Testing of emergency lighting

BattleCorp

I've read an old thread on this matter but I'm still not 100% sure so I'll ask the question.

Under I.S. 3217:2013 emergency lighting must be tested quarterly and annually.

Can I do the quarterly 30 minute test myself or do I have to do a course first? I'm guessing that it has to be somebody certified to carry out this type of testing.

I am not an electrician nor do I have any training in that area. I can flick a switch and watch the lights for 30 minutes though and if something didn't work as it was supposed to, I could call the electrician.

I'm guessing that this wouldn't exactly adhere to the standards in the S.I.

Is this correct?

What training do I need to do in order to carry out this testing?

BattleCorp

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Anyone?

Dubstar07

OP - there are some courses available for this but I'm not sure if you can make any repairs without having some electrical trade behind you. Search for 'emergency lighting course'

You can do the 30 minute test for some indication of what's working or not. But without being able to certify it, it's not worth it. The building insurers will require a certificate of testing to comply with their policy.

Stoner

Running the test and reporting on the fittinga operation is not difficult.

If you wanted to commission a system, depending on who the contractor is registered with you'd have to have completed a course in commissioning these systems. The one I'm familiar with takes three days for a level 6 qualification.

The commissioning goes beyond checking the operation of the lights. For example the position of the escape signage and spacing of escape lights are checked. Was your system installed to the 2013 standard? Maybe you are being harder on it than you need.

But for example have you added fire extinguishers, first aid points , fire alarm break glass units since it was last commissioned, as they have particular requirements

BattleCorp

The system predates 2013 so I'd say it is under the old regs. As cost is a factor in everything, I was hoping that I could carry out the testing/inspection to see if the emergency lighting system was working properly but it seems that I wouldn't have the competency to certify that it conforms to any standard.

An outside company looks after fire alarms, extinguishers etc.

Stoner

BattleCorp wrote:

An outside company looks after fire alarms, extinguishers etc.

Sorry I should have expanded, those added items like first aid points , fire fighting equipment needs emergency lighting within about 2 M of it