Emergency Lighting Standards Update

A standard governing emergency lighting in commercial buildings across England changed on 31 October 2025. Most facilities managers have not been told. And most maintenance contracts have not been updated. If your contractor hasn't flagged it, we have. This article covers what changed and what it means for your site.

What is BS 5266-1 and why does the 2025 edition matter?

BS 5266-1:2025 is the UK code of practice for emergency lighting in commercial premises. It covers how emergency lighting systems should be designed, installed, tested and maintained. The 2025 edition supersedes BS 5266-1:2016, which is now withdrawn.

Before we go further: BS 5266-1 is not legislation. It is a code of practice. Your legal duties come from the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the FSO). Article 14 requires adequate emergency lighting for escape routes. Article 17 requires systems to be maintained. BS 5266-1 is the accepted way to show you're meeting those duties. If you can't demonstrate compliance with the current standard, your Article 14 and 17 position is harder to defend.

This is an informational overview, not legal advice - your fire risk assessment and a competent fire safety professional should determine your exact obligations.

The scale of non-compliance across commercial premises is significant. Home Office statistics (year ending March 2025) show that 42% of fire safety audits in England did not achieve a satisfactory outcome. Article 14 - covering emergency routes and exits, including emergency lighting - was the most breached FSO provision, with 10,323 recorded breaches. In the same period, 2,972 formal notices were issued under the FSO - a 29% rise on five years ago. All figures: Home Office fire safety enforcement data, year ending March 2025.

Regulators are more active. The standard has changed. If your building is still being maintained against the 2016 edition, you have a gap to close.

The four changes that affect your building

The 2025 edition brings four changes that directly affect the buildings we maintain and inspect.

1. Full-width escape route illumination

The 2016 edition focused on centreline illumination - lighting measured at the centre of an escape route. BS 5266-1:2025, updated to align with BS EN 1838:2024, requires at least 1 lux of illuminance across the full width of the escape route floor. The standard now treats escape route illumination as a floor-width requirement, not just a centreline measurement. Edges and corners of corridors must be adequately lit, not just the middle.

If your emergency lighting layout was designed before 2025, there may be gaps at route edges that would not pass a photometric check today. You won't know without measuring it.

2. Five-year photometric verification

This is the most significant new requirement in the 2025 edition. Photometric verification - a calibrated lux-metre survey of actual light output across escape routes - is now required at commissioning and at intervals not exceeding five years thereafter. This requirement did not exist in the 2016 edition (BSI / ECA, 2025).

If your building was maintained under the 2016 standard, this check has never been done. The five-year clock starts at first verification - and most buildings haven't started it yet.

We carry this out as part of our maintenance service. Calibrated equipment, logged results, lux levels measured at floor level across every escape route - everything documented. If you want to know whether your site's photometric verification is overdue, call us on 0121 271 0149.

3. Expanded scope

The 2025 edition formally brings local area lighting and standby lighting within scope. If your building has standby lighting - lighting that operates during a power failure but is not designated as the escape route system - it may now fall within BS 5266-1:2025 for the first time.

4. Circuit integrity in high-risk areas

The 2025 edition strengthens circuit design requirements in high-risk areas - plant rooms, kitchens, server rooms and high-bay warehouses. In these areas, wiring must now come from at least two separate circuits. No single circuit fault should affect more than 20 luminaires (individual emergency light fittings). This sits at the boundary of BS 5266-1 and BS 7671 (the IET Wiring Regulations - the UK standard for electrical installations).

Buildings wired under the 2016 standard may not have dual-circuit coverage in high-risk areas. That is an installation review, not just a maintenance visit. If you have a plant room, commercial kitchen or server room, it is worth checking.

Does your existing system still comply?

Most well-maintained systems will be broadly compliant with the 2025 edition. This is not a "rip it all out" situation. The areas most likely to need a fresh look are the four above - route edge illuminance, the photometric verification that has never been done, standby lighting that may now fall within scope and circuit integrity in high-risk areas.

The practical question is whether your maintenance contractor has the combined knowledge to review all four. Circuit integrity is an electrical installation issue. Photometric verification needs calibrated equipment and a competent person. These things overlap - and that overlap is where gaps appear between contractors.

We have written in detail about how we approach electrical and fire safety together. Our electrical services arm has 45+ years of experience in commercial installations and EICRs (electrical installation condition reports). Our fire team holds BAFE SP203-1 certification (registration 302490) for fire detection and alarm systems, and we are NSI Gold approved for security systems. All our fire engineers hold FIA Level 3 (fire alarm systems) - the formally examined qualification in fire alarm design, installation, commissioning and maintenance. Both questions go to the same team.

Documentation and the compliance risk you may be carrying

The 2025 edition tightens logbook requirements. Every test - monthly, annual and the new five-year photometric check - must be logged with its date, result and any remedial action. Fire authority inspectors check records. Missing documentation is an enforcement risk, whether or not the system itself is working.

We see this regularly when we take over a site. The lighting may be functioning, but the log is incomplete. Under Article 17 of the FSO, incomplete records can result in a formal notice even where no physical fault exists.

Hospitality is one of the most scrutinised sectors for emergency lighting compliance - and we maintain emergency lighting across more than 100 Amber Taverns venues nationwide. We know what compliant records look like and we produce them as a matter of course.

Where Electrical and Fire Safety overlap

The circuit integrity changes sit at the boundary of electrical installation (BS 7671) and emergency lighting design (BS 5266-1). That boundary is where things fall between contractors. The electrician says it is a fire system issue. The fire contractor says it is a wiring issue. Nothing gets resolved. We work across both - one survey covers the wiring and the emergency lighting system together, rather than one contractor passing the problem to another.

What to do if your system was last reviewed against the 2016 standard

Start with your testing log. Check when your last annual full-duration test (three hours on battery power) was carried out and whether monthly functional tests are consistently logged. Then check whether a photometric survey has ever been done. If the answer is "I'm not sure", that is where to start.

More detail on emergency lighting testing requirements is on our site, alongside our fire alarm maintenance service for premises that want one contractor across both.

If your emergency lighting was last reviewed against BS 5266-1:2016 - or older - a fresh look is straightforward. We maintain emergency lighting alongside fire alarms and fire extinguishers. One visit, one contact, everything documented. Our fire engineers hold FIA Level 3, our electrical team has 45+ years of commercial experience and we hold BAFE SP203-1 for fire alarms - so the compliance question and the wiring question go to the same people.

David Cox, Premises Manager at Four Stones Gateway Trust, describes working with us:
"MAC Security Systems have provided Fire Alarm System maintenance and monitoring to our school sites for many years. We find them to be reliable, professional and always responsive to our needs."

Not sure which standard your current maintenance is running to? Call our Stourbridge team on 0121 271 0149. There is no obligation and we'll tell you exactly what a review would involve.

Emergency Lighting: Frequently Asked Questions

When did BS 5266-1:2025 come into force?

BS 5266-1:2025 was published and came into effect on 31 October 2025, on which date BS 5266-1:2016 was formally withdrawn. From that point, the 2025 edition is the current code of practice against which compliant emergency lighting systems should be designed, installed and maintained. If your maintenance contract has not been updated to reference the 2025 edition, it is worth asking your contractor when that review will happen.

Is BS 5266-1 a legal requirement?

BS 5266-1 is a code of practice, not legislation - it does not carry the force of law by itself. Your legal duties come from the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005: Article 14 requires adequate emergency lighting on escape routes and Article 17 requires systems to be maintained. BS 5266-1 is the accepted way to demonstrate you are meeting those duties, so while the standard itself is not the law, departing from it makes your compliance position significantly harder to defend to a fire authority inspector or insurer.

What is a 5-year photometric verification and do I need one?

A photometric verification is a calibrated lux-metre survey that measures the actual illuminance levels at floor level across your escape routes - including at the edges and corners, not just the centreline. It checks that the light output of your installed fittings is genuinely adequate, accounting for ageing lamps and any layout changes since installation. Under BS 5266-1:2025 this is required at commissioning and at intervals not exceeding five years thereafter. If your building has never had one - which is likely if it was maintained under the 2016 edition - the five-year cycle has not started yet and this should be your first action.

How often does my emergency lighting need to be tested?

BS 5266-1 requires three levels of testing. Monthly, a brief functional check confirms that each lamp and battery is responding. Once a year, the system runs on battery power for the full rated duration - typically three hours - to confirm it can sustain illumination long enough to evacuate the building. Under the 2025 edition, a photometric survey is also required at commissioning and at intervals not exceeding five years, measuring actual lux levels at floor level across every escape route. All three must be logged with date, result and any remedial action; missing entries are an enforcement risk under Article 17 of the FSO even when the system itself is working.

Our system is well maintained - does the 2025 update mean we need to replace it?

Almost certainly not. Most well-maintained systems will be broadly compliant with the 2025 edition without wholesale replacement. The areas that may need attention are specific: route-edge illuminance levels (which require measurement to confirm), the photometric verification that has not previously been required, standby lighting that may now fall within scope and circuit integrity in any high-risk areas such as plant rooms or commercial kitchens. A targeted review against those four points will tell you what, if anything, needs to change - and in most cases, the work is modest.

Can MAC Security maintain our emergency lighting alongside our fire alarm?

Yes. We maintain emergency lighting, fire alarms and fire extinguishers and our electrical services team handles the installation-level work that sits under BS 7671 - including the circuit integrity requirements introduced in 2025. Our fire engineers hold FIA Level 3 and we hold BAFE SP203-1 for fire detection and alarm systems. One point of contact means the compliance question and the wiring question go to the same team, rather than falling between two contractors. If you would like to discuss your site, call us on 0121 271 0149.