The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (2005) and health and safety legislation state that it is a legal requirement for all commercial properties to be a safe environment at all times, even when the mains fail. Emergency lighting is required to operate fully automatically and give illumination of a sufficiently high level to enable all occupants to evacuate the premises safely, to provide guidance to the most effective exit by using safety signs that are visible at every stage of the escape route and to illuminate the route to ensure rapid egress avoiding obstacles.
Failure to comply not only risks lives, it also raises the possibility of prosecution and can invalidate
insurance policies
Extract from BS 5266-8:2004 (BS EN 50172:2004) 7.1 Servicing and testing:
"Regular servicing is essential. The occupier/owner of the premises shall appoint a competent
person to supervise servicing of the system. This person shall be given sufficient authority to ensure the carrying out of any work necessary to maintain the system in correct operation"
BS5266 & EN50172 set out the minimum requirements relating to in-service testing, maintenance and records. It is a requirement that all records are available for inspection identifying the following tests:
Users need to be made aware of their responsibility to ensure that user tests are carried out in accordance with BS 5266-1:2016