Faa Tower Lighting Regulations

The fcc s rules governing antenna tower lighting and painting requirements are based upon the advisory recommendations of the faa which are set forth in two faa advisory circulars.

Faa tower lighting regulations.

Last december the faa established new obstruction lighting and marking rules and wireless estimator developed a handy industry reference tool that breaks down and easily explains the 90 page document s changes from the previous advisory circular. Marking and lighting initiated by. The faa has asked owners of existing towers to submit plans for eliminating the use of non flashing lights on existing towers. The federal aviation administration s obstruction evaluation and airport airspace analysis web site.

Fcc and faa tower marking and lighting requirements from the radioreference wiki this page contains links to the fcc and faa web sites explaining height limits for towers and other structures and when they must be marked with red and white paint or white strobe lights in the daytime and red lights at night. However the most current regulations will likely be changed again by the faa within the next year when certain towers in the 50 to 200 foot in. The new requirements are due to provisions in the faa. Previously towers under 200 were not subject to any federal marking requirements according to officials with the national agricultural aviation association.

Although the faa s lighting and painting standards are advisory in nature the fcc s rules make the standards mandatory. As of september 28 2016 the federal aviation administration faa no longer permits red non flashing lights on any new tower above 150 feet agl. 47 cfr 17 21 17 58. This change is effective february 1 2007.

New faa regulations require landowners to mark any towers between 50 and 200 on their property as well as include the towers in a new database the faa is developing. Structures that are shorter than this height may also require lighting depending on the structure s location. Some lighting requirements are determined by faa aeronautical studies of the area in which the structure will be located. Any structure taller than 200 feet is subject to faa lighting requirements.

Faa lighting requirements vary depending on the height of cell towers and other structures. And the fcc and faa have developed a process by which registrants may do so. Based on the current faa guidelines for new and refiled towers the infographics linked below depict obstruction lighting and tower paint requirements.