What B-LCS Is
A BACnet device profile is a standardized capability level: a checklist of things a device must be able to do before it can wear the label. B-LCS (BACnet Lighting Control Station) is defined in Annex L of ANSI/ASHRAE 135-2024 (clause L.10.2) as any device that needs to interact with Lighting Output or Binary Lighting Output objects in other devices to monitor and control them. B-LCS devices differ from workstations and displays in that their interaction with people is more limited; examples include smart wall switches, dimmers, and scene-preset consoles.
The checklist items are BACnet Interoperability Building Blocks (BIBBs), each a named unit of capability such as “can send a read request” (DS-RP-A). B-LCS is a control-station (client) profile: it initiates lighting commands to other devices while responding to discovery, communication-control, and time-synchronization requests about itself. A device documents its profile claim in its PICS (Protocol Implementation Conformance Statement); to verify a claim, ask for the PICS and check the profile line.
Where It’s Used
B-LCS is the simplest fixed lighting-command device.
- Wall switches and dimmers. A control device that writes the
Present_Valueof Lighting Output objects in other devices. - Scene-preset consoles. A station that recalls preset lighting levels by commanding lighting objects across the network.
- Local control stations. A device that commands lighting while answering queries about its own status.
Required Services
The table below is the service set required by the B-LCS BIBBs. Initiates means the device sends the request or notification; Executes means the device receives and acts on it (responding, for confirmed services). BIBB codes encode the same split: a -A BIBB is the initiating side, a -B BIBB the executing side. A - means the profile does not require that direction; a device may still support it.
| Capability area | Service | Required by BIBB | Initiates | Executes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data sharing | ReadProperty | DS-RP-A, DS-RP-B | Yes | Yes |
| Data sharing | WriteProperty | DS-WP-A, DS-LO-A | Yes | - |
| Device and network management | Who-Is | DM-DDB-A, DM-DDB-B | Yes | Yes |
| Device and network management | I-Am | DM-DDB-A, DM-DDB-B | Yes | Yes |
| Device and network management | Who-Has | DM-DOB-B | - | Yes |
| Device and network management | I-Have | DM-DOB-B | Yes | - |
| Device and network management | DeviceCommunicationControl | DM-DCC-B | - | Yes |
| Device and network management | TimeSynchronization ¹ | DM-TS-B | - | Yes |
| Device and network management | UTCTimeSynchronization ¹ | DM-UTC-B | - | Yes |
The DS-LO-A (Lighting Output) BIBB writes the Present_Value of Lighting Output, Binary Lighting Output, and standard value objects and folds onto the WriteProperty row, so the profile adds no new wire service beyond it.
¹ The profile requires one of the two time-synchronization services, not both. (Protocol_Revision is a readable property of the device’s Device object.)
Related Profiles
| Profile | How it differs from B-LCS |
|---|---|
| B-ALCS | Advanced Lighting Control Station: a step up. Adds WriteGroup commanding, advanced lighting parameters, and external scheduling |
| B-LOD | Lighting Operator Display: a display that also views lighting data and issues WriteGroup commands |
| B-LD | Lighting Device: the device side. It hosts the Lighting Output objects a B-LCS commands |
What Chipkin Provides
B-LCS is a control-station profile whose lighting-command initiation is implemented in Chipkin’s BACnet test tooling rather than the shipping device stack, which targets the server-side profiles. Talk to us about building or integrating a B-LCS operator interface.