Landlord compliance

Emergency Lighting Certificate

Annual duration testing and certification of emergency lighting to BS 5266.

From £65 (inc VAT) Certificate issued same day 12-month workmanship guarantee

Book this service 07426 409342

Starting from

£65inc VAT

up to 3 emergency lights · inspection and certification

Full three-hour duration test, not a thirty-second flick

Coverage gaps reported, not just the fittings that already exist

Log book completed for you and left compliant on the day

Battery age recorded so replacement can be planned, not reacted to

Book online

Overview

What is a Emergency Lighting certificate?

Emergency lighting is the system that keeps escape routes visible when the normal supply fails. Each luminaire contains a battery designed to run it for a defined period — normally three hours — after a power loss. Testing verifies that every unit actually achieves that duration, because a battery that has silently degraded looks identical to one that works. We carry out the full annual duration test, inspect the coverage of the system, and issue the certificate and log-book entries required by BS 5266.

Why it matters

Why it's worth getting right

A fire that cuts the power leaves a communal staircase in complete darkness, and that is precisely the moment people need to find their way out. Emergency lighting batteries degrade continuously and invisibly from the day they are installed — the healthy green LED on the fitting confirms the unit is charging, not that it will stay lit for three hours. Duration testing is the only way to know, and it is the single most common failure we find in blocks that believed they were compliant.

Where emergency lighting is required

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires that emergency routes and exits requiring illumination are provided with emergency lighting of adequate intensity in case of failure of their normal lighting, and places the duty on the responsible person — the landlord, freeholder, managing agent or employer. BS 5266-1 sets the technical standard and the testing regime: a monthly short functional test of every luminaire, and a full-duration annual test in which each unit must remain adequately illuminated for its full rated period. Results must be recorded in a fire safety log book. For licensed HMOs, emergency lighting to communal areas and escape routes is routinely a condition of the licence.

Regulations & standards

The rules this work is carried out to

Every inspection we do is measured against a published standard — here are the ones that apply to this service.

RRO 2005

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Escape routes requiring illumination must have emergency lighting.

BS 5266-1

Emergency lighting — code of practice

Monthly functional test and annual full-duration test regime.

BS EN 1838

Lighting applications — emergency lighting

Minimum illuminance levels along escape routes and at open areas.

In detail

Understanding your Emergency Lighting

The technical detail behind the certificate — what gets checked, what the results mean, and the decisions that actually affect your property.

Maintained, non-maintained and sustained fittings

A non-maintained luminaire is dark in normal use and illuminates only when the supply fails — the usual choice for a residential communal corridor or staircase, since there is no reason to run it constantly. A maintained luminaire is lit all the time and simply continues on battery when the mains fails, which is what you need where people gather in a space that may be deliberately darkened, such as a cinema, bar or function room. A sustained fitting combines both, with separate lamps for mains and emergency operation. Getting the type right matters for compliance as well as running cost, and we identify the type of every fitting on your certificate.

Why the annual test has to run the full three hours

The monthly functional test only proves the fitting switches over to battery and lights up. It says nothing about how long it will stay lit — and a degraded battery will illuminate perfectly for thirty seconds before fading. The annual test therefore isolates the supply and leaves the system running for its full rated duration, normally three hours, with every luminaire checked at the end of the period rather than at the start. This is why the annual visit takes longer and why we schedule it deliberately: after the test the batteries need a full recharge cycle, so we do not carry it out immediately before a period when the building will be at its busiest.

Where luminaires are actually required

Coverage is not a matter of putting a light on each landing. BS 5266 requires illumination at every exit door, at each change of direction and each change of floor level, at every staircase so each flight receives direct light, at every intersection of corridors, near firefighting equipment and call points, outside each final exit, and in any lift car. Under-provision at these specific points is the most common design failure we find in converted buildings, where fittings were installed on landings but not at the changes of direction between them. Our inspection reports coverage gaps as well as testing the fittings that exist.

Self-testing systems and what they do not remove

Self-testing luminaires run their own functional and duration tests automatically and report faults via an indicator or a central panel, which substantially reduces the labour of routine testing. They do not, however, remove the requirement for a competent person to inspect the system, verify coverage remains adequate as the building changes, confirm the self-test regime is actually functioning, and record the results in the log book. We work with self-testing installations regularly and will interrogate the panel as part of the visit — but the certificate still depends on physical verification, not on the panel's own claim about itself.

Warning signs

Signs your emergency lighting needs attention

Any of these means the system should be checked now:

A charge indicator LED that is off, red, or flashing on any fitting

A luminaire that fails to illuminate during a monthly functional test

Fittings that light up but visibly dim within minutes of the supply being cut

Escape routes altered, extended or subdivided since the system was designed

No emergency lighting at a change of direction, staircase or final exit

No log book, or no record of a duration test within the last twelve months

Fittings obscured by new signage, storage, ducting or suspended ceilings

Batteries more than four years old, regardless of apparent condition

The risks

The consequences of an untested system

Emergency lighting failures are only discovered at the exact moment they matter:

!People evacuating a smoke-filled staircase in complete darkness

!Enforcement notices from the fire authority under the RRO 2005

!Unlimited fines and, in serious cases, imprisonment for the responsible person

!HMO or premises licence conditions breached, risking refusal or revocation

!Insurance claims challenged where no testing records exist

!Failed pre-purchase and pre-letting building surveys

!Batteries left degraded until whole-fitting replacement is the only option

The testing regime BS 5266 expects

There are two cycles and both must be recorded. Monthly, every luminaire is switched to battery briefly to confirm it illuminates, then restored — a short test the building manager can carry out. Annually, the full-duration test is carried out by a competent person, with every luminaire verified at the end of its rated period. Both go in the fire safety log book with dates, results and the identity of the person testing. Batteries typically need replacing every four to five years even where tests pass, and replacing them proactively is considerably cheaper than replacing whole luminaires that were allowed to fail. We can carry out your monthly regime alongside the annual certificate if you would rather not manage it in-house.

Why us

The benefits of booking your Emergency Lighting with us

Accredited, transparent and built around making compliance easy.

Full three-hour duration test, not a thirty-second flick

Coverage gaps reported, not just the fittings that already exist

Log book completed for you and left compliant on the day

Battery age recorded so replacement can be planned, not reacted to

Combined with fire alarm and FRA visits to save separate appointments

Same-day certificate ready for licensing and insurance

What's included

Everything covered in your Emergency Lighting

One all-inclusive price — here is exactly what the engineer does on site and what you receive afterwards.

Full annual duration test with every luminaire verified at the end of the period

Functional test and charge indicator check on each fitting

Coverage assessment against BS 5266 — exits, stairs, changes of direction

Fitting type and battery age recorded per luminaire

Fire safety log book completed and updated

Certificate emailed same day, licence- and insurer-ready

Quote for any failed luminaires or batteries identified

Pricing

Simple, all-inclusive pricing

The price you see is the price you pay — VAT included, with no hidden call-out fees. Your final price depends on the size of your property; we'll confirm an exact, all-inclusive quote before we attend.

Emergency Lighting from

£65inc VAT

up to 3 emergency lights · inspection and certification

Get my exact price

All prices include VAT · 12-month workmanship guarantee

Emergency lighting pricing — residential

Number of emergency lights	Price (inc VAT)
Up to 3 emergency lights	£65.00
3–6 emergency lights	£100.00
6–9 emergency lights	£135.00
9–12 emergency lights	£170.00
12–15 emergency lights	£205.00
15–18 emergency lights	£240.00
18–21 emergency lights	£275.00

All prices include VAT, the full duration test and your log book entries. More than 21 fittings? We quote per site — send us the count and we will confirm the same day.

Prices are all-inclusive of VAT with no hidden call-out fees. Where they genuinely apply, parking (£5) and the London Congestion Charge (£18) are passed on at cost and always shown up front.

The process

How your appointment works

Simple, transparent and designed around you and your tenants.

Step 1

Survey the system

We count and identify every luminaire, note its type, and check coverage against BS 5266 requirements.

Step 2

Functional check

Charge indicators and switch-over are verified on every fitting before the duration test begins.

Step 3

Full duration test

Supply is isolated and the system runs for its full rated period, with each luminaire verified at the end — not the start.

Step 4

Certify and log

Your certificate is issued the same day, the fire safety log book is completed, and any failures are quoted for replacement.

FAQs

Emergency Lighting — frequently asked questions

BS 5266-1 requires a short functional test every month and a full-duration test annually. The monthly test can be done by a building manager; the annual duration test and certificate should be carried out by a competent person.

Because the standard requires each luminaire to remain adequately illuminated for its full rated duration, normally three hours. A degraded battery lights up perfectly for the first minute — only a full-duration test reveals it. Each fitting is checked at the end of the period.

Most licensed HMOs in London do, particularly where there are shared escape routes, internal staircases or corridors without natural light. The specific requirement comes from your fire risk assessment and your borough's licensing conditions — we can advise on both.

No. The green indicator confirms the battery is receiving charge. It says nothing about whether that battery still holds enough capacity to run the fitting for three hours. This is the single most common misunderstanding we encounter, and degraded batteries with healthy green LEDs are the most common failure we find.

Typically four to five years, though this shortens in warm locations such as a boiler room or a top-floor landing. Replacing batteries proactively at four years is significantly cheaper than replacing whole luminaires that have been allowed to fail.

Book now

Book your Emergency Lighting today

Fill in the form and we'll confirm your appointment and an all-inclusive price, usually within the hour. Prefer to talk? Call us and we'll book you in within two minutes.

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07426 409342

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