Emergency Lighting Testing Schedule and Record Keeping

Emergency lighting is the system nobody thinks about until the power goes and a stairwell fills with people. It is also one of the easiest compliance items for an enforcing officer to test — they can literally press a button — which is why it comes up so often in enforcement notices.

What the standard requires

BS 5266-1 sets out the testing regime for emergency escape lighting in the UK, and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order makes maintaining that system a legal duty for the responsible person. There are two routine duties.

Monthly: a short functional test. Every luminaire and exit sign is switched to its emergency supply for long enough to confirm each lamp illuminates — typically via a key switch, test facility or automatic self-test system. Restore the supply afterwards and allow the batteries to recharge. Any failed unit is recorded and repaired.

Annually: a full-duration discharge test. The system runs on battery for its full rated duration, normally three hours. Every luminaire must still be operating and giving adequate light at the end of that period. This is the test that finds tired batteries, and it is the one that gets skipped.

Timing matters for the annual test. Run it at the end of the working day or over a period when the building can be left unoccupied while batteries recharge — a discharged system offers no protection until it is back up, which can take 24 hours.

What must be recorded

Records are not optional and verbal assurance counts for nothing. Your log book should show the date of every test, the type of test, the result for each luminaire or circuit, details of any failure, the remedial action taken and the date it was completed, plus the name of the person carrying out the test. Keep the original commissioning certificate and the as-fitted drawings with the log — inspectors ask for both.

We record everything in a digital fire logbook so the evidence is timestamped, photographed and available instantly rather than sitting in a folder that nobody can find.

The failures we see most

Batteries at end of life are the single biggest one. Emergency lighting batteries typically last around four years, and a unit that passes a 30-second flick test can fail badly at two hours. Then there are luminaires that have been decommissioned during a refit and never reinstated, new partitions or racking that leave escape routes unlit, exit signs pointing at a door that is now locked or removed, and non-maintained fittings wired to a lighting circuit that gets isolated out of hours.

Coverage is the other quiet failure. Emergency lighting is required not just along escape routes but at each exit door, change of direction, staircase, level change, fire alarm call point, firefighting equipment point, and in toilets over 8 m². Buildings change; the lighting design often does not follow.

Who can carry out the tests

Monthly functional tests can be done in-house by a trained, competent member of staff — that is normal and sensible. The annual full-duration test and any remedial work should be carried out by a competent electrical contractor working to BS 5266-1 and BS 7671, who can certify the system and issue the appropriate paperwork.

Our engineers carry out annual discharge testing, remedial repairs, battery replacements and full system design and installation, and we can take on the monthly regime under a maintenance contract if you would rather not manage it internally. See our emergency lighting services or talk to us about a testing schedule for your site.

A practical starting point

If you are inheriting a building, or you are not confident the records are complete, start with a full duration test and a coverage check against the current layout. That single visit tells you the true condition of the system, gives you a defensible baseline record, and turns a vague worry into a costed list of work.