Most organisations that run into trouble with emergency lighting have not ignored it altogether. They have fittings on the ceiling, a logbook somewhere and a rough idea that testing should happen. The problems come from the details: a test that is done but not recorded, a duration test that slips by a year, or a fault that is reset rather than repaired.
At William Hale, we design, install and maintain emergency lighting systems, and most buildings we are called to already have something installed. The issue is almost never the absence of fittings. It is that nobody can prove the fittings work, and the reason is usually one of a handful of avoidable testing mistakes.
This guide sets out ten of the most common emergency lighting testing compliance mistakes, why they happen and what to do instead.
Why Testing Mistakes Matter
Emergency lighting can save lives by helping people find safe passage out of a building during a fire or power cut when the main lighting has failed. It can only do that if it works on the day.
In England and Wales, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places duties on the responsible person for non-domestic premises. Where emergency lighting is required, it must be maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own fire safety legislation with equivalent duties.
Testing is how a responsible person shows that duty is being met. For many UK commercial premises, the obligations are constant: a compliant design, a commissioned installation, monthly function testing, an annual three-hour discharge and a logbook recording all of it. Each of the mistakes below weakens one part of that chain.
Mistake 1: Treating the Monthly Test as Proof of Duration
A monthly functional test briefly interrupts the normal supply and confirms that emergency lights and exit signs come on. It proves a fitting responds. It does not prove the battery can last.
Batteries lose capacity as they age, so a fitting can pass every monthly test and still fail before the end of a three-hour discharge. Organisations that rely on monthly tests alone can go for long periods believing everything is fine when the backup duration has quietly fallen away.
How to Avoid It
Make sure a full-duration test takes place at least annually for many premises, running the system on its backup supply for its full rated duration. That is three hours for many installations, but the correct duration should be confirmed from the system design. Our guide to how often emergency lighting should be tested explains the usual intervals.
Mistake 2: Relying on Someone Remembering
Monthly checks are easy to miss. When the routine depends on one person remembering a key switch in a cupboard, holidays, staff changes and busy periods all lead to gaps. A few missed months soon become a habit.
Missing several months of testing significantly increases the likelihood that hidden faults remain undetected.
How to Avoid It
Put monthly test dates and the annual duration test into a shared calendar, with backup cover for holidays and absence. Where tests keep getting missed, we recommend self-test fittings or a scheduled service visit, so the routine no longer depends on goodwill.
It also helps to name a specific person and a deputy for each monthly test, so the task belongs to someone rather than to the building in general. If the deputy is never needed, nothing is lost. If the main person is away, the test still happens.
Mistake 3: Testing Without Recording
A test that is not written down is very difficult to prove. Some organisations carry out monthly tests conscientiously but only record failures, or keep notes on loose sheets that get lost.
When records are missing, it becomes difficult to show that the emergency lighting has been maintained, even if the work genuinely took place. During a fire risk assessment, assessors will often request the logbook, monthly test records and annual duration test reports.
How to Avoid It
Record every test, including those where nothing is wrong. A test entry should show the date, the type of test, the fittings or areas covered and the results. Annual duration test reports should go further, noting the test duration, battery performance, light output, failed fittings, charging issues and engineer recommendations. Keep annual reports, certificates and repair records with the logbook, and store digital copies securely as a backup. Our guide to emergency lighting testing certificates explains what paperwork you should expect after each type of test.
Mistake 4: Testing Without Looking
Testing answers the question “does it work?”. It does not tell you whether the light is in the right place, whether an exit sign is blocked or whether a new partition has left part of a room without coverage.
A fitting in a corridor might pass every monthly and annual test while the corridor beyond a new partition has no emergency lighting at all. Testing would never find that.
How to Avoid It
Combine every monthly test with a walk-round looking for damaged, loose or missing fittings, cracked covers, fault indicators, obstructions and exit signs that are blocked or pointing the wrong way. Arrange a more detailed periodic inspection of condition, coverage and records, often alongside annual testing. Our article on emergency lighting inspection vs testing explains why you need both.
The logbook deserves a look too. Missing monthly tests, unresolved faults and repeated failures in the same location are all signs that the testing programme needs attention, and they are much easier to spot if someone reviews the records periodically rather than only adding to them.
Mistake 5: Poorly Timed Duration Tests
A full-duration test leaves emergency lighting below full capacity while the batteries recharge afterwards. Running the test across the whole building just before it is occupied, or without allowing recharge time, can leave escape routes with reduced protection.
How to Avoid It
Plan duration tests around the way the building is used and allow time for batteries to recharge. Testing large sites in sections helps, so not every area is discharged at the same time. We phase work and carry it out in evenings, weekends or agreed windows where the building demands it.
Mistake 6: Resetting a Fault Instead of Fixing It
When a fitting fails, there can be a temptation to clear the warning, see that the light comes on and move on. The underlying cause, whether a battery, a lamp, a charging fault or a connection problem, remains in place and the fitting fails again.
Small faults also tend to grow. A light that occasionally flickers or an indicator that no longer illuminates can point to battery deterioration, charging circuit faults, internal electrical failures, moisture ingress or ageing components.
How to Avoid It
Follow a clear process every time:
- Record the fault and its exact location.
- Assess its effect on safe evacuation.
- Put temporary precautions in place if an important route is affected.
- Have a competent engineer repair the underlying cause.
- Retest the fitting and record the result.
Our guide to what happens if emergency lighting fails an inspection covers this process in more detail.
Mistake 7: Unclear Responsibility for Testing
In shared or multi-let buildings, responsibility for emergency lighting can easily fall between landlord, tenant and managing agent. Each may assume one of the others is arranging the tests. A lease or maintenance contract may allocate testing to a particular party, but if nobody has checked, gaps appear.
Another common assumption is that appointing a contractor transfers the duty entirely. It does not. Appointing a contractor does not automatically remove the responsible person’s own duties.
How to Avoid It
Write down who carries out routine checks, who reviews records and who arranges specialist work. When we hand over a commercial installation, we agree the testing regime at handover so responsibility never falls into a gap between landlord, tenant and managing agent. Our guide to emergency lighting testing regulations in the UK explains the role of the responsible person.
Mistake 8: Not Reviewing Coverage After Building Changes
Buildings change constantly. Open-plan offices are divided into meeting rooms. Retail refits move partitions and displays. Warehouses add racking or mezzanines. Extensions add new escape routes. Monthly and annual tests carry on as before, but they only test the fittings that exist, not the ones that should now be there.
Racking is a particular problem. It casts long shadows, so spacing calculated for an empty floor will not deliver the required illuminance once the building is stocked.
How to Avoid It
Review the emergency lighting after every significant alteration, change of layout or change of use. Better still, consider emergency lighting as part of the refurbishment rather than after the work is finished. Check that the system still covers every point of emphasis, including stair flights, changes of level, corridor junctions, changes of direction, fire alarm call points, firefighting equipment and final exits.
Mistake 9: Assuming Self-Test Fittings Do Everything
Self-test fittings are a sensible answer to missed monthly checks. They can automate routine testing and simplify record keeping, especially in larger buildings with many luminaires. But they do not remove the need for a maintenance programme.
Automatic test results still need reviewing. Faults still need repairing. Coverage still needs checking against the building as it is now. A system that tests itself but whose results nobody reads is not much better than one that is never tested.
How to Avoid It
Assign someone to review self-test results regularly and act on any faults reported. Continue with visual checks and periodic inspection, and keep competent support in place for repairs and duration testing.
Mistake 10: Using the Wrong People for the Work
Appropriately instructed staff can usually carry out monthly functional tests and routine visual checks where the installation allows it. Problems arise when staff are expected to diagnose faults or carry out electrical repairs, or when testing is handed to a contractor without specific emergency lighting experience.
Emergency lighting is a narrower discipline than general electrical contracting. It involves duration testing, battery behaviour and an understanding of why a fitting that looks lit may still fail a discharge.
How to Avoid It
Make sure staff who carry out monthly tests know how to use the test facility, what a fault looks like and how to record and report it. Leave annual duration tests, detailed inspections, fault diagnosis and repairs to suitably competent personnel.
A Quick Testing Health Check
If you want a fast way to see whether any of these mistakes apply to your building, ask yourself:
- Has every monthly test in the past year been recorded, including tests with no faults?
- When was the last full-duration test, and was the report kept?
- Are faults recorded, repaired at source and retested?
- Is it written down who is responsible for each part of the testing regime?
- Has the emergency lighting been reviewed since the last layout change?
- If you use self-test fittings, is someone reviewing the results?
- Do you have drawings and a commissioning certificate for the system?
Any “no” or “not sure” points to a gap worth closing before an inspection or fire risk assessment finds it for you. Our emergency lighting compliance checklist takes this further.
Inherited Systems: Starting From Scratch
Several of these mistakes are hard to fix if you have taken over a building with no drawings or records. In that case, the first step is to establish what is there.
Where a previous contractor left no drawing, we survey the building, plot every existing luminaire, identify the gaps against the current standard and issue a schedule showing what needs to be added and what can be retained. Nothing is condemned wholesale to justify a bigger order. Testing the existing fittings at the same stage gives a clear picture of what works today and a baseline for the records that follow.
How William Hale Helps Businesses Avoid These Mistakes
Our emergency lighting service covers design, installation and maintenance, using up-to-date technology and products from industry-leading manufacturers. Commissioning on our installations includes a full three-hour discharge, a check that every unit recharges correctly and the issue of an emergency lighting certificate.
Our engineers are qualified, insured and experienced in life safety installation specifically. Our service maintenance packages include our Emergency 24/7 Call Out Service as standard for emergency lighting systems we install, and we can take over the service maintenance of existing systems. For urgent faults, our out of hours call out service has a dedicated manned line and a four-hour response time.
William Hale Fire & Security is an SSAIB certified company, founded in early 2013 and based in Swindon. As we often put it, a system is only as good as the evidence supporting it, so testing and records should always arrive together.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common emergency lighting testing mistake?
Missing or unrecorded monthly tests are among the most common problems we see, often because the routine depends on someone remembering a key switch.
Is a monthly flick test enough?
No. A monthly functional test shows that a fitting responds, but only a full-duration test shows whether its battery can last for the rated period.
Do I need to record tests where nothing failed?
Yes. Every test should be recorded, including those where no faults were found, so you can show the testing regime has been followed.
What should happen when a fitting fails its duration test?
The failure should be recorded with its location, the risk to safe evacuation assessed and the cause repaired by a competent engineer. The fitting should then be retested and the result logged.
Can my staff carry out emergency lighting tests?
Appropriately instructed staff can usually carry out monthly functional tests where the installation allows it. Duration tests, fault diagnosis and repairs should be left to a competent specialist.
Do self-test fittings make my system compliant automatically?
No. They can automate routine testing, but results still need reviewing, faults still need repairing and the system still needs periodic review.
Get Your Testing Regime Right
Most emergency lighting testing mistakes are simple to avoid once you know where to look. Test monthly and annually, record everything, inspect as well as test, fix faults properly, be clear about responsibility and review the system whenever the building changes.
If you would like help setting up a reliable testing regime or taking over an existing system, contact William Hale Fire & Security to speak with our surveyor or arrange a free consultation and site survey.