Emergency lighting and decorative luminaires

At a glance

Coordination points, not design rules. The emergency lighting designer decides what is needed and where; the decorative scheme must not hide, replace or override it.

The standards and the law, and which edition

BS 5266-1:2025. BSI Knowledge lists BS 5266-1:2025, Emergency lighting: emergency lighting of premises, code of practice, as Current, published 29 October 2025, a full revision of the 2016 edition. BSI’s own article of 31 October 2025 says the 2025 revision extends the scope beyond emergency escape lighting to local area lighting and standby lighting, and aligns the code with changes to the European standards EN 1838 and EN 50172. BSI’s listing describes three purposes: helping people evacuate, protecting those who remain in the building, and supporting continued operations; it also gives recommendations for areas with fixed seating, and does not apply to private dwellings, though it does cover common access routes in blocks of flats and maisonettes.

BS EN 1838:2024. A standards-shop listing of the BSI edition gives BS EN 1838:2024, Lighting applications: emergency lighting for buildings, as the current edition, published 18 December 2024, superseding BS EN 1838:2013. It specifies the luminous requirements for emergency lighting systems, including adaptive emergency escape lighting, in premises the public or workers can enter. We did not read it, and give none of its levels. Our research notes warned that levels differ between editions, so quote them only from the edition your emergency lighting designer works to.

The legal duty. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 14(2)(h), emergency routes and exits requiring illumination must be provided with emergency lighting of adequate intensity in the case of failure of their normal lighting. The standards are how that is usually met. The gov.uk guide on fire safety risk assessment for sleeping accommodation (2023 edition, England) refers to BS 5266-1 and BS 5266-8 without naming editions, so check what your fire risk assessor works to.

Part L does not govern escape lighting. Approved Document L Volume 2, 2026 edition, defines emergency lighting as lighting for use when the power supply to the normal lighting fails, and escape lighting as the part of it that lights the escape route; its definition of fixed building services excludes emergency escape lighting. So the lighting energy rules in our sheet on Part L and decorative lighting are not the rules for the escape scheme.

Can decorative lighting count as emergency lighting?

The short answer. A decorative luminaire counts as emergency lighting only if the emergency lighting designer has designed it in as an emergency luminaire, with a supply that works when the normal one fails, and with test evidence. A chandelier or wall light on the normal supply and a dimmer goes out when the supply fails, so it cannot be relied on. The gov.uk guide says escape luminaires can be stand-alone units or built into normal light fittings, with highly decorative versions for areas that need them, and describes the power supply as an internal battery, a central battery bank or an automatic start generator. Whether a given decorative fitting can be made as one is a question for the maker and the emergency designer, not an assumption.

What the scheme adds around a feature fitting. The gov.uk guide lists the places an escape scheme usually covers: each exit door, escape routes, corridor intersections, outside final exits, escape signs, each flight of a stair, changes of floor level, windowless rooms and larger toilets, firefighting equipment, alarm call points, lifts and large halls. It adds that individual lights are not needed for each item, only enough overall light for them to be visible and usable. Around a feature chandelier in a lobby, that means the escape luminaires and signs are placed for the route, not for the chandelier, and the decorative scheme is a bonus on top.

Dimmed schemes. The drawing shows the idea in plan, conceptually: in normal mode the scene is low and the chandelier glows; when the supply fails the decorative scheme goes out and the escape luminaires and signs carry the route. The levels, spacing and duration are for the emergency designer. Do not let a lighting scene, a dimming preset or a time clock leave an escape luminaire unlit.

Testing. The gov.uk guide says systems should be regularly tested and maintained, and describes a daily visual check of central controls, a monthly function test, an annual full discharge test, and that batteries typically take 24 hours to recharge, so premises should not be re-occupied until the system is working unless alternative arrangements exist. Plan access to every emergency luminaire, including those inside decorative fittings.

Where the two schemes meet

The table sets out where the decorative scheme and the emergency scheme meet. It is a coordination list: who decides and what to ask. It does not design anything. Put the answers on the lighting schedule and the reflected ceiling plan, and record who signed them off.

Questions to put to the emergency lighting designer and fire engineer

1. Which luminaires on this route, in this lobby and on these stairs are the emergency luminaires, and are any of them the decorative fittings?
2. If a decorative fitting is to count, is it a made-for-purpose emergency version, on which supply (battery in the unit, central battery or generator), and what test evidence does the maker hold?
3. Is the emergency lighting independent of the lighting control and the dimmer scene, so that nothing in a scene can leave escape luminaires off or low?
4. Does any chandelier, pendant, screen, banner or ceiling feature hide an emergency luminaire or an exit sign from the route? Check on the reflected ceiling plan and again on site.
5. What does the room do when the supply returns: does the scene come back, and is a person needed to restart it?
6. Where are the test points, and who tests, records and repairs? How are decorative fittings reached for that work?
7. Who is told, and who signs off, when the layout or the fittings change after the design is approved?

The emergency lighting scheme is designed by [name, role] to [BS 5266-1:2025 and BS EN 1838:2024, or the edition the fire strategy names] and is shown on the drawings [ref]. The decorative lighting is not to be relied on for emergency or escape lighting except where listed on the emergency lighting schedule as an emergency luminaire. No decorative fitting, screen or ceiling feature is to hide an emergency luminaire or exit sign from the escape route.

Escape lighting is to operate independently of the lighting control system, scene presets, dimmers and time clocks [confirmed by the emergency lighting designer and the controls designer], and no scene is to leave an escape luminaire off or reduced. The behaviour of the decorative scheme when supply fails and when it returns is to be as agreed [scene on return: ].

Where a decorative fitting [tag] is to act as an emergency luminaire, the maker is to supply the emergency version, the type of supply [integral battery / central battery / generator], and test evidence to [standard, edition to be named by the designer]. Evidence to be listed in the handover pack.

Every emergency luminaire, including any inside a decorative fitting, is to be reachable for test, battery replacement and repair as shown on the access drawing. Any change to the position or type of a decorative fitting, screen or ceiling feature on an escape route is to be referred to [the emergency lighting designer] before it is made, and the test log kept by [operator].

Standards and sources

• BS 5266-1:2025 Emergency lighting of premises, code of practice: BSI Knowledge: Current, 29 Oct 2025, a full revision of the 2016 edition; text not read.
• BS EN 1838:2024 Lighting applications, emergency lighting for buildings: listing: current, 18 Dec 2024, supersedes 2013; text not read.
• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 14(2)(h): read 7 Nov 2026.
• Approved Document L Volume 2, 2026 edition, definitions: read 7 Nov 2026.
• gov.uk, Fire safety risk assessment: sleeping accommodation (2023): sections 3.4.4 and Part 2 section 5 read; England, existing premises.

Questions we are asked

Can decorative lighting be used as emergency lighting?

Only if the emergency lighting designer designs it in as an emergency luminaire, with a supply that works when the normal one fails and evidence that it has been tested. A chandelier or wall light on the normal supply and a dimmer goes out when the supply fails and cannot be relied on.

What is the current emergency lighting standard in the UK?

BSI lists BS 5266-1:2025 as current (published 29 October 2025, a full revision of the 2016 edition) and BS EN 1838:2024 as the current edition of the European lighting-requirements standard. Confirm the editions named in your fire strategy and by your designer.

What changed in BS 5266-1:2025?

BSI says the scope now extends beyond emergency escape lighting to local area lighting and standby lighting, and that the code is aligned with changes to EN 1838 and EN 50172. We have not read the standard, so ask your designer what has changed for your building.

Does a dimmed scene affect emergency lighting?

It should not. The escape lighting is designed to work independently of the lighting control, so no scene, preset or time clock may leave an escape luminaire off or reduced. Ask the emergency lighting designer to confirm.

Do the Part L lighting rules apply to emergency lights?

The 2026 Approved Document L Volume 2 definition of fixed building services excludes emergency escape lighting, so its lighting energy and controls rules are not the rules for the escape scheme. See our Part L sheet for the decorative scheme.

Who is responsible for testing emergency lighting?

The operator, through the fire safety arrangements under the Fire Safety Order. The gov.uk guide describes a monthly function test and an annual full discharge test, with a record. Plan access for any luminaire inside a decorative fitting.