Commercial emergency lighting

Commercial buildings must have adequate emergency lighting to ensure the people inside can exit the building promptly and safely in the event of an emergency. Paradigm Electrical Solutions offer bespoke emergency lighting design and installation for commercial properties in Aylesbury.  

Emergency lighting is an umbrella term for a lighting system to illuminate when normal lighting supply fails. This may be caused by a power cut, fire, or other unforeseen circumstance. Emergency lighting then becomes the hero and illuminates escape routes and exits for people to see if the emergency requires them to leave the premises. BS 5266 1 is a code of practice set out by The British Standard, which gives detailed guidance on the design and installation of emergency lighting for commercial buildings.  

How much light? 

BS 5226 does recommend specific light levels are met to ensure optimal safety. Our electricians here at Paradigm in Aylesbury we have the knowledge to meet these standards and recommend the most suitable lighting specific to your property. 

Fire exits & escapes 

The regulatory reform (fire safety) order 2005 states that any non-domestic property must have a fire risk assessment carried out by a responsible person. This assessment must eliminate any risk of fire and highlight persons at risk during the event of an emergency. This includes emergency lighting to ensure safe exit of the property.  

Where is emergency lighting most needed? 

• Escape route lighting: Lighting is needed to illuminate routes that lead to fire escapes and emergency exits. This also includes signage for all exits and routes. This will ensure everyone within the property has the ability to see all nearest escape routes and exits to leave safely and calmly in the event of no power in an emergency.  
• Open area emergency lighting: This specific type of lighting sometimes known as ‘anti-panic’ lighting helps people to clearly see all available exits in a large open area, like a warehouse for example. This ensures everyone remains calm and heads to their nearest exit helping to limit overcrowding. Open area emergency lighting is crucial in limiting injuries when a large amount of people need to exit the premises the same time.
• High risk area lighting: This type of lighting is used to ensure workspaces are well lit so the relevant people can shut down equipment that’s high risk during an emergency.
• Other areas that need to be well lit include intersection corridors, outside final exits and external escape routes, stairways, and lifts. Another thing to ensure is that all fire alarms are well lit to ensure people can activate these efficiently in the event of a fire. Failure to have these emergency lighting systems in place could result in injury or worse loss of life during the need of evacuation. As a commercial property owner, it is your responsibility to ensure your building is easy and safe to exit at all times.  

Light duration  

Depending on the size of the property will determine how long the emergency lighting systems needs be operating. The minimum duration for emergency lighting is 1 hour. For most cases this will be plenty of time for everyone to evacuate the building safely. However, places like hotels where evacuation may not be immediate are required to have at least 3 hours. 

Emergency lighting installers in Aylesbury 

Paradigm Electrical Solutions are your local emergency lighting installers covering areas in and around Aylesbury. We can install, test, and maintain all types of emergency lighting for commercial properties. If you would like more information, please contact us today on 01296 320556.