HCAI issues streamlined guidance for LED retrofits after California ban on fluorescent lamps

Jamie Schneck, senior electrical engineer and electrical technical lead in the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) OSHPD building standards unit, told a statewide webinar that HCAI will evaluate many LED lighting retrofits as excluded work under its FREER manual if proponents submit an OSHPD Form 102 with the required technical documentation.

The guidance responds to Assembly Bill 2208, which Schneck said “essentially, prohibits the sale of all compact fluorescent lamps and linear fluorescent tubes, which started 01/01/2025.” HCAI staff told attendees the agency oversees more than 1,500 facilities and expects a large volume of retrofits as hospitals shift away from fluorescent lamps.

Why it matters: the law removes a widely used source for replacement fluorescent lamps and creates a practical deadline for health-care facilities to convert aging lighting systems. Schneck said HCAI wants to “simplify this process for everyone” and that the agency has updated its FREER manual and created line items to allow many LED retrofits to be handled as excluded work rather than full projects.

Under the process Schneck described, owners or contractors who seek excluded-work treatment must submit OSHPD Form 102 to the facility’s regional compliance officer along with a technical package. Required materials include a key plan showing where fixtures will be changed; a fixture matrix listing each fixture, quantity, existing watts and lumens, proposed LED watts and delivered lumens, and…