Emergency lighting testing: what the law actually requires.

Where the duty comes from.

The Fire Safety Order applies to almost every non-domestic premises in England and Wales, and to the common parts of blocks of flats. It puts a named responsible person, usually the employer, owner or managing agent, under a duty to keep fire safety systems in efficient working order and in good repair. Emergency lighting is one of those systems. The Order does not spell out how often to test. That comes from BS 5266-1, the code of practice for emergency lighting, and BS EN 50172, which sets out the testing regime. Neither standard is law in itself, but the fire and rescue authority uses them as the benchmark, and so will your insurer.

The regime, in plain terms.

• Monthly: a function test. Simulate a mains failure, usually with a key switch or test button, and confirm that every emergency luminaire and every illuminated exit sign comes on. Restore the supply and check the charging indicators return. It only needs to be long enough to see the fitting work.
• Annually: a full rated duration test. The same simulated failure, but held for the full duration the system is designed for, which for most premises is three hours. Every fitting must still be giving usable light at the end. Then confirm that everything recharges.
• Every time: write it down. Date, type of test, which fittings were tested, what failed, what was done about it, and who did it. The logbook is what a fire officer asks for first, and an unrecorded test did not happen as far as they are concerned.

BS 5266-1 also expects a daily visual check of indicator lights on centrally supplied systems, and a general inspection alongside the annual test: fittings clean, unobstructed, and still where the escape route needs them after the last office move.

What actually fails the annual test, and why.

Batteries. Almost always batteries. A sealed battery in an emergency fitting has a working life of a few years, and once it is past that it will happily pass a thirty second flick test while having nowhere near three hours in it. Fittings above hot ceilings, kitchens and plant rooms go first. The second most common failure is fittings that were never charging: a key switch left in the test position after a previous check, or a local supply that was isolated during other work and never restored. Third is the lamp or LED module itself, and fourth is the building having changed around the system, so the escape route now turns a corner that has no fitting on it at all.

Who can do the testing.

The monthly function test can be done in house by someone who has been shown what to do and records it properly. The annual duration test and the inspection that goes with it should be done by a competent person: somebody who can identify a fitting that is below the illuminance the standard requires, replace a battery or a module correctly, and certify the result. Most businesses give the annual test to a contractor and keep the monthly one in house, and that split works well provided the in house record is kept up.

What a fire officer expects to see.

Your fire risk assessment should reference the emergency lighting and its test regime. Beside it, the logbook with a monthly entry that does not have gaps, the annual test certificate, and evidence that faults were fixed rather than just noted. A drawing showing where the fittings are helps enormously and most premises do not have one. If the premises were recently fitted out or the lighting has been upgraded to LED, check that the emergency fittings were included in the work and commissioned, because they are the part that gets missed.

We test and maintain emergency lighting across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire, and install it to standard where premises have none. The emergency lighting installation page covers the design side.

Sources: The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005; NICEIC on BS 5266-1; BAFE emergency lighting system guidance; GOV.UK: fire safety in the workplace.

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