When’s the last time you maintained your blocks emergency lighting?

The appropriate standards have to be adhered to, but what often gets overlooked is the month-to-month maintenance. The Base guidance document, BS 5266-1: 2011 is the Code of practice for premises’ emergency lighting. This gives general rules and guidance on the provision and operation of emergency lighting in most premises other than dwelling houses. It is worth reading, as many simply overlook their legal obligations.

Who’s Responsible?

“The responsible person has to be able to demonstrate that the hardware of fire safety systems and their maintenance are adequate to protect the occupants. Fire protection products and related services should be fit for their purpose and properly installed and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions or the relevant British Standard”.

The responsible person can be anyone who has some control over a building or areas within it, including inter alia facilities management companies, landlords, block managers and lettings agents.

Emergency lighting is vital

When the lights go out and an emergency arises, that’s when emergency lighting is the focus of attention and that’s the whole problem. The need is rare so it can drop down the ‘to do’ list and that is potentially very dangerous with serious consequences.

Darkness can cause panic

When normal illumination fails, for whatever reasons, and a building is plunged into darkness, that’s when panic with unpleasant consequences arise. Imagine the litigious situation if someone fell in the dark or couldn’t find their way out of a burning building. It’s easy to dismiss the risk as negligible, but there have been some serious fires in the news and yes, they do happen. It’s essential to be proactive in this instance and maintain a healthy emergency lighting system. It may well save lives.

The whole point of emergency lighting is for it to be automatic.

Block owners don’t need to worry as new builds are equipped with building regulation compliant equipment. There’s little room for installation variation as the British standard provides clear guidelines. The real headache can arrive when it’s a matter of maintenance considerations.

What’s the problem?

Well, people pass by emergency lights without giving them much thought and sometimes fault indicators become part of the scenery. There are some basic maintenance guidelines that need to be undertaken regularly. Take batteries for example. They don’t function well if they are not left to fully discharge and then recharged. If this is not done they can fail to hold enough power to provide adequate illumination for the required duration. Consider when the last time your system was was drained and a monthly flick test was undertaken?

How long do you test your system for?

In addition to all the regulations you need to comply with, your emergency lighting system needs to be tested and re-tested annually. It’s not just a quick test either. A maintenance engineer should actually wait for the full 3 hour duration before completing a detailed report on the condition of the system. This process can cause minor disruption within your block and limited light levels at the agreed time of testing.

However, by using a thoroughly experienced maintenance team, with whom a block management company can work in partnership, will make a huge difference. It was also take away the responsibility as you can rely on the fact that your emergency lighting will be tested and maintained regularly without fuss.

Are you aware of new technologies to help emergency lighting?

In addition a maintenance team can advise on ways to harness new technologies to improve the emergency lighting system, efficiency and running costs. For example there are new breeds of batteries and low energy solutions can help.

So if you think your emergency lighting systems might not be compliant, or you currently do not have the required maintenance package in place then why not partner up with experts. We can ensure you don’t fall foul of the law and that your occupants are protected. If your block incorporates emergency escape or escape route lighting, open/ high-risk area or standby lighting, you can rest assured these can be maintained without becoming a headache.

Future Lighting is on-hand to NOTB subscribers for any further information or assistance.