ZDC 4-803. Light Standards.

D. Specific Areas to be Illuminated. The following areas on a building or development shall be illuminated to the minimum security lighting levels shown below:

1. All loading areas and docks shall be illuminated from dusk to dawn, with four (4) foot-candles of light at finish grade;

2. Carport parking structures shall be illuminated from dusk to dawn, with three (3) foot-candles, including the adjacent landscape area at finish grade;

3. Parking structures and parking garages shall be illuminated from dawn to dusk with ten (10) foot-candles, and from dusk to dawn with four (4) foot-candles. Sub-level parking shall be continuously illuminated twenty-four (24) hours a day with four (4) foot-candles at finish grade. Transitional lighting will be required at all entry areas;

4. All stairwells, landings and under areas under the lower landing shall be continuously illuminated with five (5) foot-candles;

5. Breezeway lighting shall be illuminated from dusk to dawn, with four (4) footcandles. Transitional lighting will be required at all entry areas to the breezeway corridor;

6. Exterior pedestrian pathways and adjacent landscape areas within twenty (20) feet of the pathway shall be illuminated from dusk to dawn, with one-half (0.5) foot-candle of light at finish grade. Pedestrian gates shall be illuminated from dusk to dawn, with five (5) foot-candles and two (2) foot-candles within a fifteen (15) foot radius;

7. Retention areas shall be illuminated from dusk to dawn, with one-half (0.5) footcandle of light at finish grade;

8. Cluster or gang mailboxes shall be illuminated from dusk to dawn, with five (5) foot-candles of light for a fifteen (15) foot radius of the mailboxes;

9. Parking lots, aisles and refuse areas shall be illuminated from dusk to dawn as follows:

a. Parking spaces for motor vehicles and bicycles shall be illuminated with two (2) foot-candles;

b. Parking lot drive aisles shall be illuminated with one (1) foot-candle;

c. Refuse areas shall be illuminated to two (2) foot-candles, with gates five (5) foot-candles;

10. All building entrances and vehicular gates at operator or locking mechanism shall be illuminated with five (5) foot-candles at the entrance and two (2) foot-candles within a fifteen (15) foot radius from the center point of the entrance; and

11. Secondary lighting may be required to supplement the primary security lighting due to design elements and landscape conflicts, in order to meet the minimum lighting criteria.

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A common example:

A common violation for this code is a business entry not being lit up. The violation in this scenario is not having all building entrances illuminated with five (5) foot-candles at the entrance.