This informal CPD article, ‘What the Latest Emergency Lighting Standard Means for Your Projects’, was provided by Ansell Lighting, who design and manufacture high quality luminaries for the commercial, domestic, industrial and architectural markets.
Emergency lighting requirements in the UK have undergone their most significant revision in years, with sweeping updates to BS 5266-1 (1) taking effect at the end of 2025. This article talks through what has changed and what those changes mean in practice.
Why the Standard Needed Updating
BS 5266-1 is the code of practice that governs how emergency lighting systems should be designed, installed and maintained. The revised 2025 edition has been shaped by three main drivers: the need to reflect how modern buildings are actually used, the desire to keep pace with advancing technology, and the requirement to bring the standard into closer alignment with current European requirements. The result is a more thorough, more consistent framework that raises the bar for safety and compliance across the board.
Who and What It Covers
The updated standard applies to the vast majority of non-domestic premises, as well as communal areas within buildings containing multiple occupancies. This includes commercial and industrial workplaces, hospitals and other healthcare facilities, schools and universities, hotels and restaurants, and shared spaces within residential developments. In short, if you are working on almost any building that members of the public or employees occupy, BS 5266-1:2025 is relevant to you.
A Broader Scope Than Before
While ensuring safe evacuation when normal lighting fails remains the primary purpose of the standard, the 2025 revision has considerably widened its scope. Emergency escape lighting is still central, but the updated code now formally encompasses both local area lighting and standby lighting as well.
Local area lighting is recommended to protect occupants who remain in a building following a power failure, ensuring that specific tasks can be carried out safely without normal lighting available. Standby lighting, meanwhile, is intended to allow routine activities to continue when the main power supply is lost — recognising that not every power failure requires a full evacuation, and that life must go on safely in the meantime.
Greater Resilience in High-Risk Areas
One of the more notable practical changes relates to the wiring of emergency luminaires in high-risk locations. The revised standard advises that in these areas, fittings should be supplied from a minimum of two separate circuits, with no single circuit fault affecting more than 20 luminaires. This requirement significantly improves the resilience of systems in the locations where robust emergency lighting is most critical.
Updated Performance Requirements
Performance expectations have been tightened across a range of specific locations, with updated illuminance requirements now applying to spaces including kitchens, first aid and treatment rooms, waiting areas, plant rooms, fire panel locations, receptions and swimming pools.
On escape routes, the standard specifies a minimum of 1 lux horizontal illumination at floor level. Battery performance expectations have also been formalised, with a minimum expected lifespan of four years now set for self-contained batteries, which should be monitored by automatic testing systems. Automatic testing itself receives enhanced guidance throughout the document, reinforcing its role in ensuring ongoing reliability and compliance.
Photometric verification is now a requirement for all products, and formal testing of photometric performance and illuminance levels must take place every five years to confirm that systems continue to meet the original design specification.
Shutdown, Recommissioning and Documentation
The revised standard introduces clear procedures for managing emergency lighting systems during prolonged shutdowns, with specific guidance on protecting batteries from deep discharge during extended periods of inactivity. Equally, defined recommissioning procedures must be followed when systems are brought back into service to confirm full functionality has been restored.
From a documentation standpoint, handover requirements have been clarified and made more structured, with improved record layouts and stronger guidance on testing and commissioning paperwork. Model certificates are now included in the annexes to support more consistent record keeping across projects.
Risk Assessment Remains Central
Risk assessment continues to underpin the entire framework. The 2025 revision reinforces the requirement for a thorough risk assessment to form the foundation of any emergency lighting design, and introduces clearer definitions of responsibility for the designers, installers and building managers involved in a project.
Working Alongside Companion Standards
BS 5266-1:2025 is designed to be used alongside two related European standards: BS EN 50172:2024 (2), which covers illumination specification and system testing for emergency escape lighting, and BS EN 1838:2024 (3), which sets out brightness requirements for both emergency escape and standby lighting systems. Together, these three documents form a comprehensive and consistent framework for compliant emergency lighting across the UK and Europe.
The Bigger Picture
Taken as a whole, the changes introduced in BS 5266-1:2025 represent a meaningful step forward in how emergency lighting is specified, installed and maintained. The standard is clearer, more detailed and better suited to the realities of modern building use than its predecessor.
We hope this article was helpful. For more information from Ansell Lighting, please visit their CPD Member Directory page. Alternatively, you can go to the CPD Industry Hubs for more articles, courses and events relevant to your Continuing Professional Development requirements.
REFERENCES
1 - https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/emergency-lighting-emergency-lighting-of-premises-code-of-practice
2 - https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/emergency-escape-lighting-systems-1
3 - https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/lighting-applications-emergency-lighting-for-buildings
