Emergency lighting is legally required in London premises where it is necessary to allow people to escape safely if normal lighting fails. For premises covered by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, emergency routes and exits that require illumination must have adequate emergency lighting if their normal lighting fails. The exact system should be determined from the fire risk assessment, building use and escape-route layout.
The law, Building Regulations guidance and British Standards have different roles. The Fire Safety Order creates legal fire-safety duties for relevant premises in England. Approved Document B provides statutory guidance for building work, while standards such as BS 5266-1:2025 provide the technical framework used to design, install and manage suitable emergency lighting. A British Standard is not, by itself, the legislation creating the duty.
Key Takeaways
- Emergency lighting is risk-based rather than automatically required in exactly the same form in every building.
- Article 14 of the Fire Safety Order requires adequate emergency lighting where emergency routes and exits need illumination and normal lighting fails.
- London falls under the England fire-safety and Building Regulations framework.
- BS 5266-1:2025 is the current UK code of practice for emergency lighting of premises, replacing the 2016 edition.
- Installation is only part of compliance: systems that form part of required fire precautions also need suitable maintenance, testing and records.
What does the Fire Safety Order require?
The main legal framework for workplace and non-domestic fire safety in London is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Article 14 deals with emergency routes and exits. Where those routes and exits require illumination, the Order requires emergency lighting of adequate intensity if their normal lighting fails.
That does not create a simple rule saying every property needs the same number or type of emergency luminaires. The responsible person must carry out and keep under review a fire risk assessment, then provide the fire precautions necessary for the actual premises and people at risk.
GOV.UK guidance explains that internal escape routes without windows, premises used during darkness and larger or more complex buildings are situations where backup emergency escape lighting is likely to be needed. In some small, simple premises, dependable borrowed light may be sufficient.
Legal requirement does not mean one standard layout for every building. The escape routes, building layout, normal lighting, occupancy and findings of the fire risk assessment determine what emergency lighting is necessary.
Which London premises are covered?
The Fire Safety Order applies broadly to workplaces and other non-domestic premises. It also applies to the common parts of buildings containing two or more domestic premises, including areas such as communal corridors and stairways. Individual private flats themselves generally fall outside the Order's normal scope.
Relevant premises can therefore include offices, shops, workplaces, public-access buildings, HMOs and the common parts of blocks of flats. The precise precautions are still determined by risk rather than simply by the building's label.
Landlord responsibility can become more complicated in residential blocks because the person controlling the common parts may be a freeholder, management company or managing agent. The separate guide on
emergency lighting responsibilities for landlords
covers that property-specific question in more detail.
Who is legally responsible for emergency lighting?
Under the Fire Safety Order, duties fall on the responsible person. Depending on the premises, this can include an employer, owner, landlord, occupier or another person or organisation with control of the premises. Shared buildings can have more than one responsible person, in which case they need to co-operate and co-ordinate their fire-safety arrangements.
The practical responsibilities include:
- carrying out and regularly reviewing the fire risk assessment;
- identifying whether emergency escape lighting is necessary;
- providing appropriate fire-safety measures;
- keeping required fire-safety systems properly maintained;
- reviewing arrangements when the building, layout or use changes.
An electrician can assess and install the electrical system, but the responsible person retains responsibility for making sure the building's overall fire precautions are appropriate.
How do Building Regulations apply to emergency lighting?
Building Regulations are particularly relevant to new buildings, extensions, material alterations and other building work. In England, Approved Document B provides statutory guidance on meeting fire-safety requirements under the Building Regulations.
Approved Document B includes provisions for artificial and escape lighting on escape routes and refers to BS 5266-1 for emergency lighting. Its role is different from the Fire Safety Order: Building Regulations primarily address the design and construction or alteration of a building, while the Fire Safety Order governs ongoing fire-safety management in occupied premises within its scope.
The GOV.UK Approved Document B page currently contains collated editions that also show future amendments. For building work, the edition and provisions applicable to the project's actual date should therefore be checked rather than assuming every future amendment shown in a collated document is already in force.
Which emergency lighting standards are current in 2026?
Emergency lighting standards have changed materially since many older systems and online guides were produced. BS 5266-1:2025 is now the current UK code of practice, having been published on 29 October 2025 as a full revision of BS 5266-1:2016.
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These standards work together, but they should not be described as if each were a separate Act of Parliament. They provide recognised technical requirements and guidance for achieving an appropriate emergency lighting system where the legal or building-safety framework requires one.
Where should emergency lighting be installed?
The locations should follow the building's actual escape strategy and fire risk assessment. GOV.UK fire-safety guidance identifies a number of areas that commonly need to remain visible and usable when normal lighting is lost.
Depending on the premises, these can include:
- exit doors and escape routes;
- corridors and corridor intersections;
- stairways and changes in floor level;
- final exits and relevant external escape routes;
- emergency escape signs;
- fire alarm call points and firefighting equipment where they need illumination;
- windowless areas or other spaces identified by the risk assessment.
This does not mean a separate luminaire is required beside every individual item. The system should provide the necessary overall illumination and visibility for the relevant escape route and safety equipment.
For a new installation, an
emergency lighting assessment
can establish the building layout, escape routes and existing electrical arrangements before fittings and circuits are planned.
What must be considered when the system is installed?
A compliant installation is more than fitting battery-backed lights at convenient positions. The design needs to consider the areas that require illumination, the failure of the normal lighting supply, suitable emergency luminaires, electrical supplies, wiring arrangements and the way the system will be verified and maintained.
BS EN 50172:2024 specifically addresses emergency escape lighting installation, initial verification, operation, maintenance documentation and testing. BS EN 1838:2024 deals with the lighting performance that the system must achieve, while BS 5266-1:2025 provides the wider UK code-of-practice framework.
Existing emergency lighting should also be reviewed after significant refurbishment or layout changes. Moving partitions, changing escape routes or altering the use of an area can mean that the original luminaire positions no longer match the current fire-safety strategy.
Does emergency lighting have to be tested and maintained?
Yes, where emergency lighting is a necessary fire-safety measure, installation alone is not enough. Article 17 of the Fire Safety Order requires relevant fire-safety facilities, equipment and devices to be subject to a suitable system of maintenance and kept in an efficient state, efficient working order and good repair where necessary.
GOV.UK fire-risk-assessment guidance includes routine checks of emergency lighting and a programme of periodic testing and maintenance. The detailed frequency and test procedure is a separate subject, so our guide to
how often emergency lights must be tested
covers that schedule in more depth.
Records are also useful for demonstrating that the system is being managed rather than simply installed and forgotten. Current BS EN 50172:2024 places particular emphasis on verification, system operation, testing and maintenance documentation.
What should a London responsible person check?
If you manage a workplace, commercial building, HMO or communal residential area, begin with the fire risk assessment rather than selecting fittings first. The assessment should establish where people need to escape, what happens if normal lighting fails and which areas need emergency illumination.
A practical review should confirm:
- which parts of the premises fall within your responsibility;
- the escape routes and final exits people will use;
- whether those routes remain adequately illuminated if normal lighting fails;
- whether the existing system matches the current building layout;
- whether the installation reflects the current technical standards;
- whether testing, maintenance and records are being kept up to date;
- whether recent alterations have changed the fire risk or escape strategy.
Where the requirement or existing coverage is uncertain, the safer approach is to have the premises and emergency lighting arrangements assessed against the current fire risk assessment and relevant standards rather than relying on the age or appearance of the existing fittings.
References & Standards
Current official and standards sources used for the legal and technical framework in this guide: