Emergency Lighting Testing: Monthly and Annual Requirements Explained

The monthly function ('flick') test

• Use the test key switches (fishtail key) to cut mains to the emergency circuits briefly — seconds to a minute
• Walk the route: every emergency luminaire and every illuminated exit sign must light; note any dead, dim or flickering units
• Restore supply; confirm charge indicators (LEDs) return on maintained/non-maintained fittings
• Log it: date, who, failures found, actions — per BS 5266-8 record-keeping
• Choose a sensible time (out of hours or low occupancy) — and never leave circuits in test over a working day

The annual full-duration test

Once a year each fitting must prove its autonomy: powered from battery for the full rated duration (3 hours for most escape lighting; 1-hour systems exist in specific designs), still providing light at the end. Batteries that pass a one-minute flick routinely die at 90 minutes — the annual test is what finds them. Because the building is then unprotected while batteries recharge (up to 24 hours), schedule it when premises are empty, ideally with staggered circuits in occupied buildings like care settings. Failures (typically batteries 4+ years old, or whole fittings on legacy fluorescent stock) are replaced and re-tested; LED conversions usually pay for themselves in battery and lamp churn.

Self-testing systems and who does what

Self-testing luminaires run their own monthly/annual cycles and report by indicator or to a panel/cloud — they don't remove the duty, they change it to checking and recording the results and fixing what's flagged. Division of labour in most buildings: a trained caretaker/manager runs monthly flicks; an engineer (us) does the annual duration test, certification to BS 5266, battery/fitting remedials and the logbook entries insurers and fire officers ask to see. Emergency lighting failures are top-three findings in fire risk assessments — almost always 'nobody tested it', not exotic faults.