Emergency Light Inspection and Testing BS5266-1:2005

[confused guest]

Hi, I am a confused person working in a small company. We have a maintenance company  which has previously provided us with two, six monthly tests of our lighting system.  They are now telling us that pursuant to the latest edition of BS5266 we are required to undertake eleven monthly inspections and a single annual inspection.  However, they are still offering us the original two, six monthly tests.

What I need to know is whether the eleven monthly inspections are now mandatory or simply recommended and whether it is still legal to simply undertake the two, six monthly tests.   Please could someone advise on the position? Thank you very much.

[AnthonyB]

You should always have been doing monthly 'function' tests using your secret key test switches to ensure the units actually work at all (you can do this in house), with two 'duration' tests of 1 & 3 hours to check battery life (often left to contractors). Its been around for years!

The only change this time is that the six monthly 1 hour test has gone, leaving only the annual 3 hour test.

So, you should now be (in house at no cost) carrying out (& recording) a function test of your units every month and only bringing the contractor in once a year for a 3 hour test.

So the change saves you money as you only need the contractor once now. (they won't offer to do the monthly's as you can do it yourself)

[confused guest]

Thank you for that advice, which is very helpful. I am actually referring to my office premises, so is the standard the same for these premises too? I am sure that my boss is going to be happy to be saving some money for a change!!

[AnthonyB]

As per a PM - I meant in workplaces!

[jay_t]

is it feesible to carry out annual inspections in-house rather than have a maintenance company in? as a maintenance engineer with 16th edition and electrical inspection and testing qualifications i would judge myself as a 'competent person'.
are sample inspection scedules and reports available for self-certification puposes or is self certifying just not acceptable?

[bolt]

I would think you are more than qualified and competent then most to conduct the annual 3 hour test yourself. Heck,  your qaulified to change the thing too if it stops working:) As most fire alarm engineers usually do the EL's if they have to change a unit and play with the mains thats makes you more qaulified then a fire alarm engineer.  Unless someone else can suggest otherwise i think you can do this just record your tests in the log book and defects under self certify.

Actually i have a question too. When the EL's are non maintained with built in full auto self test circuit that turns them on and off and checks the battery etc do these still require month tests? Or annual only? or nothing at all?

[FireFly40]

My understanding of the monthly/six/annual test is that you (owner occupier or contractor ) have to see the test for yourself so the self test ones though helpful for finding faulty fittings do not negate the need for the tests. What if the self test part is faulty?
 I would like to ask the forum a query I have had for a while about this issue.
What exactly is the fishtail key test supposed to do?
A number of jobs I recently surveyed found this on operation of same
1.Works contactor on dis board and kills all lights on board
2.Works contactor on dis board and kills dis board
3.Kills all lights in respective area
4.Kills battery pack in E light
5.Kills E Light above same
6.Nothing at all

I would like to think that option 5 is the right one but when you get an option 3 or 1 how do you go about a 3 hour test burn in an office full of call center staff thats 24/7/365.
(if you get an option 2 thats easy you never get to go there again)
End of question Start of Ramblings excuse me!
 Would something like a remote control test facilty that puts on a 3hr test discharge and reports via flashing led ( you would have to be there to trigger it and return for result so not autonomous) but wouldnt be a disaster if you couldnt get back (or forgot one)
 Have a few ideas and circuits  so c'mon teccie designers contact me and this time next year Rodney...................

[Wiz]

Emergency lighting manufacturers already have a whole range of automatic test facilities.

Some are intiated by someone walking around with an infra red remote control style unit.

Others use a special keyswitch, instead of the popular secret key/fishtail switch, and these have a number of timed test positions.

There are even systems that use a two core data cable connected around each self-contained fitting and back to an addressable style  control  panel that can be programmed to initiate automatic testing at the times it is due.

Many of the automatic testing devices also contain photo-cells that test that the correct light output is being achieved at various times during the test and automatically warns and logs any faults.

The problem is that it is possible to buy non-maintained fittings from electrical wholesalers for less than £10 each these days, whereas the automatic test systems can work out well over £100 per fitting and require extra installation work.

I find the biggest problem with the secret/fishtail keyswitch is that it is hard to ascertain what position it is in ( I have often found them left in the test position and the batteries in the fitting totally discharged). If these switches are used I feel that there should also be local visual indicators confirming keyswitch position.

[bolt]

FireFly thanks i guess you are right about testing it still needs doing manually. I tell you what the fishtail is supposed to do and that is a separate circuit run from the local lighting in say a large office so that the EL's can be tested without turning off the local light supply. It simply turns off the supply to the EL's all at once but usually not more then an area that you can visually monitor all at the same time.  The more fancy ones have magnet test points, IR control, radio remotes and central control systems that put entire building into to discharge state and report back 3 hours later any which are not working or where the batteries failed too soon.


Of course you will visit many places with old no test facilty and dump the local lighting circuit is the only way to turn them on.  I also seen some buildings often quite new ones where the EL's have there own feed back to the dis board and marked as up emergency lights. I always found this odd as BS says the lights must come on if the local lighting circuit fails in the area protected by the EL's. Well how can they if they are on a separate circuit??  I dont have a copy of 2005 version but surely they must still insist wiring back ONLY to local lighting circuits to give both a local power coverage and general building supply coverage.

[bolt]

wiz on the stand alone self testing ones they cycle up on there own every month etc. How does one know if it failed a sequence test? Does the LED change colour or start beeping or something? Do the self testing stand alone ones negate the need for manual annual/monthly testing or not? It does appear this still need to be tested except perhaps for fully central monitered systems where full status and reporting may be sufficient.

[Wiz]

wiz on the stand alone self testing ones they cycle up on there own every month etc. How does one know if it failed a sequence test? Does the LED change colour or start beeping or something? Do the self testing stand alone ones negate the need for manual annual/monthly testing or not? It does appear this still need to be tested except perhaps for fully central monitered systems where full status and reporting may be sufficient.

Hi Bolt,
Most of the 'testing' systems need manual intervention to choose which test time period is required. The simplest ones depend on a manual visual inspection to see how things are at the end of the test period. The more advanced ones automatically check battery condition/light ouput and initiate a warning signal if a fault is detected. I can't see why these tests could not be considered to be part of the recommended routine tests and could be recorded as such. They still achieve what the recommendations are asking for. As you say, the manufacturers of the addressable intelligent testing systems promote their systems as being something that could be programmed to carry out all the recommended tests automatically and include warnings and logs for any faults on each individual fitting at a central point. The automatic systems often 'stagger' the testing so that not all fittings are being tested at exactly the same time so you wouldn't have the problem of all the fittings being expected to perform fully during a power failure just after a deep discharge test.

[Graeme]

Wiz

I agree with you on the test switches being left on/off.
I don't know if there is a version available thet traps the key,so you can't take it out until you put back into the correct position.

I have come across others that activate an internal buzzer when in test mode.
They are quite loud,so will probably drive the customer nuts if it,s not installed in a cupboard at the other end of the building.

[Wiz]

Wiz

I agree with you on the test switches being left on/off.
I don't know if there is a version available thet traps the key,so you can't take it out until you put back into the correct position.

I have come across others that activate an internal buzzer when in test mode.
They are quite loud,so will probably drive the customer nuts if it,s not installed in a cupboard at the other end of the building.

The best simple solution I've seen is fitting the fishtail switch in a gridsitch system along with a red and a green neon. The green neon is wired to the incoming 240V supply and the red to illuminate when the switch is in the 'test' position. The combination of which neon is illuminated should make it very clear exactly what position the switch is actually left at.

[FireFly40]

The problem with the trapped key is you would need hundreds of keys on the jobs that I was looking at.I have seen the fishtail key with neon in grid switches excellent idea but seems only on older institutianal type premises where the old clerk of works used to insist on belt & braces. Surely Crabbers or MK could build a delayed action keyswitch like landing lights in Titus landlords premises. I take it no-ones interested in my remote test facility for regular E lights idea then..never mind Rodney maybe next year!!
Its a chance to catch up on paperwork anyway and you can always find somewhere dark to hide from irate production managers we might be glad of 3 hour minces when everythings got an IP address!

[Wiz]

The problem with the trapped key is you would need hundreds of keys on the jobs that I was looking at.I have seen the fishtail key with neon in grid switches excellent idea but seems only on older institutianal type premises where the old clerk of works used to insist on belt & braces. Surely Crabbers or MK could build a delayed action keyswitch like landing lights in Titus landlords premises. I take it no-ones interested in my remote test facility for regular E lights idea then..never mind Rodney maybe next year!!
Its a chance to catch up on paperwork anyway and you can always find somewhere dark to hide from irate production managers we might be glad of 3 hour minces when everythings got an IP address!

FireFly, my previous post confirmed that there are test switches with integral timing circuits for testing emergency lighting currently available. I am now off for a short break, but I will post details next week.