Emergency Lighting Certificate London

Who needs an emergency lighting certificate?

Anyone who is the responsible person for premises covered by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and has emergency lighting installed. That includes the communal parts of blocks of flats and HMOs, as well as shops, offices, restaurants and other workplaces.

• Freeholders, managing agents and RTM companies responsible for communal stairs, corridors and lobbies.
• HMO landlords, where the escape route or the fire risk assessment calls for emergency lighting. Councils benchmark HMO fire safety against the LACORS guidance, so check your licence conditions for servicing requirements.
• Business owners and employers, whose fire risk assessment identifies escape routes and areas that would be dangerous in a power cut.
• Owners of mixed-use buildings, such as a shop with flats above, where escape routes may serve both.

There is no single legal fire safety certificate for most premises. The emergency lighting certificate is one of the servicing records that, together with your fire risk assessment, shows you are maintaining the precautions the Fire Safety Order requires. Since 1 October 2023, anyone a responsible person appoints to help with those precautions must also be competent.

What does the annual test involve?

Every emergency luminaire is run on its battery for its full rated duration, typically 3 hours, to prove it will stay lit long enough for everyone to get out. That is the core of the certificate, but it is not the only check.

1. We review the logbook and previous certificate, noting any recurring faults.
2. Every fitting and exit sign is inspected for damage, correct pictogram signage, a working charge indicator and secure fixing.
3. We simulate a mains failure using the test key switch or by isolating the local lighting circuit.
4. Each fitting is checked at the start of the test and again at the end of the rated duration.
5. Failures, partial failures and fittings that are obscured or poorly positioned are recorded.
6. Normal supply is restored and charge indicators are confirmed working before we leave.

Tests follow BS 5266-1:2025, the revised code of practice for emergency lighting, which is aligned with EN 1838 and EN 50172. Electrical inspections are carried out by NICEIC / NAPIT registered electricians, qualified to BS 7671.

How often must emergency lighting be tested?

Monthly and annually. BS 5266-1:2025 sets a routine of a short functional test every month and a full rated-duration test every year, with the results of both recorded in a logbook.

In buildings where people sleep, such as blocks of flats and HMOs, timing matters. After a full-duration test the batteries need time to recharge, and the building has reduced cover until they do. We schedule tests during the day and, on larger systems, can discuss testing alternate fittings on separate occasions so escape routes are never left without cover overnight.

What paperwork do you receive?

A certificate on its own is of limited use if nobody can tell which fittings it covers. With every annual test we provide:

• an inspection and test certificate referencing BS 5266-1:2025;
• a schedule listing each fitting by location and type, whether it is maintained or non-maintained, and its result;
• a list of failures and observations with recommended actions;
• an updated logbook entry, so the monthly tests and the annual test sit in one record.

Keep the certificate with your fire risk assessment. Since October 2023, responsible persons must record the full assessment and share fire safety information with residents, and keeping servicing records in the same place makes it easy to show an enforcing authority that the precautions are being maintained.

What do our engineers find in London buildings?

The same faults turn up across very different buildings, and most are easy to fix once spotted.

• Converted Victorian houses: a single bulkhead at the top of the stairs and nothing at landing level, leaving the lower flights in darkness.
• Fittings on the wrong supply: emergency lights wired to a switched live, so they discharge whenever the hallway light is switched off and cannot detect a failure of the local lighting.
• Ageing fluorescent bulkheads: yellowed diffusers and batteries that last a fraction of their rated duration.
• Outdated signage: text-only exit signs instead of the running-man pictogram, or arrows pointing the wrong way after a layout change.
• Forgotten areas: basement bin stores, plant rooms and rear escape routes with no cover at all.
• Missing test key switches: meaning whole lighting circuits have to be isolated at the board for every monthly test, which makes routine testing harder than it needs to be.

What happens if fittings fail?

Failed fittings are listed on the certificate with the reason and a recommended action, and the responsible person should arrange repairs promptly, because the fire risk assessment relies on that lighting working. A system with failures cannot be relied on in an evacuation.

Common causes are exhausted batteries, failed lamps or LED drivers, and charging faults. On older fittings, replacing the whole unit with a modern LED fitting is often more practical than sourcing batteries for a discontinued model. Our emergency lighting installation service replaces fittings at £129 per fitting inc. VAT, and replacements are tested so your records show the system is complete again.

Where the test reveals obvious gaps in coverage, such as an unlit change of direction or a final exit with no fitting outside, we note them. Changes to the design should be agreed against your communal area fire risk assessment or the assessment for your premises.

How should you prepare for the test?

• Arrange access to every area with fittings, including plant rooms, bin stores, roof access and locked cupboards.
• Tell residents or staff that the lighting will be tested, so nobody is alarmed when the corridor lights go off and the emergency fittings come on.
• Find the logbook and previous certificate, and tell us where the test key switches are if you know.
• Avoid booking the test late in the day in buildings where people sleep.

Prices start at £59 inc. VAT for up to 3 fittings, £79 for up to 6 and £129 for up to 12. Send us your fitting count and building type to get a quote.