Choosing who tests your emergency lighting is a bigger decision than it first appears. The company you appoint will be responsible for proving that the lights guiding people out of your building actually work, and for producing the records you rely on when someone asks for evidence. Get the choice right and testing becomes a dependable routine. Get it wrong and problems can stay hidden until an inspection, or an emergency, exposes them.
At William Hale, we design, install and maintain emergency lighting systems, and we can take over the service maintenance of systems installed by others. We see the difference that a thorough, well-documented testing service makes, and the gaps that appear when the service is thin.
This guide explains how to choose an emergency lighting testing company: what the work should involve, the qualities to look for, the questions to ask and the warning signs to watch out for.
Why the Choice of Testing Company Matters
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 is a life safety system, not simply another electrical installation, and the quality of testing directly affects whether it will perform during a genuine emergency.
In England and Wales, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places duties on the responsible person to maintain fire safety measures, including emergency lighting where it is required, in efficient working order and in good repair. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own equivalent legislation.
Appointing a testing company helps you meet those duties, but it does not hand them over completely. Appointing a contractor does not automatically remove the responsible person’s own duties. That is exactly why the contractor you choose needs to be reliable, thorough and clear about what they are doing on your behalf.
What an Emergency Lighting Testing Company Should Do
Before comparing companies, it helps to be clear about the work involved. For many UK commercial premises, emergency lighting obligations include a compliant design, a commissioned installation, monthly function testing, an annual three-hour discharge and a logbook recording all of it.
A testing company’s role will usually include some or all of the following:
- Annual full-duration testing, running the system on its backup supply for its full rated duration.
- Monthly functional testing, or support for staff who carry out these tests in-house.
- Inspection of condition, coverage, signage and obstructions.
- Fault investigation, repair and retesting.
- Battery and component replacement as equipment ages.
- Clear records and reports after each visit.
Testing and inspection are different activities, and a good company should cover both. Our article on emergency lighting inspection vs testing explains why.
1. Look for Emergency Lighting Competence Specifically
Emergency lighting is a narrower discipline than general electrical contracting. It involves duration testing, battery chemistry and an understanding of why a fitting that looks lit may still fail a discharge. A company that understands these details will find problems that a general contractor might miss.
Ask about the company’s experience with emergency lighting in particular, and with premises like yours. Offices, retail units, warehouses and care settings all behave differently when the lights go out. In warehouses, for example, racking casts long shadows, so spacing designed for an empty floor may not deliver the required lighting once the building is stocked. A good testing company should recognise issues like this during inspection.
Our engineers are qualified, insured and experienced in life safety installation specifically.
2. Check Certification and Standards
Ask what certification the company holds and which standards its work follows. BS 5266-1, BS EN 1838 and BS EN 50172 are among the standards commonly relevant to emergency lighting design, performance, inspection and maintenance, and the applicable editions should be confirmed for each installation.
William Hale Fire & Security is an SSAIB certified company, recognised for its ability to consistently meet the industry’s highest standards.
3. Be Clear About the Scope of the Service
One of the most common sources of misunderstanding is scope. One company’s “annual service” may include a full-duration test, a detailed inspection and a written report. Another’s may involve far less.
Ask for the scope in writing. A maintenance agreement should explain:
- Inspection and testing frequency.
- The scope of work at each visit.
- Response times for faults.
- Exclusions.
- Responsibilities on both sides.
Understanding what is included helps avoid misunderstandings later. In shared or leased buildings, it is also worth confirming how testing responsibilities are split between landlord, tenant and any managing agent. When we hand over a commercial installation, we agree the testing regime at handover so responsibility never falls into a gap between those parties.
4. Judge the Quality of Records and Reports
A system is only as good as the evidence supporting it. The records a testing company produces are as important as the tests themselves, because they are what you will show to a fire risk assessor, a new facilities manager or anyone else who needs to see that the system is maintained.
Ask to see an example of the paperwork you will receive. After a professional servicing visit, engineers often provide a report covering completed inspections, faults discovered, immediate risks, recommendations and future work. Annual duration test reports often include the test duration, battery performance, light output, failed fittings, charging issues and engineer recommendations.
Look for records that identify fittings and locations clearly, explain what was found and set out what still needs doing. Our guide to emergency lighting testing certificates explains what you should expect to receive.
5. Ask How Faults Are Handled
Testing finds faults. What matters is what happens next. A good testing company should have a clear process for reporting, prioritising and repairing them.
Ask how the company:
- Records faults and their exact locations.
- Assesses the effect of a fault on safe evacuation.
- Advises on temporary measures when an important route is affected.
- Repairs the underlying cause rather than simply clearing a warning.
- Retests and records the result after repair.
The answer should be specific. A company that resets fittings without finding the cause may make the logbook look tidy while the real problem remains.
6. Check There Is an Out-of-Hours Route
Some emergency lighting faults cannot wait until the next working day. Ask whether the company offers an out-of-hours service and what response you can expect.
Our out of hours call out service provides a dedicated manned telephone line, engineer response 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a highly skilled and experienced engineer on call and a four-hour response time. Our service maintenance packages include our Emergency 24/7 Call Out Service as standard for emergency lighting systems we install.
7. Find Out Whether They Can Take Over an Existing System
Many businesses need a testing company for a system that someone else installed. Not every provider is willing or able to take on another company’s work, so ask early.
Inherited systems often arrive with no drawings and no records. How a company deals with that tells you a lot about its approach. 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.
Be cautious of any company that recommends replacing an entire system without first showing you what has been tested and what has actually failed.
8. Make Sure Work Can Be Scheduled Around Your Building
Businesses cannot usually close a floor for testing or repairs. Duration tests also leave emergency lighting below full capacity while batteries recharge, so timing matters.
Ask how the company plans visits around occupancy. We phase work, write the sequence into our quotation and carry it out in evenings, weekends or agreed windows where the building demands it. Testing large sites in sections also helps, so not every area is discharged at the same time.
9. Expect a Clear, Itemised Quotation
A quotation should make it obvious what you are getting. Our quotations are itemised by area and by fitting, with testing and certification included rather than added afterwards. If additional work is discovered behind a ceiling, it is agreed with the client before it proceeds.
Whichever company you choose, ask whether testing, certification and reporting are included, and how additional work will be agreed if faults are found.
10. Consider Design and Upgrade Capability
Testing sometimes reveals that repairs are not enough. Batteries may repeatedly fail duration tests, components may no longer be supported, or the installation may no longer give suitable coverage after building changes. In these cases, you need a company that can advise on whether the system should be maintained, upgraded or replaced.
A company that also designs and installs emergency lighting can calculate positions using photometric data for the specific fitting, rather than spacing by eye, and can plan changes around the building’s escape strategy.
It should also be able to suggest practical improvements to the testing routine. Where monthly tests keep getting missed because they rely on someone remembering a key switch, we recommend self-test fittings or a scheduled service visit, so the routine no longer depends on goodwill.
11. Think About Your Wider Fire Safety Needs
Emergency lighting works alongside other fire safety systems, so it can make sense to use a company that covers more than one. Our service maintenance packages cover fire alarm, emergency lighting, intruder alarm, VSS (CCTV) and access control systems installed by us. We also design, install and maintain fire detection systems, and through our additional services we provide Fire Risk Assessments, dry riser maintenance, AOV maintenance and fire extinguishers.
Match the Company to Your Premises
Commercial buildings differ enormously in how they behave when the lights go out, so a testing company should understand the specific challenges of your type of building rather than applying a generic approach.
Offices
In an office, the challenge is often the open-plan floor. Occupants at the far side of a large space cannot see a corridor exit sign from where they sit, so anti-panic lighting may be needed across the floorplate. Cellular offices, meeting rooms and larger toilets may need their own coverage. A testing company should notice when a reconfiguration has changed what is needed.
Retail Units
Display walls, mezzanines and stock rooms all interrupt sightlines in retail premises, and refits move partitions frequently. Positions should be set against the escape strategy rather than the current shopfit, and reviewed whenever the layout changes.
Warehouses and Light Industrial Units
Height and obstruction are the main issues here. Loading bays, external escape routes and areas beside conveyors or presses may require additional treatment, and engineers must be able to reach high-level fittings safely to test them.
Care and Hospitality Settings
These settings involve occupants who may be asleep, unfamiliar with the building or unable to evacuate quickly. Coverage extends well beyond the minimum, and signage should be legible to somebody who has never walked the corridor before.
Check They Understand Your Type of System
Ask whether the company is familiar with the type of system you have. Self-contained luminaires carry their own battery, charger and control gear, so each fitting must be tested and its battery eventually replaced. Central battery systems feed every luminaire from one battery bank in a plant room, so testing and battery replacement happen in one place, but the distribution must be fire-rated and later changes need careful planning. Your system may also include maintained, non-maintained and sustained fittings, each of which needs functional and duration testing.
Questions to Ask Before You Appoint a Testing Company
Bring this list to any conversation with a prospective provider:
- How much of your work involves emergency lighting specifically?
- What certification do you hold?
- What exactly is included in each visit?
- Do you carry out full-duration tests as well as inspections?
- What records and reports will we receive after each visit?
- How are faults reported, prioritised and repaired?
- What happens if a fault occurs out of hours?
- Can you take over a system another company installed?
- How will you schedule work around our building?
- Are testing and certification included in your quotation?
Warning Signs to Watch For
Some signs suggest a testing service may not be as thorough as it should be:
- Very short visits for large or complex buildings.
- Monthly checks only, with no full-duration testing.
- Reports that say “tested” without listing results or failed fittings.
- Faults cleared without explanation or retesting.
- No interest in drawings, coverage or recent building changes.
- Recommendations to replace everything without evidence of what has failed.
A testing service that skimps on time, testing or reporting may appear to do the job, but it can leave developing faults undiscovered until an inspection highlights them.
How William Hale Approaches Emergency Lighting Testing
Our emergency lighting service covers design, installation and maintenance, using up-to-date technology and products from industry-leading manufacturers. We are an SSAIB certified company, founded in early 2013 and based in Swindon, working across areas including Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Bristol, Bath, the Cotswolds and West London. For more on what ongoing care involves, see our emergency lighting maintenance guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does appointing a testing company make me compliant?
It helps, but appointing a contractor does not automatically remove the responsible person’s own duties. You still need to make sure the work is carried out, recorded and acted on.
Can my own staff do some of the testing?
Appropriately instructed staff can usually carry out monthly functional tests where the installation allows it. Annual duration tests, detailed inspections, fault diagnosis and repairs are best left to a competent specialist.
What should I receive after each testing visit?
A record of what was tested, what was found and what still needs doing, kept with your logbook. Annual duration tests should come with a more detailed report.
Will you test a system installed by another company?
Yes. We can take over the service maintenance of existing systems, starting with a survey where no drawings or records exist.
Choose a Testing Company You Can Rely On
The right emergency lighting testing company combines specialist competence, a clear scope, thorough records, a sound approach to faults and the flexibility to work around your building.
If you would like to discuss testing for your premises or hand over an existing system, contact William Hale Fire & Security to speak with our surveyor or arrange a free consultation and site survey.