Daljit Gill asks this question, which concerns a self-contained emergency lighting installation, and which type of cabling to use. It has been answered by the NICEIC (Theme – Fire, Safety & Security):
Question: In BS 5266, it states that cables to self-contained emergency lights do not need fire protection. Is there any reason, therefore, why we cannot use FP200 type cable?
Answer: For self-contained luminaires, the connection between the battery and the lamp is contained within the luminaire or adjacent to it (within 1m), so it is considered as internal wiring and has no other requirements to conform to.
However, the installation of the luminaire to the normal supply needs to be considered. If the luminaire is non-maintained, it needs to be connected to the same final circuit as the normal lighting in the area in which it is located. This means that, if there is a failure of the final lighting circuit, the emergency luminaires in the area will be activated and will provide illumination. If the luminaire is of the maintained type, then it will always be illuminated, so there is no need for it to be operated by the local mains final circuit.
It can be beneficial if it is fed from a separate circuit, as it will then be able to provide illumination from its second supply, and hence will not be limited in the time for which it can operate.
Therefore, when selecting the type of cabling for the circuit of a non-maintained self-contained system, the designer should consider whether a failure of the normal lighting will ensure that the emergency lighting will operate.
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