If you own a non-domestic property, including common areas of a house with multiple occupancies – then you are required to provide emergency lighting provisions in the event of a power outage.
Article 14 (2) (h) of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRFSO) 2005 states: ‘Emergency routes and exits requiring illumination must be provided with emergency lighting of adequate intensity in the case of failure of their normal lighting’.
It is down to the ‘responsible person’ of the property to ensure that the correct and appropriate emergency lighting is installed and this person is responsible for the safety of everyone in the building – from workers, guest to visitors and residents. The ICEL, Industry Committee for Emergency Lighting states: ‘The legal requirement is that non-domestic buildings must be safe at all times, even if mains power failure occurs. Therefore, nearly all such buildings must have emergency lighting fitted’.
It is also a legal requirement and imperative that fire exits and fire fighting equipment locations are illuminated properly and that the fire exit signage is sufficient to ensure the occupants of the building know which routes to take when exiting the building.
Knowing what emergency lighting is right for your application can be a fairly major task, depending on the size and use of your building. We have a range of range of emergency lighting including solutions from LED Exit Signs, LED Bulkheads, LED Twinspots and LED Downlights, we also offer bespoke emergency lighting systems for projects where a standard application would not be suitable. Your designer/contractor will provide you with all the information you need to ensure you have your building emergency lighting installed to meet all the legal criteria.
Whilst we are on the topic of legalities and adhering to legislation we thought we would outline who the responsible person is and the consequences they face if legislation is not met:
Who is the ‘responsible person’, tell me more.
All commercial properties must have a legally designated ‘responsible person’ for fire safety. This could be an employer, employee or other designated responsible person who has control over the premises or activities that take place on the premises, has responsibilities under the Fire Safety Reform Order 2005.
As part of the ‘responsible persons’ role, they must be able to prove that their emergency lighting systems work correctly as designed and must maintain them in full working order. A record must be kept as proof that they have carried out their duty of care. Included in our emergency lighting range we now stock our new i-Monitor Emergency Light Testing System which is a comprehensive DALI based testing and reporting system all controlled via one standard iPad. The majority of our emergency lighting comes as either 3 hour maintained and non-maintained and is also available with self-test mode and pictograms. By having access to a self-test system the responsible person ensures all aspects of the legislation are covered.
If the responsible person is found to be negligent of providing the necessary emergency lighting/signage/fire fighting equipment they can face huge fines and even be imprisoned.
At Channel Safety Systems we offer a complete Design, Supply & Commissioning service:-
Fire Alarm to: BS.5839. Part 1 2013, Emergency Lighting to: BS. 5266. Part 1 2011
Our Territory Managers are based across the UK, we offer a fast and efficient service for design, site surveys, project management and all commissioning. All our external team members are fully qualified to ‘sign off’ designs and Channel maintain all the relevant insurance policies which means the legal onus is on us, not the contractor.
So, do you need emergency lighting…?! View our emergency lighting products here
* The design service is free on the basis of receipt of order on contract award
