our service
Emergency Lighting Installation
Emergency lighting installation and upgrades to BS 5266-1 by BAFE SP203-4 certified engineers, for occupied housing, hotels and commercial buildings in London.
Self-contained or central battery, maintained or non-maintained, standalone or built into the communal lighting: every installation is designed to BS 5266-1, commissioned and handed over with a completion certificate and logbook.
A lot of the emergency lighting in housing and older commercial buildings was installed decades ago. Fittings have been added piecemeal, fluorescent tubes and nickel-cadmium batteries are reaching the end of their life, exit signs no longer match the escape routes, and some stairs and corridors were never covered at all. Fire risk assessments are now picking these gaps up.
Fire Systems Ltd installs new emergency lighting systems and upgrades existing ones for housing associations, local authorities, managing agents and commercial clients across London and the South East. Almost all of it is carried out in occupied buildings, with residents, guests or staff using the escape routes we are working on.
Every installation starts with a design. Where the specification calls for it, we prove the light levels with a DIALux or Relux calculation before anything is fitted: see emergency lighting design and lux calculations.
Certified to Install Emergency Lighting
Fire Systems Ltd holds BAFE SP203-4 third-party certification for emergency lighting, covering design, installation, commissioning and maintenance, and is NICEIC registered for the electrical work involved.
Our installation engineers hold City & Guilds electrical qualifications and FIA emergency lighting training. Because many older buildings contain asbestos, everyone on our emergency lighting projects holds non-licensed asbestos training, and on housing programmes we act as Principal Designer and Principal Contractor under CDM 2015.
Competence is checked before every job is allocated: our Infor ERP system will not assign an engineer whose qualifications are not verified and in date in our Mango QMS.
The Standards Behind an Emergency Lighting Installation
BS 5266-1:2025. The code of practice for emergency lighting, setting out where luminaires and signs are needed, how long they must last and how the system should be designed, installed and commissioned.
BS EN 1838:2024. The light levels the installed system must achieve: 1 lux on escape routes, 0.5 lux in open areas and 10% of normal lighting or 15 lux in high-risk task areas.
BS EN 60598-2-22. The product standard for emergency luminaires. We only fit luminaires made to it.
BS EN 62034. The standard for automatic test systems, which applies when self-test or web-monitored fittings are installed.
BS 7671. The IET Wiring Regulations, which govern the electrical installation behind the emergency lighting.
Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996. Exit signs must use the running man symbol with the correct direction arrows.
CDM 2015. Installation is construction work, so it needs proper planning, a Construction Phase Plan and competent people in the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor roles.
Choosing the right system
Standalone or built in. Where emergency lighting is built into the normal communal lighting, there are two routes: replace the whole fitting with an integral emergency LED unit, or keep the normal lighting, remove the old battery packs and fit new standalone emergency luminaires.
Maintained or non-maintained. Maintained fittings stay lit all the time and are usual in places of entertainment and some communal areas; non-maintained fittings only light when the power fails.
Self-contained or central battery. Most housing uses self-contained fittings with their own battery. Larger buildings sometimes use a central battery system that powers many fittings from one place.
How it will be tested. Key switches on each lighting circuit for manual testing, or self-test and web-monitored fittings that test themselves and report failures online.
Exit signs. Illuminated signs by stairwell doors, external doors, rooms with more than one exit and corridors leading to final exits, wired for continuous operation.
When Emergency Lighting Needs Upgrading
These are the situations where we are most often asked to install or upgrade emergency lighting.
Fire risk assessment actions: The assessor has found escape routes, stairs or open areas without emergency lighting, or fittings that no longer cover the route.
Failing older systems: Fluorescent fittings and old batteries repeatedly fail their annual duration test. Replacing them with LED fittings cuts failures, energy use and call-outs.
Converted street properties: Narrow stairs, half-landings and steps in corridors in converted houses often have little or no emergency lighting.
Higher-risk buildings: Some housing providers now specify self-test, remotely monitored systems in blocks of three storeys and above, with records that can form part of the golden thread.
Refurbishment and change of use: New layouts, partitions or uses change the escape routes, so the emergency lighting has to change with them.
Not sure whether your building needs an upgrade? We survey the building against BS 5266-1 and your fire risk assessment and give you a clear, costed recommendation.
How We Install Emergency Lighting
Survey. We record every existing fitting, sign and circuit, the ceiling heights and the escape routes, and check them against the fire risk assessment.
Design. We agree the layout, fittings, test method and duration with you, and calculate the light levels where required.
Planning. Risk assessments and method statements, a Construction Phase Plan, asbestos checks and a programme that keeps disruption to a minimum.
Resident communication. Residents and scheme managers are told when we are coming and what we are doing, and the work is phased so escape routes stay lit.
Installation. Fittings and exit signs installed, wired and labelled, with key switches or self-test equipment fitted and set up.
Commissioning. A full test to confirm the system operates for its rated duration and meets the design, with any defects put right before handover.
Handover. A completion certificate, logbook and as-fitted records for every building, ready for your fire risk assessor and, in higher-risk buildings, the golden thread.
Once the system is in, we can look after it too: see emergency lighting testing and maintenance.
Self-test and web-monitored emergency lighting
On larger housing portfolios, sending an engineer to every block each month to flick-test the emergency lighting is slow and disruptive. Self-test fittings do the work themselves.
Each luminaire runs its own monthly function test and annual full-duration test at programmed times.
Tests are staggered, so neighbouring fittings in a corridor are never tested at the same time and part of the system is always charged and ready.
Every result is logged, and failed batteries or lamps are reported online straight away.
Records are available through a secure web portal, with different access levels for the client, scheme managers and contractor.
For one London housing association we install self-test, web-monitored LED fittings with three-hour duration in its blocks, to a specification that also uses presence detectors to dim the communal lighting when areas are empty. Before installation, we required the manufacturer to confirm in writing that its products met every part of the specification, and each design is checked against the required light levels.
“186 properties. Sheltered housing, general needs and converted street homes. New emergency lighting designed, installed and certified to BS 5266.”
Fire Systems Ltd delivered this emergency lighting upgrade programme for a London housing association, starting in March 2023.
Case Study: Emergency Lighting Upgrade Across 186 Housing Association Properties
Our client's fire risk assessments identified sites across their stock that needed new emergency lighting or an upgrade to the existing system. Fire Systems Ltd won the contract to deliver the works, which started in March 2023 and covered 186 properties, including sheltered housing, general needs blocks and converted street properties.
Design. We carried out the detailed design, consulting the client on how each site would be operated and tested and on the findings of each risk assessment. Where existing emergency lighting was standalone, we replaced it. Where it was built into the normal lighting, the specification allowed two routes: replace the whole fitting with integral emergency LED lighting, or keep the normal lighting and fit new standalone emergency luminaires.
Installation. We installed illuminated exit signs to BS 5266-1 by stairwell doors, external doors, rooms with more than one exit and corridors leading to final exits, wired for continuous operation with running man legends and direction arrows. Each site was given a test facility in line with BS 5266.
Safety and CDM. Fire Systems Ltd acted as Principal Designer and Principal Contractor, producing a Construction Phase Plan for each site. Because the works involved asbestos management, every operative held non-licensed asbestos training.
Handover. Every site was commissioned to confirm the system met the design, then handed over with a completion certificate and logbook.
Emergency Lighting Installation Questions We Are Often Asked
Can emergency lighting be installed while residents stay in the building?
Yes. Almost all our installations are in occupied homes, sheltered schemes and hotels. We phase the work, keep escape routes lit while we work, and tell residents and scheme managers in advance when we will be there.
Should we replace the whole light fitting or add separate emergency lights?
It depends on the building. Integral fittings, where the emergency function is built into the normal light, look tidier and suit full lighting refurbishments. Separate emergency luminaires are often quicker and cheaper where the normal lighting is in good condition. We set out both options with costs.
What is the difference between maintained and non-maintained emergency lighting?
Maintained fittings are lit all the time and stay lit when the power fails. Non-maintained fittings are off in normal use and only light when the power fails. Most housing communal areas use non-maintained or combined fittings, but the fire risk assessment and BS 5266-1 decide what each area needs.
Do we need a lux calculation before installation?
Placing fittings where BS 5266-1 lists them does not prove there is enough light on the floor once the fittings run from their batteries. Many housing specifications now require a DIALux or Relux calculation, and we recommend one for any new system. Read more about emergency lighting design and lux calculations.
What will we receive when the installation is finished?
A completion certificate, a logbook for the building and as-fitted records showing every fitting and sign. Where we designed the system, you also receive the design certificate and lux calculation.
