record should separate three different questions. First, did the installed control meet the required code, specification, and approved sequence test? Second, did the system respond correctly in the actual room condition? Third, does the tenant want a comfort adjustment that is allowed by the controlling documents?

Do not blur those together. A tenant may prefer a longer timeout, a shorter timeout, manual-on behavior, or a different sensitivity setting. That preference is not the same as a passed functional test unless the adopted energy code, control narrative, owner standard, and manufacturer instructions allow it.

Write the record so a later reviewer can tell which items were code acceptance, which were owner standard, which were tenant tuning, and which were open defects. That distinction matters when a complaint arrives after move-in and no one remembers what was intentionally changed.

Identify the control zone before testing behavior

A useful test starts with identity. Record the suite, floor, room name, room number, drawing reference, lighting control panel or room controller where applicable, fixture group, control zone, switch station, sensor tag, device model, and the latest approved control sequence.

A sensor in one room can control several fixture groups, and several sensors can control one zone. A conference room can have wall switches, ceiling sensors, daylight sensors, low-voltage controllers, emergency relays, plug-load controls, and network programming. Without the zone identity, a pass note is hard to trust.

Photograph or export enough evidence to connect the device to the controlled lights. For standalone sensors, that may be a sensor photo, room photo, switch photo, and fixture group photo. For networked systems, add the programming screen, device address, room controller label, or panel schedule entry when the project requires it.

Test occupied, vacancy, and timeout behavior

The field test should observe both directions of behavior. Simulate or create an occupied condition and record what turns on, what remains off, what dims, and what requires a manual action. Then create the vacancy condition and record whether the lights turn off, reduce, or remain on under the accepted sequence.

The timeout has to be documented as a setting and as an observed response. Manufacturer instructions often provide a test mode or short timeout for coverage checks, but the final record should also state the final programmed timeout released to the tenant. If the test mode was used, record that it was only a test mode and that the device was returned to final settings.

Where a room uses manual-on vacancy behavior, do not call a failed automatic-on response a defect unless the control narrative says it should turn on automatically. Where a space uses partial-off, step-dimming, daylight hold-off, or corridor reduction, do not write pass until the record states what response was expected and what response was observed.

Record final programming and adjustment settings

A sensor can pass a quick walk test and still be left in the wrong setting. Record final occupancy mode, vacancy mode, timeout, sensitivity, ultrasonic or PIR status if adjustable, daylight threshold where applicable, switch mode, override duration, network scene, and any owner-locked parameters.

For wallbox devices, photograph the model, switch station, and any visible final setting evidence allowed by the product. For ceiling or low-voltage sensors, record DIP switch settings, software parameters, controller address, zone assignment, and final labels where available. For networked systems, preserve exported setup data or screenshots if the project permits them.

Do not rely on memory for programming values. The final setting is part of the release. If a later tenant complaint says the lights stay on too long, shut off too fast, or fail to turn on, the first question will be what the device was actually set to at handoff.

Check coverage and false-trigger conditions

Coverage testing is not just walking under the sensor. The record should show whether the sensor detects expected entry points, work positions, meeting seats, storage areas, copy areas, and any other normal occupant locations in the controlled zone.

False triggering also matters. Record whether corridor motion, glass sidelights, door swing, HVAC airflow, moving banners, fans, adjacent open office motion, or vibration appears to activate the sensor. Manufacturer instructions commonly warn that sensor location, sensitivity, and surrounding motion can affect operation. A pass record should not crop those conditions out.

Test after furniture, partitions, equipment, and major tenant fixtures are installed when possible. If move-in timing forces a test before final furniture, state that limitation and hold the final comfort release until the responsible party confirms coverage under the occupied layout.

Do not release life-safety or emergency limits by accident

Some lighting is not ordinary tenant lighting. Emergency lighting, egress illumination, exit signs, night lights, generator-backed circuits, fire alarm interfaces, and owner-required security lighting may have separate rules and separate test records. Do not treat those circuits as released just because an occupancy sensor works in the room.

The move-in packet should state the boundary. It can say the occupancy-sensor control for general lighting in Room 214 passed the observed sequence. It should not say all lighting is accepted if emergency, egress, fire alarm, generator, security, or life-safety items were outside the test.

If a sensor controls a mixed load or shares a relay with lighting that has a separate requirement, stop and get the responsible designer, electrical contractor, commissioning agent, owner, or AHJ direction. The field record should preserve the question instead of hiding it in a generic pass note.

Use a lighting-control test log

Use the project commissioning form, energy-code acceptance form, owner test sheet, or controls contractor report first. Add this table where the required form does not clearly connect the room, sensor, setting, observed behavior, correction, and tenant release decision.

Before tenant move-in checklist

Run this check before representing occupancy-sensor lighting controls as ready for tenant move-in.

• List every tenant room, open office area, corridor segment, restroom, storage room, conference room, copy area, and support space in the move-in scope.
• Assign each room to the correct lighting control zone and fixture group.
• Confirm the latest approved control narrative, energy-code form, owner standard, and manufacturer instructions are the basis for testing.
• Record sensor tag, model, location, final label, controller, panel, or network address where applicable.
• Photograph the room condition at the time of test, including furniture or the absence of final furniture.
• Test the occupied response from normal entry points and typical work locations.
• Test vacancy response and record timeout, off state, partial-off state, dim level, or hold condition.
• Confirm manual switch behavior, override duration, and room-only control limits where applicable.
• Record final programmed settings after test mode is removed.
• Check for false triggering from corridor motion, door swing, HVAC airflow, fans, glass, or adjacent rooms.
• Separate general lighting controls from emergency, egress, exit sign, generator, fire alarm, and security lighting scope.
• Record failed conditions before correction, then add correction and retest evidence.
• State the final boundary: room released, zone held, tenant tuning pending, commissioning hold, AHJ review, or recheck required.

Weak and strong notes

Weak note: Occupancy sensors tested and working.

That note does not identify the room, device, control zone, expected sequence, timeout, final settings, observed vacancy response, false-trigger check, corrections, or tenant release boundary.

Stronger note: Suite 420 lighting control move-in test completed on 2026-06-09 for rooms 420A through 420F. Room 420C conference room sensor OS-420C controls fixture group L4C through room controller RC-42 per approved lighting control narrative LCN-7. Final programmed mode is manual-on vacancy with 15-minute timeout, PIR sensitivity normal, ultrasonic disabled, daylight hold-off not used. Photo LC-420C-01 shows sensor location after conference table installation. Entry from corridor and seated positions at table ends detected motion and held lights on. Vacancy test started at 14:10 after room cleared; lights turned off at 14:25. Corridor walk-by with door open did not activate the room. Initial test found south whiteboard position not detected; sensor aim was adjusted by controls contractor and retested in photos LC-420C-05 through LC-420C-07. Room 420C released for tenant move-in for general lighting controls only. Emergency egress lighting test remains under separate life-safety record LS-18.

The stronger note works because it ties the sensor to the room, fixture group, sequence, settings, observed behavior, correction, retest, and scope limit.

Common mistakes

The first mistake is testing before the room is in a representative condition and failing to say that furniture, partitions, or equipment were missing.

The second mistake is checking only that lights turn on. Vacancy response, timeout, switch behavior, override behavior, and false triggering are part of the useful record.

The third mistake is leaving the device in test mode. Test mode is a tool for setup, not a final tenant setting.

The fourth mistake is failing to identify the control zone. A room photo without the zone, fixture group, or device tag cannot support a later troubleshooting review.

The fifth mistake is treating tenant tuning as acceptance. A preference adjustment should be recorded as a permitted tuning change, not as proof that the code-required test passed.

The sixth mistake is releasing emergency or egress lighting by implication. The occupancy-sensor record should state what lighting scope it actually covers.

Questions that come up

Does every occupancy sensor need the same timeout? No. The adopted energy code, approved control sequence, owner standard, sensor type, space type, and manufacturer instructions control the required or allowed setting.

Can the tenant change settings after move-in? Maybe. Record whether the setting is owner-locked, commissioning-controlled, user-adjustable, or subject to code and AHJ limits.

Is a sensor walk test enough? Not by itself. A walk test helps prove coverage, but the record also needs zone identity, expected sequence, final settings, vacancy behavior, corrections, and release limits.

Should daylight controls be in the same record? If daylight response affects the same lighting zone, record enough to explain the interaction or reference the separate daylight acceptance test. Do not let daylight hold-off look like an occupancy-sensor failure without documenting the cause.

What if the tenant furniture is not installed? State the limitation. Release only the condition actually tested, and create a recheck item for coverage after furniture and partitions are installed.

Who signs the record? The project documents, energy code, AHJ, commissioning plan, owner, and contract roles decide who can test, certify, accept, or witness the lighting controls.

Compliance and safety limits

This field note is not an electrical design, energy-code interpretation, commissioning specification, manufacturer instruction, live-work procedure, lockout procedure, emergency-lighting test, fire alarm test, egress-lighting approval, AHJ approval, or tenant improvement closeout approval. The adopted electrical code, energy code, project drawings, control narrative, lighting-control submittal, manufacturer instructions, commissioning specification, owner standard, AHJ, code official, electrical contractor, controls contractor, and site safety plan control the work.

Do not use this checklist to bypass permits, inspection holds, listed-equipment instructions, qualified-worker requirements, lockout/tagout, energized-work controls, arc-flash controls, ladder rules, ceiling access rules, emergency lighting requirements, egress illumination requirements, or owner acceptance procedures. The packet preserves the occupancy-sensor lighting control functional test record. It does not authorize unsafe testing or final occupancy approval.

Sources checked

• California Energy Commission, 2025 NRCA-LTI-02-A Occupant Sensing Lighting ControlsUsed for occupant sensing lighting-control acceptance-test purpose, scope, and field test framing.
• California Energy Commission, Acceptance Test RequirementsUsed for the general requirement that installed lighting controls receive acceptance testing in covered nonresidential work.
• California Energy Commission, 2022 Energy Code Acceptance Testing OverviewUsed for acceptance-test categories and occupant-sensor testing context.
• ICC Digital Codes, 2021 IECC C405.2.1.3 Open Plan Office Control FunctionUsed for open-office occupant sensor control function context.
• ICC Digital Codes, 2021 IECC Chapter 4 CE Commercial Energy EfficiencyUsed for broader commercial lighting-control and energy-code context.
• ICC Digital Codes, 2021 IECC C408.3 Functional Testing of Lighting ControlsUsed for functional testing of automatic lighting controls before inspection closeout.
• International Code Council, 2012 IECC Significant Changes C408.3 Lighting System Functional TestingUsed for ICC explanatory context around lighting control hardware and software functional testing.
• City of Scottsdale, 2021 IECC Interior Lighting Controls Testing CertificateUsed as a municipal example of lighting-control testing evidence before final acceptance.
• OSHA, Installation and Use of Electrical Equipment InterpretationUsed for listed or labeled equipment being installed and used in accordance with included instructions.
• OSHA, 1926.403 General RequirementsUsed for construction electrical equipment safety and suitability context.
• NFPA, NFPA 70 National Electrical Code Standard DevelopmentUsed for NEC context as the benchmark electrical design and installation standard.
• Leviton, DOS02 and DVS02 Instruction SheetUsed for manufacturer context on time delay, test mode, sensor coverage, and adjustment settings.
• Lutron, Maestro Occupancy Sensor Switches Custom SettingsUsed for manufacturer context on timeout, test mode, and coverage testing.
• Leviton, Multi-Technology Ceiling Mounted Occupancy Sensor Instruction SheetUsed for manufacturer context on sensitivity, timer testing, false triggering, and sensor placement concerns.

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