California Energy Commission,
Title 24, Joint Appendix 8.
The CEC, Title 24, Joint Appendix 8 (Ja8) is a list of lighting standards, unique to California, that apply to all California residential construction projects that require a permit: including single-family homes, multi-family homes up to three stories high, apartment units in residential high-rises and guest rooms in hotels and motels.
Lightbulbs that have been tested and meet these California standards are marked “Ja8”.
Compliance is enforced by building and electrical inspectors on site. Non-compliance is a building code violation and can delay the issuance of the occupancy permit.
Ja8 bulbs generally carry a price premium and currently not every bulb available outside of California has a California approved counterpart. However, this situation is improving. Standards are revisited every three years. The most recent changes made in 2019 became enforceable on building permits dated January 2020 and raised the Kelvin limit from 3000k to 4000k. They are reviewing the standards again in 2022 which will become enforceable in 2023.
Be sure to let us know if your project is in California so we can guide you to the correct Ja8 bulbs.
