Quick reference · Emergency lighting
How emergency lighting is designed, installed, tested and recorded: what light levels are needed on escape routes and in open areas, how long the lights must last on battery, and how often the system is tested.
The rules for the lights that come on when the power fails: how bright they must be, how long they must last, and how often they are tested.
BS 5266-1:2025, BS EN 1838:2024. BS 5266-1:2025 (October 2025) replaced the 2016 edition. BS EN 1838:2024 replaced the 2013 edition. Testing follows BS EN 50172.
Confirmed two or more sources agree, or a source quotes the standard. Check one source, or a detail that could not be confirmed. Check it against the standard.
At least 1 lux across the whole width of the route, less a border: 0.5 m each side for routes over 2 m wide, and a quarter of the width each side for routes up to 2 m wide. This is the 2024 edition, which lights the whole width. The 2013 edition measured the centre line.
At least 1 lux on the floor across the route, leaving out a margin at each edge. Older guides say the centre line only. That changed in 2024.
At least 0.5 lux across the space, leaving out a 0.5 m border. The 2024 edition also asks for the shortest obvious route through the area to be lit as an escape route.
Enough light to find the way out of a large open space: at least 0.5 lux, and the shortest route to the exit lit like an escape route.
At least 5 lux, measured vertically, near fire-fighting equipment, call points, door releases, rescue plans and safety equipment for disabled people.
Places where someone needs to see and use something need at least 5 lux, measured on the upright surface.
The higher of 15 lux and 10% of the normal task lighting level. This is confirmed for the 2013 edition and was not found quoted for 2024.
Where a dangerous job is done, keep at least 15 lux or a tenth of the normal light, whichever is more.
Confirmed for the 2013 edition only. Check the 2024 wording.
The brightest reading divided by the dimmest along an escape route should not be more than 40 to 1. This is confirmed for the 2013 edition and was not found quoted for 2024.
The light should not be patchy. The brightest spot should be no more than 40 times the dimmest.
Confirmed for the 2013 edition only. Check the 2024 wording.
1 hour where the premises are emptied at once and not used again until the batteries have recharged. 3 hours where people cannot leave at once, such as sleeping accommodation, or where the building is used again before the batteries recharge.
One hour if everyone leaves straight away and nobody goes back in until the batteries are charged. Three hours if people sleep there or cannot leave quickly.
No clause number was found for this rule.
A functional test every month, and a full-duration test every year by a competent person. Results go in the log book.
Check every light works each month, and once a year run them on battery for their full time.
Yes. BS 5266-1:2025 asks for the photometric performance to be verified at commissioning and at intervals not exceeding five years, and BS EN 50172:2024 (clause 7.4.5) says illuminance measurements are made once every five years.
Every five years, measure the light again to show the system still does its job.
Local area lighting and standby lighting are in scope, photometric verification is asked for, 'deviation' became 'variation', commissioning results must be in the handover documents, and borrowed light is excluded. Adaptive escape lighting is now recognised.
The new edition adds local area and standby lighting, asks for light measurements every five years, says 'variation' instead of 'deviation', and wants the test results handed over.
About 200 times the height of the pictogram for an internally lit sign, and 100 times for an externally lit sign.
A 15 cm running man on a lit sign can be seen from about 30 m. On a sign lit from outside, about 15 m.
No clause number was found. Check BS EN 1838.
A completion certificate (made up of design, installation and verification declarations), a small installations certificate for up to 25 self-contained luminaires, a periodic inspection and testing certificate, and a certificate for verifying an existing installation.
There is a certificate for finishing a new system, a shorter one for small systems, one for each inspection and test, and one for checking an existing system.
New in the 2025 scope. Local area lighting lets people safely finish vital tasks or stay where they are when they do not need to leave at once. Standby lighting lets normal activity carry on when the mains fails.
Local area lighting is for finishing a dangerous job safely or staying put. Standby lighting lets you carry on working as normal.
They must keep working through a circuit fault, and the source rating is given in watts and VA, allowing for power factor and inrush.
A central battery system must keep going even if one circuit fails, and its rating must allow for start-up surges.
Guidance from the 2016 edition and EN 1838:2013 lists exits and outside final exits, stairs (so each step is lit), changes of direction or level and corridor intersections, first aid points, fire equipment and call points, alarm panels, disabled toilets and toilets over 8 m², generator, switch and control rooms, escalators and covered car-park routes. Lifts are included only when they are in the evacuation plan.
Light exits, stairs, corners, changes of level, first aid, fire equipment and call points, alarm panels, big and disabled toilets, plant rooms, escalators and covered car-park routes.
The list is from the 2016 edition and EN 1838:2013. Check the 2025 wording.
Each section of an escape route needs at least two light sources, so one failure does not leave it dark.
Every stretch of an escape route needs at least two lights, so one failing does not leave it in the dark.
A maintained luminaire works all the time. A non-maintained luminaire works only when the mains fails. A combined (sustained) luminaire has one lamp kept for emergency use. Maintained signs are favoured in licensed, entertainment and sleeping premises.
Maintained lights are always on. Non-maintained lights come on only in a power cut. Combined ones have a spare lamp for emergencies.
Self-contained units have a battery in each fitting and need no fire-resistant cable. Central systems suit large sites but need fire-resistant cable.
Self-contained lights have their own battery. A central system has one big battery for many lights and needs fire-resistant cable.
The ISO 7010 green running man with an arrow. Do not mix sign types in a building. Text-only signs are not acceptable.
Use the green running man sign with an arrow, and use the same style throughout. Words-only signs do not count.
Dates, results, defects and alterations. It may be on paper, or a printout from an automatic test system. Digital logs are recognised.
Record every test and problem, on paper or from a printout of an automatic tester.
'Deviation' is now 'variation'. 'Refuges' are now 'temporary waiting spaces'. Handover must include commissioning results, variations and plans showing signs.
The words changed: deviation became variation and refuge became temporary waiting space. Hand over the test results and sign plans.
Nothing in this guide matches. Search all the guides.
Other guides: BS 5839-1, BS 5839-6, BS 5306 (extinguishers), BS EN 50131-1 and PD 6662, BS 8418, BS EN 62676-4, BS EN 60839-11-1, BS 7273-4, BS 7671 (for alarm and CCTV work). Not sure what a word means? Explain this text or see the glossary.
For guidance only. Always check against the current edition of the standard and the manufacturer's data.
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