Emergency Lighting Testing & Certification

Emergency lighting is one of the most overlooked pieces of life safety equipment in a commercial building, right up until the moment the power fails and staff or visitors need it to find their way out. LC Electrical Services carries out emergency lighting testing and certification for offices, retail units, warehouses, schools and industrial sites across the North East, in line with BS 5266.

Our service covers the two testing regimes that BS 5266 requires. The first is the monthly function test, sometimes called a flick test, where each luminaire is switched to emergency mode for a short period to confirm it operates correctly and the indicator lamp shows a healthy charge. The second is the annual full duration test, where the system is run on battery power for the full rated duration, usually three hours, to prove it will perform for the whole of that period if the mains supply is lost.

This service is for any business or organisation with a legal duty to maintain fire safety provisions, including landlords, facilities managers, school business managers, retail operators and factory owners. If your building has a fire alarm system, more than one storey, or areas without natural light such as stairwells, plant rooms or windowless offices, you almost certainly need a maintained emergency lighting installation and a documented testing regime to go with it.

The compliance picture is straightforward but frequently misunderstood. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person for a non-domestic premises must ensure that emergency routes and exits are fitted with emergency lighting where needed, and that this equipment is properly maintained. BS 5266 sets out how that maintenance should be carried out and recorded. In a fire safety audit or after an incident, the absence of test records is treated the same as the absence of the system itself, so the log book matters as much as the hardware.

We start every new emergency lighting contract with a free site survey. We walk the building with you, identify every luminaire and exit sign, check that coverage matches the current layout of escape routes, and note any areas where lighting has been missed following refurbishment or a change of use. Fit outs, partition changes and new fire exits are the most common reasons we find gaps in coverage on sites we take on.

From the survey we produce an itemised quotation that separates ongoing testing visits from any remedial or upgrade works identified, so you know exactly what you are paying for and why. There is no bundling of speculative extras into a single lump sum. Where a luminaire has failed, a battery has reached the end of its service life, or coverage needs extending, we price that work as a distinct line item before proceeding.

All testing is carried out by our qualified engineers and certified on completion, with results recorded against BS 5266 requirements. Every visit generates a written record, and we issue a properly maintained log book that stays on site and forms part of the documentation you would need to produce for a fire risk assessor, insurer or enforcing authority.

Remedial works are dealt with quickly rather than left to accumulate. If a test identifies a failed unit, we quote for the repair or replacement on the spot and can usually carry it out on the same visit or on a short return visit, keeping the system compliant rather than leaving it non-conformant until the next scheduled service.

On completion of any survey, testing programme or remedial project we hand over full documentation, including test certificates, the updated log book, and where applicable an emergency lighting design and installation certificate for any new or altered circuits. This paperwork is yours to keep and to produce whenever it is requested by a fire risk assessor, building insurer or local authority.

We work around your operating hours wherever possible, scheduling monthly flick tests and annual duration tests to minimise disruption to staff, customers or production, and we are happy to align our visits with an existing fire alarm servicing schedule so that a single engineer visit covers both systems where appropriate.