Attribute Schema Library
Attribute schemalighting

Lighting Controls Attributes

Lighting controls covers wall-switch and ceiling occupancy sensors, dimmers, photocontrols, time switches, power packs, room controllers and networked nodes. The buyers are electrical contractors working off a Division 26 09 23 spec, facility teams doing retrofits, and inside sales matching a submittal to something in stock.

The spec that decides the sale is rarely a headline number. Load rating is a table, not a value: the same dimmer is 600 W incandescent and 150 W LED, and the same sensor is 400 W at 120 V and 1000 W at 277 V. Whether a sensor ships manual-ON or auto-ON is a suffix in the ordering matrix. Whether it needs a neutral lives in the wiring diagram, not the spec table. Coverage is published twice — major motion and minor motion — and catalogs keep one number.

Then the catalog number explodes. Color, voltage (120/277 vs 347), pole count, dimming output and network flavor turn one platform into dozens of SKUs, and every supplier writes "dual tech" a different way.

Core

Every SKU needs these. Without them the record is not a product, it is a row.

Manufacturer Part Number
identifier
MS-OPS6M2-DV-WH

The catalog number carries voltage, color, mode and dimming as suffixes. It is what contractors quote from and what the submittal is approved against.

Control Device Type
enum
Wall Switch Occupancy Sensor

Separates a sensor from a dimmer, power pack, photocontrol or room controller. Everything else on the record only means something once this is set.

Sensing Technology
enum
Dual Technology (PIR + Ultrasonic, 40 kHz)

PIR needs line of sight; ultrasonic sees around partitions; dual-tech cuts false-offs. Wrong pick drops the lights on someone in a restroom stall.

Supply Voltage
enum · VAC
120/277 VAC, 50/60 Hz

120/277 dual-volt, 24 VDC Class 2 and 347 V are different SKUs, not options. 347 V is a routine Canadian and big-box requirement.

Load Rating by Load Type
text · W
120 V: 400 W capacitive; 277 V: 1000 W

Capacity moves with both load type and voltage. One 'wattage' field ships a dimmer that buzzes on MLV or drops out on a 15 W LED load.

Switching Mode
enum
Manual-ON / Auto-OFF (vacancy)

Auto-ON occupancy vs manual-ON vacancy vs partial-ON. Energy codes mandate manual-ON in specific space types; this decides acceptance testing.

Mounting Type
enum
Wall switch box, single gang

Decides whether it fits the box, the grid, the corner or the pole. A single-gang device is useless to someone holding a 4-square with a mud ring.

Neutral Required
boolean
No

Older commercial and residential boxes have no neutral. This one field is the difference between a 10-minute swap and a rewire.

Color / Finish
enum
White (WH)

A trim-level filter and a real SKU multiplier. White, ivory and light almond are not interchangeable on a wall of existing devices.

GTIN-14 / UPC-A
identifier
00745975809608

Required by every marketplace and by the electrical industry data pool. Without it the SKU cannot be matched, syndicated or scanned at the counter.

Differentiating

What buyers actually compare on. This is where catalogs win or lose the filter.

Coverage Area & Field of View
text · sq ft
900 sq ft major / 400 sq ft minor, 180°

The number the designer lays out from. Must state area, motion class and view angle together — a 900 sq ft sensor is 400 sq ft for minor motion.

Dimming Output Protocol
enum
0-10 V sinking (ANSI C137.1)

0-10 V, DALI-2, forward phase and reverse phase (ELV) are not substitutable. Pairing a phase-cut dimmer to a 0-10 V driver does nothing.

Network / Control Protocol
enum
Bluetooth Mesh

Standalone, wired bus, DALI-2 or wireless mesh. Determines whether the device joins the system already on the job or strands the panel.

Time Delay Range
range · min
5 s to 30 min, DIP-selectable

Codes require shutoff within 20 minutes of vacancy, so the adjustable range has to reach it. Fixed-delay parts fail the functional test.

Compliance & identifiers

Standards, regulatory data, and the identifiers channels reject you for missing.

Safety Listing Standard
enum
UL 773A, cUL Listed

Different device classes list to different standards. Specifiers call these out by number in Division 26 and the AHJ checks the label.

Plenum Rated (UL 2043)
boolean
Yes (UL 2043)

Anything above a lay-in ceiling used as return air must be UL 2043 rated. Named explicitly in most commercial lighting control specs.

Energy-Code / Rebate Certification
enum
CEC Title 20 certified; DLC NLC QPL v5.1

California will not accept an uncertified control; the utility rebate will not pay without the DLC listing. Neither lives on the datasheet.

Country of Origin
identifier
Mexico

Drives tariff classification and Buy American / TAA eligibility on federal, state and institutional work — a routine bid disqualifier.

The fields that aren't in the schema at all

What most lighting controls catalogs are missing.

The table above is the schema most catalogs already have. These are the attributes that usually aren't in it — each one surfaced by a signal from the live market rather than by an audit of what's already there. This is what Anglera's Schema Foundry does on a real catalog, in this category.

Supplier signal
+ Switching Mode (occupancy vs vacancy)

Suppliers hide it in an ordering-matrix suffix or a DIP table, and listings title both variants 'occupancy sensor'. Buyers searching 'manual-on vacancy sensor' land on auto-ON parts.

The device works but fails energy-code acceptance testing in a space that requires manual-ON. It comes back off the wall after the inspection.

Competitor signal
+ Load Rating by Load Type

Filter rails expose a single 'Wattage' value while the datasheet carries a table across incandescent, halogen, LED, CFL, MLV, ELV and fan loads at each voltage.

Wrong part on the truck. A 600 W dimmer rated 150 W for LED gets sold into a 300 W LED load and comes back as a flicker complaint.

Search signal
+ Neutral Required

It appears only in the wiring diagram, never in the spec table. Buyers search 'no neutral dimmer' and 'dimmer without neutral wire' and get an unfiltered result set.

The electrician opens the box on site, finds no neutral, and the order is returned or the job stops for a same-day counter run.

Supplier signal
+ Plenum Rated (UL 2043)

Division 26 09 23 specs name UL 2043 by number for return-air ceilings and manufacturers print it on the datasheet; most distributor catalogs have no such field.

Cannot be filtered or proved at quote time. The submittal is rejected, or the sensor is pulled by the AHJ after the ceiling is closed.

Review signal
+ Coverage Area by Motion Class

Reviews of ceiling sensors repeat one complaint: lights drop on seated occupants. That is the minor-motion pattern — roughly half the published area — and catalogs list only the larger number.

The sensor is sized off the major-motion figure, under-covers the room, and is returned as defective when it is working exactly to spec.

How Schema Foundry finds these

Messy in, governed out.

The same value, spelled every way lighting suppliers spell it. A filter only works once they agree.

Sensing Technology
Dual TechDTPIR/USMulti-TechPIR & UltrasonicDual Technology
Dual Technology (PIR + Ultrasonic)

Dual-tech and PIR-only are not interchangeable in restrooms or offices. A merged facet hides the difference buyers filter for.

Dimming Output Protocol
0-10V0/10V1-10V0-10 VDC010VAnalog 0-10
0-10 V (ANSI C137.1, sinking)

1-10 V is the older sourcing interface, not a spelling of 0-10 V. Suppliers swap the labels freely; the drivers behave differently.

Supply Voltage
120/277DVMVOLT120-277VDual Volt120/277VAC 50/60Hz
120-277 VAC, 50/60 Hz

DV and MVOLT are catalog suffixes, not values. 347 V is a separate SKU and must never collapse into the dual-volt bucket.

Coverage Area
900 sq ft900 SF30' x 30'84 m21,000 Sq. Ft.900sqft
900 sq ft (major motion)

Suppliers publish coverage as area, as room dimensions, or in m2 — and never say which motion class unless you read the pattern chart.

What buyers ask

Every one of these should be answerable from the attributes above. If it isn't, that's a gap.

  • Does this need a neutral in the box, or will it work on a switch loop?
  • Is it manual-on vacancy or auto-on? The space has to pass acceptance testing.
  • Will it dim my 0-10V LED drivers, or is it forward-phase only?
  • How much LED load can I actually put on it at 277V?
  • Is it UL 2043 rated? It's going above a return-air ceiling.
  • What's the coverage for someone sitting still, not walking through?
  • Is it on the DLC list? The rebate won't pay otherwise.
  • Is there a 347V version, or do I need a step-down?

What channels require

The same SKU, different mandatory fields per destination.

IDEA Industry Data Warehouse (IDW)
Manufacturer Part NumberGTIN-14 / UPC-ACountry of OriginControl Device TypeSupply VoltageColor / Finish
Amazon Business
GTIN-14 / UPC-AManufacturer Part NumberLoad Rating by Load TypeSupply VoltageNeutral RequiredColor / Finish
Distributor site filter rail
Control Device TypeSensing TechnologySwitching ModeCoverage Area & Field of ViewDimming Output ProtocolSupply Voltage
DLC NLC QPL / utility rebate submission
Manufacturer Part NumberNetwork / Control ProtocolEnergy-Code / Rebate CertificationSwitching ModeCoverage Area & Field of View

Lighting Controls data, in practice

What's the difference between an occupancy sensor and a vacancy sensor?

Usually nothing in the hardware — it's the switching mode. Occupancy is auto-ON / auto-OFF; vacancy is manual-ON / auto-OFF. Many SKUs do both via a DIP switch or config, but the as-shipped default is what gets functionally tested, so that's the value to carry. ASHRAE 90.1 and IECC C405 permit either in most spaces; California Title 24 and some jurisdictions require manual-ON or partial-ON (50% auto-on) in specific space types. Because the mode is often just a suffix in the ordering matrix, it disappears when a record is built from the product title. Store it as its own governed field with the default state, not as prose in the description.

Why can't we just carry one wattage number?

Because capacity moves with load type and with voltage. A Lutron Maestro MA-600 is 600 W incandescent; the LED+ MACL-153M on the same platform is 150 W LED/CFL but still 600 W incandescent. Leviton's OSM3D-DDW is rated 400 W capacitive at 120 V and 1000 W at 277 V — same device, 2.5x the number. Datasheets publish this as a matrix across incandescent, halogen, MLV, ELV, fluorescent/LED and fan loads, sometimes with a derating table for ganged installs. A single 'Wattage: 600' facet is not a simplification, it's a wrong answer for five of the six load types.

Which standards actually apply here?

Safety listing depends on device class: UL 773A for nonindustrial photoelectric switches for lighting control, UL 916 for energy management equipment (many sensors, time switches, room controllers), UL 924 for emergency lighting control devices, and UL 2043 for plenum suitability. Interfaces: ANSI C137.1 (0-10 V), IEC 62386 (DALI-2 / D4i), NEMA SSL 7A (phase-cut dimming compatibility), ANSI C136.10 and C136.41 (roadway twist-lock and dimming receptacles). NEMA WD 7 defines how occupancy sensor coverage and field of view are measured. Add CEC Title 20/24 §110.9 certification for California and an FCC ID for anything wireless.

How should coverage area be stored?

As more than one number. NEMA WD 7 defines the coverage and field-of-view measurement, and manufacturers publish separate major-motion and minor-motion patterns because they differ by roughly 2x on the same part — 900 sq ft major and 400 sq ft minor is a typical pair. Coverage also depends on mounting height: Leviton's OSM3D-DDW gives a 52 ft x 49 ft detection zone at up to 40 ft mounting. Carry area, motion class, view angle, and the mounting height it was measured at. Collapsing to one figure is how a sensor gets sized for a room it can't hold and returned as defective.

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