Our guide to emergency lighting testing

If all the lights go out in your building, due to a power cut or fire, the people inside are at risk. Leaving them to navigate their way out with their phone’s torch isn’t good enough. Instead, you need an emergency lighting system to illuminate risk zones, escape routes, fire fighting equipment, call points and emergency exit signs.

Installing an emergency lighting system is one thing, but maintaining it is equally important. Your emergency lighting system must be tested on a regular basis to ensure it’s fully functioning as it should be. But is that an annual test, monthly test or even a daily test? In this blog, we’ll take you through the how, why and when questions about emergency lighting testing.

Various types of emergency lighting

Emergency lighting systems span various categories and serve different purposes. Your fire risk assessment should specify the areas in your building that must have emergency lighting. That emergency lighting will help people to find fire extinguishers and other fire-fighting equipment as well as emergency exits.

  • Escape route and open area lighting: this emergency escape lighting system is designed to guide people to evacuate safely.
  • High risk task area lighting: high risk areas need different emergency lighting. This provides light for the safety of people involved in potentially dangerous processes that need to be completed safely.
  • Safety lighting: this lighting is for people in the building (such as hospital patients) who are unable to leave the premises.
  • Non-maintained lighting: this type of emergency lighting is set to come on when there’s a power outage and normal lighting goes out.
  • Maintained lighting: this lighting is on constantly. It has a back-up battery that provides energy if there’s a mains power supply failure.
  • Standby lighting: in the event of a mains power failure, this lighting ensures normal activities can continue.
emergency lighting maintenance in green and white

How often should you carry out an emergency lighting test?

According to the Building Regulations and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, businesses must install emergency lighting systems in their premises by law. In addition, UK fire safety legislation states that emergency lighting must undergo a full test once a year and be ‘flick-tested’ at least once a month. British Standard 5266-1 also advises that records of all tests and repairs should be kept in a log book.

Daily emergency lighting test: this is only necessary if your emergency lighting uses a central battery system (most don’t). Simply check that the indicator light shows that the battery’s functioning correctly.

Monthly emergency lighting test: this brief functional test (flick test) needs to happen at least once a month. The monthly emergency lighting test is in line with BS EN 50172 and BS 5266-8. The main aim of the monthly test is to check that all luminaries are in place, working and clean.

Annual emergency lighting test: The British Standard recommends that each emergency light has a full duration test and a visual inspection at least every year. During an annual maintenance test, your emergency lighting system must be drained for a three hour test. This checks that your batteries work correctly, that luminaires stay on for the full three hour duration, and that they maintain adequate lux levels (brightness).

Often, this annual emergency lighting test is scheduled to be done at the same time as the fire alarm test. It’s a cost-effective and practical option.

electrician checking the control panel

How do you test emergency lighting?

The four most common ways to test emergency lighting are:
Manual test: manually simulate a power failure with a test key switch and check every light fitting individually. It’s time-consuming, open to human error but relatively low cost.
Automatic test: some light fittings can self-test without human intervention or the need for a key-switch and the associated wiring. It mitigates the need for manual testing, but a competent person is still needed to log the results.
Wireless addressable test: the testing, recording and reporting processes are all fully automated via wireless mesh networking technology.
Wired DALI addressable test: this emergency testing uses a central control point that’s connected to all the emergency fittings in the installation via a DALI network. It records the test results and makes them available to the responsible person.

It’s worth noting that an emergency lighting test involves switching off the main lights circuit. It’s meant to simulate a power cut. If it happens in working hours, it can be really disruptive. This is a downside of automatic testing as you don’t know when it will happen. You may want to schedule your emergency lighting test at a less busy time.

emergency light dimming

Can I perform emergency lighting tests myself or do I need a certified electrician?

If you’re responsible for a commercial premises with emergency lighting systems installed, it’s down to you to make sure that either you, a ‘competent person‘, or a fire safety professional completes the emergency lighting tests as required by law. It’s your decision whether to employ an experienced professional or to self-test emergency lighting in your commercial premises.

Once your emergency lighting test has been carried out, it’s important to:

  • Record the test in your logbook
  • Note any failures
  • The responsible person has to arrange repairs as soon as possible.

Let the Prolec team keep you safe and compliant

Our emergency lighting services comply with British Standards and regulations. We can install, maintain and test your emergency lighting systems to keep your premises and people protected from risk. We’ve worked with a vast array of commercial premises, from hospitals to cinemas, data centres to historic buildings, office buildings to educational institutions. We understand the complexities and emergency lighting needs that vary greatly between them.

Get in touch with our friendly team to discuss our specialist emergency lighting system services

Written by
Pippa Jackson

Call us on 020 8651 5565 Email us