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Are the present regulations regarding emergency lighting fit for purpose ?

broadgage

I refer here not primarily to the design and construction of individual products, but to the system design in large modern buildings with automated lighting controls.

I am aware of several cases in which an automatic control system has "accidentally" turned out every light in a large area, leaving the occupants in darkness. This sort of failure does not seem to be addressed by current practice.

In general, it seems to me that most emergency lighting systems light the emergency lights on failure of the mains electricity supply, but do not operate if the mains supply be present, but a defective or misapplied control system turns the lights out during hours of occupation.

It seems to me that the regulations need updating to include something like

"The emergency lights shall operate in case of failure of the electricity supply, AND SHALL ALSO ENSURE THAT THE MINIMUM LIGHTING LEVELS ARE PROVIDED IN THE EVENT OF FAULT, FAILURE, OR MIS-APPLICATION OF ANY AUTOMATIC OR REMOTE CONTROL OF THE LIGHTING SYSTEM" (There is no need to protect against mal-operation of local and manually operated  conventional light switches that DIRECTLY CONTROL the ordinary lighting)

Parents

  • The lights going out in a meeting room or toilet when a PIR times out can be inconvenient, but  unlikely to be dangerous except in rare circumstances.

    My concerns refer to much larger areas such an interior fire escape stairway in a multi storey office building, or an entire floor of a large office, or a large open plan sales area in a department store.

    In my view this needs to be addressed by changes in regulations, or at least new guidance on the interpretation and application of existing regulations. Despite the energy cost, I would consider maintained emergency lights that are always lit to be the best solution.

    An acceptable and energy saving alternative MIGHT BE for these lights to include a presence detector that remains "on" for at least 60 minutes after the last activation. Any such presence detector MUST BE SELF CONTAINED and only applicable to the single light that it controls. Nothing involving signals or data links to any other system is acceptable since that is where the problems start.

Reply

  • The lights going out in a meeting room or toilet when a PIR times out can be inconvenient, but  unlikely to be dangerous except in rare circumstances.

    My concerns refer to much larger areas such an interior fire escape stairway in a multi storey office building, or an entire floor of a large office, or a large open plan sales area in a department store.

    In my view this needs to be addressed by changes in regulations, or at least new guidance on the interpretation and application of existing regulations. Despite the energy cost, I would consider maintained emergency lights that are always lit to be the best solution.

    An acceptable and energy saving alternative MIGHT BE for these lights to include a presence detector that remains "on" for at least 60 minutes after the last activation. Any such presence detector MUST BE SELF CONTAINED and only applicable to the single light that it controls. Nothing involving signals or data links to any other system is acceptable since that is where the problems start.

Children
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