UK Emergency Light Requirements: A Simple Guide 

If you’re fortunate enough to own a building, you’ll need to make sure you’re following all the legal lighting requirements – or you could end up in trouble. Especially if you or other people regularly use the building.

In the UK we have a reputation for lots of health and safety rules, and commercial emergency lighting is no exception!

Don’t worry, though. This quick guide will give you a simple overview of all the legal requirements you need to follow in terms of emergency lighting in a UK building.

We’ll go through:

• The code of practice (and where to access it)
• Where you need emergency lights installed
• The best lights to use for emergency lighting
• Operational requirements
• And of course, maintenance and testing

While emergency lighting can be a chore to set up, you only need to set it up once – and it’s worth doing it properly. Good visibility can make all the difference in an emergency situation, so it’s vital that we get it right.

With that said, let’s get your emergency lighting sorted.

Legal Requirements

When it comes to emergency lighting, our bible is the BS 5266-1 code of practice. This covers everything from installation, testing, and maintenance of emergency light systems.

While this article will give you a brief overview, you are responsible for ensuring you’re in line with the full code. You can purchase it from the BSI here, but it does cost a few hundred pounds. A free summary version can also be found here.

We’ll get into more detail as we go, but here’s a brief overview of the sections:

Installation: Including specific requirements for the location of lights to ensure all escape routes are illuminated. A risk assessment should be carried out to find the best emergency lighting coverage for your premises.

Maintenance and Testing: Regular testing is a legal requirement. BS 5266-1 advises monthly tests and an annual test that involves running the emergency lights on battery for a full three hours known as ‘full-rated duration test’. You need to log all tests for auditing purposes.

Commissioning: On installation, every emergency lighting system must be commissioned and a certificate issued to confirm it meets the necessary standards, including BS EN 1838 for luminance levels.

Responsibility: As the building owner, you must ensure these systems are maintained and tested. Failure to follow this can lead to getting into legal trouble, so it’s worth getting it right!

Automatic Systems: While maintained systems, which remain lit constantly, are an option, automatic, non-maintained lights that activate during power cuts are commonly employed. They must still adhere to regulations by providing safe levels of illumination to all escape routes.

Remember, your legal obligations include following the Fire Safety Order and Building Regulations, and ensuring a proper fire risk assessment is carried out to support the safety of occupants during emergencies.

Best Types of LED Lights for Emergency Lighting

Choosing which emergency lighting to buy can be a tricky decision, since you often need to buy multiple, if not dozens of lights! 

LED Lights are the standard for emergency lighting, because of their:

• Low power usage (meaning batteries can be of a lower capacity and therefore cheaper)
• Small size (easy to place without being an eyesore)
• Bright light (vital in an emergency)
• Durability (incredibly robust and reliable).

As for which exact LED lights to buy, we strongly recommend our LED Bulkhead Lights with 3 hour emergency batteries, paired with Emergency Exit Lights.

For more subtle lights, we also offer small LED spotlights with the same 3 hours of battery and specifically made for emergency lighting.

Emergency Exit Lights are a legal requirement, and a globally-recognised emergency symbol. We offer simple hanging emergency exit lights, bulkhead lights, as well as wall-mountable options.

LED Bulkhead Lights aren’t going to win any design awards, but they are incredibly durable and reliable. They are easy to install, and we sell versions with batteries that last over 3 hours to satisfy your BS 5266-1 requirements.

Where to Place Emergency Lights

Once you know which lights to buy, placement is the main consideration.

You need to make sure that escape routes are well-lit and visible from everywhere within the building.

In particular, you need emergency lighting:

• Wherever directions change
• Beside exits
• Near any changes in floor level
• Continuous all the way to the final exit door.

For open area lighting (or anti-panic lighting), aim to sufficiently illuminate larger space to prevent panic during an emergency. These areas require a minimum of 0.5 lux level of lighting.

High-risk task area lighting should be installed in places where dangerous processes or safety-critical tasks are performed. This ensures that, in case of an emergency, these tasks can be closed down safely and occupants can evacuate without increased risk.

Your design and installation should include enough lighting to show fire-fighting equipment and call points.

Regular testing and maintenance are also required.

In hotels or residential buildings, consider additional lighting in rooms and corridors to guide guests who are unfamiliar with the escape routes.

Testing & Maintenance

BS 5266-1 demands that your emergency lighting is tested once a quarter (every 3 months), with a larger annual test.

Quarterly tests are simply a case of shutting off power at your circuit breaker, and walking through the building to make sure all emergency lighting is working.

Once a year, you need to test to make your lighting lasts for the full 3 hours. Good news is the batteries are rechargeable, so they’ll charge back up once you turn the power back on.

Make sure to log every test in-case you get audited. This doesn’t need to be anything fancy, even a notebook with dates, tests, and notes is enough. For convenience, we also offer Self-Testing emergency lights.

Lighting The Way

Thanks for taking the time to read our emergency lighting guide. 

While it can be a slog, ensuring you have proper lighting set up means you and your team can sleep better at night – knowing you’re prepared if something goes wrong. 
For emergency lights, or almost any other LED light, be sure to check out our products. We offer a 4-year warranty on our lights, and we’re happy to help if you have any questions about which lights to choose – or how many you need. If you have any questions, send us a message via our contact page.