Emergencies almost always happen out of the blue. Whether you own an office space or a warehouse, if you don’t know the best ways to stay safe, an emergency like a power outage or a fire may cause your property’s occupants to panic.
When an emergency strikes, emergency lights play a key role in helping a building’s occupants evacuate the premises safely, giving you enough time to alert the authorities and take further action. But are your commercial premises equipped with the necessary emergency lighting system to deal with an emergency?
In this blog, you’ll learn all about emergency lighting compliance for commercial buildings, how often emergency light testing should be carried out on commercial premises, and how Oaktree Electrical’s services can help you.
In the event of an emergency, like a fire, your occupants need to evacuate from the property safely and as soon as possible. Main lighting sources often stop working during a fire, and with smoke, it can become more difficult to navigate to safety. Darkness, smoke, and limited visibility can lead to a situation of chaos and panic, increasing the chances of injury.
Emergency lighting is a backup lighting system that activates automatically once the power to regular lighting fails, illuminating escape routes and fire safety equipment.
Emergency LED lighting highlights:
According to the BSI guidelines for emergency lighting, there are two main types of emergency lighting: emergency escape lighting and standby lighting.
The purpose of emergency lights is to illuminate escape routes. Any area of the building that’s occupied needs emergency lights installed. Commercial property owners are legally required to ensure emergency lights are properly installed, functional, and well-maintained.
Non-compliance can lead to:
UK commercial buildings need to follow various legal and regulatory standards for emergency lighting, ensuring their systems are designed, installed, and maintained to allow for safe evacuation in the event of an emergency. Emergency lighting in commercial buildings must comply with three main standards:
BS 5266-1:2016 is the emergency lighting code of practice for UK buildings. It sets the minimum requirement for design, installation, and maintenance of emergency lighting systems, including lighting levels, signage, and placement.
According to this standard, there needs to be a minimum illuminance of 1 lux over the floor area or higher in areas people need to cross.
According to this order, commercial premises owners need to provide emergency lighting to all emergency routes and exits on the premises.
Fire safety legislation requires emergency lighting to be provided in premises, including:
• Offices and shops
• Premises that provide care
• Community halls
• Pubs, clubs, and restaurants
• Schools
• Tents and marquees
• Hotels and hostels
• Factories and warehouses
• Common areas in houses with multiple occupants
This document contains general requirements for fire safety in commercial buildings, including the provision of emergency lighting integral to the infrastructure.
These three regulations often cross-reference each other and are key to achieving total emergency lighting compliance, so you can receive an emergency lighting compliance certificate from authorised bodies or certified professionals specialising in BS EN 50172 / BS 5266-8 compliance.
BS 5266-8 / BS EN 50172 states that responsible persons, like qualified electricians, must test all emergency lighting systems monthly and once a year. That’s how often emergency light testing is required to prevent non-compliance and detect faults in time.
You can conduct the following tests to check whether your emergency lighting system is operating optimally.
Oaktree Electrical is an NICEIC-approved electrical contractor, providing comprehensive electrical solutions for commercial and industrial premises. We know exactly what goes into installing, maintaining, testing, and repairing your emergency lighting systems.
Our electricians are aware of the latest standards in emergency lighting compliance and are here to guide you when you need professional support. Key services we can help you with include:
Don’t wait till an emergency strikes and exposes the gaps in your emergency lighting setup. Contact us today to schedule an assessment.
