Who this checklist is for

If your job includes getting the "the light above the copier is out again" email, this is for you. I'm the office administrator for a ~200-person company. I handle facility procurement — including lighting — across roughly 8 vendors, about $180K a year total. (Should mention: lighting is only a slice of that, maybe $30-40K in a normal year.)

This is the checklist I actually use before I place any lighting order — replacement parts, new fixtures, or the occasional decorative piece for the lobby. Seven steps, roughly the order I run them in. Skip one and you'll usually find out why two weeks later.

Step 1: Confirm the part is actually from Acuity Brands Lighting Inc. (not a relabel)

Over the past five years, I've had two separate "Acuity Brands" replacement parts arrive that were not. Not counterfeit exactly — more like third-party equivalents sold under a vague listing title. One was fine. One wasn't.

What I do now: get the exact part number off the dead unit (usually printed on a sticker or stamped on the housing), then verify it against the installer or distributor portal before I order. Acuity Brands itself — acuitybrands.com — doesn't sell direct to end users, so what I'm really verifying is that the distributor I'm using is an authorized channel. If the listing shows generic "compatible with" language instead of an exact part number, I pass.

Rule of thumb: if the price is 40% below the two other quotes I have, it's usually not the same part. Sometimes it is. Usually it isn't.

Step 2: Calculate the landed cost, not the unit price

This is where I used to lose money. The quote looks like $X per fixture. Then shipping, then a lift-gate fee if it's a heavy pallet, then an electrician charge per fixture if there's anything non-standard, then a restocking fee if something's wrong with the order. I've had a $500 quote land at $780 after all of that — or rather, closer to $800 once I count the hour of my time on the phone with the freight company.

Now I ask for a quote with everything included: unit price, freight, inside delivery if relevant, and returns policy. The vendor with the highest unit price sometimes comes out lowest at the end. That's not a theory — that's arithmetic.

Step 3: Check the control side before you assume compatibility

Most of our interior fixtures run on photocontrols — specifically, Acuity has a line of DTL (dark-to-light) photocontrols that are standard in commercial hallway and parking-lot applications. They turn the fixture on at dusk, off at dawn, or on a delay.

Here's where I get careful. This gets into electrical compatibility territory, which isn't my expertise — I'm an administrator, not a licensed electrician. What I can tell you from a procurement perspective is: the photocontrol is a separate line item that can be mismatched independently of the fixture itself. If you replace the fixture and keep the old photocontrol, you need to confirm the voltage and the load rating still line up. I've had a replacement fixture spec'd and delivered with the wrong control load rating — the fixture worked fine; the photocontrol didn't. That was a "call the electrician twice" situation.

Now I have the electrician confirm the control spec in writing before I place the order. It's not a long email. It's cheap insurance.

Step 4: Don't treat decorative fixtures like replacement parts

Lobby and reception-area fixtures are a different procurement animal. I've bought two decorative fixtures in recent years — a Palecek chandelier for a client-facing conference room, and a Sierra chandelier for the front entrance. Both look like they'd come through the same channel as a replacement part. They don't.

The Palecek purchase went fine because the designer had a spec sheet. The Sierra one almost went sideways because I assumed the lead time on a replacement fixture would apply. It didn't. Decorative fixtures are often made-to-order, so 4-6 weeks is normal, and in-stock listings can slip right behind that. The lesson: on anything decorative, ask "is this in stock or built to order?" before I quote the timeline to anyone.

What's the difference?

  • Replacement parts (fitted fixtures, ballasts, photocontrols, sensor modules) — go through a distributor, look for exact part numbers, ship in days.
  • Decorative fixtures (Palecek, Sierra, similar brands) — go through a showroom or rep, rely on spec sheets and finish samples, ship in weeks.
  • Bulk non-decorative fixtures — go through an authorized commercial distributor, tied to a project, often with submittals.

I used to treat these as one category. I don't anymore.

Step 5: Answer the "can we use fluorescents as grow lights" question honestly

This one comes up more than you'd think. Someone in HR or facilities wants to grow something in the break room, the front atrium, or (in one memorable case) a converted storage closet. They ask whether the old T8 tubes in storage can be repurposed as grow lights.

The honest answer is: technically yes, practically it depends. Standard fluorescent tubes can be used for seed-starting and young seedlings. As a general reference, university horticulture extension resources usually describe fluorescent tubes as workable for germination and early growth but not strong enough for mature plants or high-light crops — and the spectrum is not the same as a horticultural LED.

I'm not a horticulturist, so I can't tell you which specific lamp to buy. What I can tell you from a purchasing perspective is: if someone wants to do this, it's a request like any other. I need a spec (wattage, color temperature, lifespan, light output) that I can put in a purchase requisition. "Whatever we have in the storage room" isn't a spec. If the request is just that, I send it back to the requester — they either come with a fixture spec or a note to facilities about changing the lighting.

Step 6: Verify the vendor can invoice and take returns before you place the order

I learned this the hard way. In 2022, I found a great price on a batch of replacement parts — maybe $1,600 cheaper than our regular distributor. Ordered the batch. The invoice came handwritten. Finance rejected it. I ate the cost out of my department budget and had to explain to two VPs why a "good deal" was the opposite of a good deal.

Now I verify three things before any new vendor gets a PO:

  1. Can they issue a proper itemized invoice (PDF or portal, not handwritten)?
  2. What's the return window, and is restocking charged?
  3. Where do they ship from — is it in the U.S., or will this sit in customs?

None of those are on the quote. They should be, and if they're not, they're still part of the cost.

Step 7: Build the arrival check into the process

I used to sign for deliveries and move on. Now, on anything over ~$500 or anything involving a photocontrol or fitted fixture, I open the box the same day and verify:

  • The part number on the box matches the PO.
  • The photocontrol model number matches what the electrician confirmed.
  • There's no obvious damage to the fixture body.
  • All mounting hardware is in the box (this has failed twice).

If I miss the damage window — usually 24-72 hours for freight, a bit longer for parcel — I've lost the leverage to get it replaced without a fight. The check takes 5 minutes. The dispute takes weeks.

A few things I'd flag before you start

You'll need an electrician to confirm compatibility. This isn't optional for anything wired in. I've tried to shortcut it twice; both times I ended up calling the electrician anyway, just later and more expensively.

The lowest unit price usually isn't the lowest total cost. My rule: if the price difference is smaller than freight plus restocking plus any rush fee, it's not a real difference. It's a sticker price.

Assume decorative fixtures have longer lead times than you think. Sierra and Palecek both look like catalog items; both can be built to order. I build the lead time into the project plan before I confirm anything with the requester.

Don't relabel a grow-light question as a fixture question. They're different. If the requester can't give you a spec, you can't quote it. Send it back, politely.

Watch the invoice format. This one still feels obvious, and I still get caught on it about once a year. Handwritten receipts, "we'll send an invoice later," anything without itemized line items — walk away. The savings aren't worth the finance conversation.

Purchasing information reflects my own vendor relationships as of 2024-2025. Acuity Brands part numbers, DTL photocontrol specs, and decorative fixture lead times vary by distributor and product; verify current details with the manufacturer or an authorized supplier before ordering.