Emergency Lighting
Emergency lighting is necessary should your building suddenly experience the loss of mains power. It assists in evacuating your building safely providing illumination of a sufficiently high level to enable all occupants to evacuate the premises safely and calmly. Failure of the system may lead to sudden darkness and pose a possible danger to the occupants, either through physical danger or panic so it is important that it is regularly tested and maintained.
What is the purpose of emergency lighting?
Emergency lighting is sub-divided into two types that automatically come on when the power supply to the normal lighting system within a building fails.
Emergency Escape Lighting is the part of the system that provides illumination allowing people to exit the location safely during an emergency or power outage.
Standby Lighting can be used to enable normal activities within the building to be continued. This is not a legal requirement however and is a facility that may or may not be needed depending upon the use and occupancy of the premises.
How often should emergency lighting be tested?
Monthly
All emergency lighting systems should be tested at least once a month using a short functional test in accordance with BS 5266-1: 2016 to ensure that the luminaire operates correctly. This procedure briefly illuminates the emergency lights and can be carried out monthly by a trained member of staff.
Annually
A full rated duration test is required ensuring that the emergency lights are still working and still providing an acceptable level of light at the end of the test. This testing must be carried out by a competent person which is where we can help.
Our emergency light testing procedure includes checking the condition, charging capacity and battery drain of each light.
Upon completion we will issue you with a certificate and report which will include any recommendations for any remedial work if required.
It is a legal requirement that all non-domestic buildings must be safe at all times, even if mains power failure occurs. Therefore, nearly all such buildings must have emergency lighting fitted.
Government legislation “The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005” states that:
