Emergency Lighting Systems

Buildings require emergency lighting systems to be provided to enable normal activities to continue in the event of failure of the normal power supply. The main types of emergency lighting systems in buildings consist of the following: Self-contained Units, Small Central Battery, Large Central Battery or Generator Based systems. The main functions that Emergency lighting systems are required to fulfill are as follows:

1. To provide illumination along egress paths to allow safe movement towards and through the exits provided.
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2. To prevent panic in buildings during an emergency situation and to allow building occupants to gather at a safe location as determined with the Building Department and/or Fire Marshall.
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3. To light up high risk areas – i.e. to ensure the safety of people involved in a potentially dangerous process or situation and to enable proper shut down procedures.
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4. To ensure that fire alarm call points and fire fighting equipment provided along escape routes can be readily located.
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5. To permit operations concerned with safety measures.

The main reason for installing an emergency lighting system is to meet applicable legislations concerned about safe building evacuation during power outage or emergencies that may result in loss of normal building lighting (i.e. fire).

The main reason for installing an emergency lighting system is to meet applicable legislations concerned about safe building evacuation during power outage or emergencies that may result in loss of normal building lighting (i.e. fire). Consequently, it is important to establish all the relevant legal requirements for emergency lighting and fire alarm systems before commencing the design. The Owner of a building may have additional objectives, i.e. maintaining operation throughout power outages or minimizing cost of the critical systems operation and maintenance. These should ideally be agreed between the Owner, Engineer, the fire authority, building officials and system installer.

The Ontario Building Code section 3.2.7.3. provides the emergency lighting requirements that must be satisfied in order to meet code.

Feel free to contact us to learn more about Emergency Lighting Systems and to see how we can help you protect the occupants in your building during an emergency and to ensure that your building complies with the latest codes.