Emergency lighting: the check nobody does until there is a scare

Those little green lights in the hallway have been there for years. The awkward question is: has anyone ever checked that they work?

What they are for

So that if the power goes, people can get out of the building. In an internal staircase with no windows, a night-time power cut leaves total darkness. That is why emergency lighting is compulsory along escape routes: hallway, stairs, common corridors, garage and exits.

The check you can do yourself in ten minutes

You do not need a technician for the basics. Switch off the main breaker for the common-area lighting and check, one by one, that all of them come on and stay on after a few minutes.

That is where the most common fault shows up: the fitting lights for a moment and goes out, or glows very faintly. That is a dead battery — they last a few years and then die quietly, with the green light still on, which is what fools everyone. That green light only says there is power, not that the battery will hold.

What to check while you are at it

• That none are missing along the route, especially at changes of level and by the exits.
• That the exit signage is visible and not hidden behind a notice, a plant or a bicycle.
• The garage, which is usually where they are in the worst state and where they matter most.
• That the fittings are not caked in dust, which drastically cuts how much they light.

And the paperwork

Note the date of the check in the maintenance log or the incident register. If something ever happens, that entry is the difference between a diligent community and one that never checked anything.

Replacing dead batteries costs very little and is one of the cheapest investments in the building. What is expensive is finding out they did not work on the day they were needed.