Legal foundation
When is emergency lighting required?
Article 14 of the Fire Safety Order requires emergency routes and exits that need illumination to be provided with emergency lighting of adequate intensity if their normal lighting fails. The test is necessity for safe evacuation, not simply whether the premises opens after dark.
Internal windowless routes, stairs, changes of level, complex layouts, large rooms and areas containing alarm or firefighting equipment may need coverage. In a very small simple premises, borrowed light or trained-staff torches may sometimes be accepted by official guidance, but only where the assessment establishes that this is adequate.
Design scope
What should emergency escape lighting cover?
The design should make the route and safety features usable after normal lighting failure. It is not enough to place a fitting above the final exit if stairs, changes of direction or equipment remain difficult to see.
Coverage and illuminance should be designed and verified competently using the current standards. Record the system type, test facilities, circuit information, duration, drawings and any variations.
- Exit doors and escape-route direction changes
- Stairs, ramps, changes of level and corridor intersections
- Final exits and external routes to a place of safety
- Fire alarm call points and firefighting equipment
- First-aid points and relevant emergency controls
- Large, windowless, high-risk or specially assessed areas
- Refuges and accessibility features where part of the strategy
Inspection and testing
Monthly function tests and annual duration tests
A short function test simulates normal-lighting failure and checks that emergency luminaires and signs operate. A full-duration test checks whether the batteries sustain the designed period and allows time for recharge before the premises again relies on the system.
Monthly functional and annual full-duration testing are widely recognised BS 5266 practices. They are not universal frequency wording in the Fire Safety Order, so the regime should follow the current standard, system design, manufacturer information and FRA. Consider when a duration test can be carried out without leaving occupants exposed during recharge.
| Test or check | What it establishes |
|---|---|
| Routine visual check | Indicators, fittings and signs appear healthy and unobstructed |
| Short functional test | Luminaires operate when normal supply is simulated as failed |
| Full-duration test | The system maintains output for its designed emergency period |
| Post-work test | Alteration, circuit work or replacement has not weakened coverage |
| Competent inspection | Design, condition, records and defects are reviewed appropriately |
Impairment management
What should happen when emergency lighting fails?
Record the affected area and judge whether people can safely use the route if normal power fails. The response may include immediate repair, temporary lighting, limiting occupation, changing the route or increasing supervision, depending on the risk.
Do not rely on phone torches or photoluminescent signs as an unassessed substitute. Official guidance states photoluminescent signs need other illumination and do not replace appropriate emergency lighting.
Evidence
Keep a usable emergency-lighting log
The log should identify the system and fittings, test dates, results, failures, remedial actions, competent visits and changes. Drawings or a schedule make it possible to trace a failed fitting to the route it protects.
Where landlord and tenant systems overlap, record who tests common parts, who receives faults and how each occupier knows the building remains safe. Review the FRA after significant layout or occupancy change.
- Design and completion information
- Luminaire or asset schedule and locations
- Monthly functional test results
- Annual duration test results
- Faults, temporary controls and repair evidence
- Alterations, battery replacements and updated drawings