Primary audience: Independent sales reps
Qualify the project before selecting a replacement
An independent sales rep’s first useful deliverable is a shared description of the job. Record the project identifier, application, decision makers, distributor and installation contractor. Establish who approves the lighting design, who reviews substitutions and who owns the next unanswered technical question.
Clarify what triggers the retrofit: failed equipment, changed operations, maintenance access, visual complaints or an energy objective. Different triggers require different evidence. A failed driver needs identification; a warehouse converted to detailed assembly needs a new review of the visual tasks.
Separate general movement, label reading, bench work and inspection. In manufacturing, record machine locations and the surfaces workers must see. The IES industrial-lighting scope covers task and environmental considerations. A single building-wide replacement ratio can miss those differences.
Agree on the project’s document and approval dates. Ask whether the buyer permits alternates and how they must be submitted. Keep unknowns in a dated issue list instead of allowing a preliminary conversation to become an implied final specification.
Capture the existing system before removal
Survey room by room using fixture tags that appear on the plan and in photographs. Record quantities, mounting positions, visible labels, dimensions and condition. Ask the qualified contractor to verify electrical information that cannot be established safely from existing records.
Record operating hours and controls by zone. Distinguish the owner’s estimate from a logged schedule. Note fixtures that remain on because a sensor or override does not work as intended. An energy baseline built from nameplate assumptions and guessed hours should remain labeled as an estimate.
The DOE/FEMP Lighting Retrofit Workbook provides a historical inventory framework covering existing lighting and operation. Use it for survey structure, not current code values or a promised project result.
Preserve baseline photographs and counts before demolition. If a utility incentive is part of the project, check its current application and inspection requirements before purchasing or removing equipment. The rebate guide explains why a product record and a project approval are separate checks.
Build a schedule that preserves configuration
| Field | Record | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Existing tag | Location, quantity and label photograph | Connect the survey to the scope |
| Proposed fixture | Exact model, optic, output and color setting | Prevent configuration drift |
| Electrical and controls | Driver input, zones and accessories | Expose compatibility questions |
| Installation | Mounting, access and retained equipment | Define contractor work |
| Evidence status | Document revision, reviewer and open items | Make approval traceable |
Use published Allmax family rows when building candidates. For example, UHB26 and MLH06 130–210 W have different output and configuration tables. The MVT04 environment and accessory questions differ from an office flat panel.
List optional mounting and controls as separate included or unresolved items. A family page’s accessory list is not the project bill of materials. Request confirmation of the complete assembly before releasing an order.
Review substitutions against the design intent
An alternate should explain what changes. Compare dimensions, mounting, distribution, selected output, input voltage, controls and environmental limits. Keep normal operation and emergency operation as separate comparison items. Matching wattage or maximum lumens alone does not establish an approved equal.
Attach the proposed model’s current cut sheet and configuration-matched photometry. Identify every departure from the specified arrangement, including accessories, ceiling openings or suspension. Ask the designer whether the changed distribution requires a new calculation. Do not conceal a missing document behind a family-level description.
Distinguish a complete replacement fixture from a retrofit kit intended for a particular existing housing. The kit-versus-fixture guide explains the document boundary. We do not publish troffer or pole-head retrofit kits; the documented downlight retrofit families are a separate category.
Keep an approval log with the decision date, reviewer and accepted configuration. When an option changes after review, circulate the changed documents and identify whether approval is still valid. A quote revision should not silently change the equipment the designer evaluated.
Hand off the bid and commissioning requirements together
- Measured plan, tagged photographs and existing fixture inventory.
- Proposed schedule with exact configurations and accessory inclusion.
- Dated cut sheets, mounting instructions and matching IES files.
- Controls narrative, zone schedule and unresolved compatibility questions.
- Substitution comparison, approval log and document revision list.
- Access restrictions, shutdown windows and phased installation scope.
- Commissioning checks, acceptance owner and maintenance deliverables.
Ask the contractor to identify exclusions before the bid is finalized. Relocation, new control wiring, ceiling repair and access equipment should not disappear between the survey and installation scope. Assign each open issue a person and a required response date.
Send the retrofit schedule and document request through RFQ with the project identifier and needed-by date. Request the technical information needed for review without implying an unconfirmed delivery commitment.
At handover, preserve final fixture settings, control scenes and installed component labels. Compare the installed schedule with the approved schedule and record exceptions. The rep’s closeout package should let the facility identify a future replacement without reconstructing the original sales conversation.
Use the same project identifier across the quotation, distributor handoff and technical-document folder. Separate commercial quantities from unresolved design quantities so a preliminary count does not become an accidental release instruction. When the scope is phased, identify each phase on the fixture schedule and confirm which approved document revision applies. Send changes with a short description of affected tags, rather than expecting every participant to find differences across a full replacement package.
Related guides
- Lighting Spec Sheets and IES Files: Submittal Guide
- LED Retrofit Kits vs New Fixtures: What to Retain
- Field-Selectable LED Wattage and CCT: Ordering Guide
- LED Lifetime: L70, LM-80 and TM-21 Explained
- LED Wraparound vs Linear Strip: Commercial Selection
Discuss the project and rep document package.
Browse all buyer guides or send your fixture schedule for a quote.
Follow NEC/local code and use a licensed electrician.