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How and When You Should Test Your Emergency Lights

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Trade Facilities Services
How and When You Should Test Your Emergency Lights

When the power supply is cut off due to a fire, an earthquake, or other unfortunate events, the first plan of action must be to evacuate the building as fast as possible. Your emergency lights play a significant role during such events. This is why emergency light testing is important to ensure that everything works like they should during critical times. Failing to test regularly means risking the safety of people in your building or your premises.

 

Emergency light testing is not a recommendation but a requirement of the law under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the British Standards BS 5266-1:2016, and BS EN 50172. Failure to comply means hefty fines and even criminal charges. 

 

How do you test your emergency lights? That depends on what type of emergency light system you have installed in your building. It's recommended that you hire a professional electrician to carry out the inspections and tests. This is to ensure that all emergency lights and exits—or the entire system for that matter—is properly tested and inspected. Professional electricians can really tell if your system is in full operational status.

 

How often should you do emergency light testing? Monthly and annually. Here’s what needs to be done:

 

  • Monthly inspection

Monthly emergency alarm testing involves turning on all luminaires and exit signs to see if they are functioning properly. If the lights and signs are already collecting dust, then they must be cleaned.

 

  • Annual inspection

This time, the main power supply will be turned off to check if the emergency lights system will automatically operate immediately after the electricity is cut off. The main lights must also be turned off. The entire test will run for 3 hours to see if the emergency lights and exit signs will last that long.

 

  • Daily inspection

  • Emergency light systems should be visually inspected on a daily basis to see if the luminaries and their wirings are showing any signs of wear. Do note that daily inspection is only required for emergency lighting that is connected to a central system and not for those with self-contained backup batteries.

 

Inspections and tests for commercial buildings must be done outside the working hours or during the times the buildings are not occupied. 

 

About the Author

I am James Livingstone the owner of Trade Facilities Services, we provide electrical certificates and electrical testing in London, Essex and Kent at reasonable and fair prices. The company is fully insured, and all electricians are qualified and are members of either NAPIT or the NICEIC. We believe in publishing the correct information for our consumers to ensure they get value for money.

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