18/01/2017

Legal Obligations

There are laws relating to emergency lighting, most importantly the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. It includes a mandatory requirement for the provision of emergency lighting in all public buildings.  Emergency lighting is vital to help people escape from a building – it must illuminate the escape route to a regulatory level and clearly light any essential fire equipment en-route, permitting safe evacuation.  Ringtail follows all the stringent requirements for the design of our emergency lighting products.

Emergency lighting is lighting for a situation when the main power supply is cut and any normal illumination fails.  The loss of mains electricity could be the result of a fire or a power cut and the normal lighting supplies fail. This may lead to sudden darkness and a possible danger to the occupants, either through physical danger or panic.

Emergency lighting is normally required to operate fully automatically and give illumination to a sufficiently high level to enable all occupants to evacuate the premises safely. Most new buildings now have emergency lighting installed during construction; the design and type of equipment being specified by the architect in accordance with current Building Regulations and any local authority requirements.


Requirements & Standards

British and European Standards – Emergency Lighting

Emergency lighting is now covered by a series of interdependent standards that can be seen as forming a hierarchy as shown below.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

  • Base guidance document

BS 5266-1: 2011 Code of practice for emergency lighting of premises. Gives general rules and guidance on the provision and operation of emergency lighting in most premises other than dwelling houses.

  • System standards

BS EN 1838:1999 / BS 5266-7:1999 Lighting applications – emergency lighting. Specifies the illumination to be provided by emergency lighting (including luminance, duration and colour).

BS EN 50172:2004 / BS 5266-8:2004 Emergency escape lighting systems. Specifies the minimum provision and testing of emergency lighting for different premises.

  • Product standards

BS EN 60598-1: 2008 Luminaires.  General requirements and tests. See the 60598 series for particular requirements.

BS EN 62034:2006 Automatic test systems for battery powered emergency escape lighting. Specifies a test system for battery powered emergency lighting

BS EN 50171:2001 Central power supply systems. Specifies central power supply systems for emergency lighting luminaries.