Emergency and exit lighting across south-east Melbourne and the CBD
Six-monthly testing with a log an auditor will accept. This is the compliance obligation most often discovered during an insurance review, several years after the last record.
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It is the one system that has to work on the worst day
Emergency and exit lighting sits unused for years, which is exactly why it fails quietly and why testing is mandatory rather than optional.
- Nobody at the building can produce a current test log.
- Exit signs that are dark, damaged or obscured by stock or signage.
- Emergency lights that do not come on when the mains are isolated.
- Fittings whose batteries no longer hold their rated duration.
- A fire safety audit or an insurer has asked for maintenance records.
- A fitout has changed the layout and the exit signage no longer matches the paths.
- New tenancy, and the emergency lighting has never been commissioned.
- Testing has been done but never logged, which for compliance purposes is the same as not done.
What emergency lighting work actually covers
Installation and maintenance are different obligations. AS 2293 sets both, and the testing is the part sites most often miss.
- An audit of what is installed, where it is, and what condition it is in.
- Six-monthly inspection and discharge testing to AS 2293.2.
- Batteries and fittings replaced where they fail to hold the rated duration.
- A written log, maintained across visits, that an auditor or insurer will accept.
- New emergency and exit lighting designed and installed to AS 2293.1.
- Exit signage positioned to the actual egress paths, updated after a fitout.
- A schedule so the next test is booked rather than remembered.
- Certificates and documentation issued after each cycle.
About Emergency and exit lighting
The obligation and the cycle
Emergency and exit lighting is covered by AS 2293. Part 1 deals with design and installation, and Part 2 sets the inspection and maintenance regime: a six monthly cycle including a discharge test that runs each fitting on battery for its rated duration, normally ninety minutes.
The discharge test is the part that matters and the part most often skipped. A fitting whose battery no longer holds ninety minutes will still light up when you press the test button. It just will not be working when the building is dark and full of smoke.
The log is half the requirement
An auditor or an insurer wants the record, not an assurance that somebody looked at it. A building with working lighting and no log is, for compliance purposes, in the same position as one that has never been tested.
Where a building has no history we start with an audit, so the first entry in the log describes what is actually installed rather than what somebody assumes is there.
After a fitout, the signage has to follow
The most common defect we find after a tenancy change is exit signage pointing at paths that no longer exist. A fitout moves walls and the egress routes move with them, and signs directing people to a wall are worse than no signs.
If your space has been reconfigured since the emergency lighting was installed, it needs reassessing rather than retesting.
Who is responsible
It depends on the lease and it is worth establishing rather than assuming. In practice common property tends to sit with the owner or the owners corporation, and the tenancy sits with the tenant. Buildings where nobody has established this are the ones where the testing quietly stops happening.
What we provide
An initial audit of what is installed and its condition, six monthly inspection and discharge testing, battery and fitting replacement where a unit fails to hold its duration, and a maintained written log that stands up to an audit. The next test is booked in advance rather than remembered late.
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Standards this work is held to
AS 2293 splits into three parts and two of them matter to you directly. Part 1 covers design and installation. Part 2 covers inspection and maintenance, and sets the six-monthly cycle including a discharge test that runs each fitting on battery for its rated duration, normally ninety minutes.
The log matters as much as the test. An auditor or an insurer wants the record, not an assurance that somebody looked at it. Where a building has no history, we start with an audit so the first log entry describes reality rather than assumptions.
Where a fitout has changed the layout, the exit signage has to follow it. Signs pointing at a path that no longer exists are worse than no signs, and this is the most common defect we find after a tenancy change.
How long it takes
- Initial audit
- Usually within the week, and it establishes what is actually installed.
- Six-monthly test
- Scheduled and booked in advance, so it is not remembered late.
- Discharge test
- Ninety minutes of run time per cycle, plus inspection. Usually done out of hours.
- Documentation
- Log updated on the day and issued within two business days.
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Emergency and exit lighting questions we get asked
How often does this legally need doing?
Six-monthly under AS 2293.2, including a discharge test on the full cycle. Both the test and the record are part of the obligation.
What happens if we have no records?
We start with an audit and a full test, and the log begins from there. It is a more expensive first visit and a normal one after that.
Can it be done during business hours?
The inspection can. The discharge test leaves fittings on battery for ninety minutes and then recharging, so most buildings prefer it out of hours.
Who is responsible, the landlord or the tenant?
It depends on the lease, and it is worth establishing rather than assuming. In practice, common property tends to sit with the owner or the owners corporation and the tenancy sits with the tenant.
Do you replace failed fittings on the spot?
Common types, yes. Anything unusual we will quote and return, rather than leaving something unsuitable in place.
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