Emergency Lighting Tests
The following minimum inspections and tests shall be carried out at the intervals recommended below. The regulating authority may require specific tests.
Daily emergency lighting inspection (only for central back-up systems)
This check only applies to emergency lighting systems with one central back-up battery system. In this case, there is a daily visual inspection of indicators on the central power supply to identify that the system is operational. No test of operation is required. This test does not apply to emergency lighting with self-contained back-up batteries in each unit (standard emergency lighting).
Monthly emergency lighting tests
All emergency lighting systems must be tested monthly. The test is a short functional test in accordance with BS EN 50172:2004 / BS 5266-8:2004.
The period of simulated failure should be sufficient for the purpose of this test while minimizing damage to the system components, e.g. lamps. During this period, all luminaries and signs shall be checked to ensure that they are present, clean and functioning correctly.
Annually
A test for the full rated duration of the emergency lights (e.g. 3 hours) must be carried out. The emergency lights must still be working at the end of this test.
The result must be recorded and, if failures are detected, these must be remedied as soon as possible.