Revised Emergency Lighting Standard – (EN 50172:2024 & BS EN 50172:2024)

The revised emergency lighting standard, EN 50172:2024 (EU) and BS EN 50172:2024 (UK) on Emergency Escape Lighting Systems was prepared by the CENELEC committee, ‘TC34-Lighting’ being approved on the 27^th of May 2024, and then published by BSI with the date of the 31^st of July 2024. This new standard supersedes the previous EN 50172:2004 and BS EN 50172:2004, including all amendments and corrigenda, where appropriate. It should be noted that the latest date by which national conflicting standards be withdrawn is the 27^th of May 2027.

An emergency situation within a building can occur without any warning, whether that be due to either a natural disaster or an external or internal accident, which could result in the interruption or failure of the mains power supply of the lighting circuits within the building, making it difficult to identify an appropriate escape route within the dark environment, thereby possibly leading to a panic situation.

When such situations occur, emergency lighting becomes extremely important in allowing the building occupants to visualise their surroundings and identify the nearest suitable escape route to egress the building to a place of safety, where an emergency escape lighting system is a mandatory requirement, where having a reliable system is considered crucial for the safety of the occupants.

The new version of the standard EN 50172:2024 / BS EN 50172:2024 has been published to ensure that building owners, those who manage & operate buildings, architects, designers, M&E engineers and on-site contractors, as well as Safety Inspectors and Auditors, have collectively achieved compliance, by adhering to the latest standard in providing a professionally designed, compliantly installed and effectively maintained emergency lighting system which meets all the enforceable requirements contained within this and other standards.

Regular maintenance of a compliant system improves reliability, alongside appropriate testing to ensure that an emergency lighting system is always readily available when needed, whilst at the same time increasing the confidence of building occupants and visitors, in making them feel more secure knowing that the building’s emergency escape lighting system is both effective and compliant with current regulations, having been correctly installed and regularly maintained, thereby significantly improving their safety in the event of an emergency situation.

The contents of this new standard include a wide range of topics, in discussing the design requirements and providing detailed guidelines on the design of emergency escape lighting systems to ensure optimal performance and compliance and to consider the installation procedures and instructions for the proper installation of an emergency lighting system. To look at maintenance and testing so as to offer a comprehensive procedure for the regular maintenance and testing of emergency lighting systems to ensure reliability. In providing the performance criteria specifications of the emergency lighting systems, including illumination levels and duration, and finally, looking at the documentation and recording requirements for maintaining accurate records of the installation, including the maintenance and testing activities.