Standards



AS/NZS 1680.1:2006 Table 3.1

RECOMMENDED MAINTAINED ILLUMINANCES FOR VARIOUS TYPES OF TASKS, ACTIVITIES OR INTERIORS
Class of task Recommended maintained illuminance lx Characteristics of the activity/interior Representative activities/interiors
Movement and orientation* 40 Interiors rarely visited with visual tasks limited to movement and orientation Corridors; cable tunnels; indoor storage tanks; walkways.
Rough intermittent* 80 Interiors requiring intermittent use with visual tasks limited to movement, orientation and coarse detail. Staff change rooms; live storage of bulky material; dead storage of materials needing care; locker rooms; loading bays
Normal range of tasks and work places Simple 160 Any continuously occupied interior where there are no tasks requiring perception of other than coarse detail. Occasional reading of clearly printed documents for short periods. Waiting rooms; staff canteens; rough checking of stock; rough bench and machine work; entrance halls; general fabrication of structual steel; casting concrete; automated process monitoring; turbine halls.
Ordinary or moderately easy 240 Continuously occupied interiors with moderately easy visual tasks with high contrasts or large detail (>10 min arc). School chalkboards and charts; medium woodworking; food preperation; counters for transactions
Moderately difficult 320 Areas where visual tasks are moderately difficult with moderate detail (5-10 min arc or tolerances to 125μm) or with low contrast. Routine office tasks, e.g. reading, writing, typing, enquiry desks.
400 Inspection of medium work; fine woodwork; car assembly.
Difficult 600 Areas where visual tasks are difficult with small detail (3-5 min arc or tolerances to 25 μm) or with low contrast. Drawing boards; most inspection tasks; proofreading; fine machine work; fine painting and finishing; colour matching.
Very difficult 800 Areas where visual tasks are very difficult with very small detail (2-3 min arc) or with very low contrast. Fine inspection; paint retouching;fine manufacture; grading of dark materials; colour matching of dyes.
Extremely difficult 1200 Areas where visual tasks are extremely difficult with extremely small detail (1-2 min arc or tolerances below 25μm) or low contrast. Visual aids may assist. Graphic arts inspection; hand tailoring; fine die sinking; inspection of dark goods; extra-fine bench work.
Exceptionally difficult 1600 Areas where visual tasks are exceptionally difficult with exceptionally small detail (<1 min arc) or with very low contrasts. Visual aids will be of advantage. Finished fabric inspection; assembly of minute mechanisms, jewellery and watchmaking.
* Refer also to AS/NZS 1680.0 for minimum requirements for save movement.
NOTE: See the Standards in the AS(/NZS) 1680.2 series for the recommended maintained illuminance for specific tasks and interiors.
Reproduced from AS/NZS 1680.1:2006 with the permission of Standards New Zealand under License 000798.

AS/NZS 4243.2:2007 Table 1

Lighting Power Density Limit

Purpose Lighting power density limit (W/m2)
Cafeteria, fast food outlet 8
Communal non-residential - Assembly 11
Covered car park 4
Hospital 12
Hotel 10
Laboratory 17
Library 18
Office space 12
Primary or secondary school 11
Service establishment (e.g. bank, booking hall) 14
Supermarket, shopping mall 16
Tertiary education 16
Warehouse 8
Workshop 18
Reproduced from AS/NZS 4243.2:2007 with the permission of Standards New Zealand under License 000798.