James asks this question, which concerns communal residential properties and the need (or otherwise) for emergency lighting to be installed in each flat. It has been answered by SELECT (Theme – Regulations and Legislation):
This Q & A is one of thousands posted in our Technical Expertise area, and answered on a daily basis by our Voltimum Experts.
Question: For communal residential properties, is there a requirement to provide emergency lighting within each tenant flat?
Answer: Generally no - premises should be provided with lighting to ensure that in the event of a fire within, suitable lighting is provided to assist in the evacuation of the premises.
Tenants should be familiar with their own flat and should be able to find there way to the communal area/staircase, which would generally have some form of emergency lighting.
You can obtain further information from the Local Authority concerned and/or guidance from the ‘Landlords' Guiode to electrical safety’ issued by the Electrical Safety Council, or by government sites dealing with fire safety.
See also the BS 5266 series dealing with emergency lighting.
To see many more Q & A in Voltimum UK's Experts Area, please click on the link. Experts from leading organisations provide online answers to your technical questions on a broad range of subjects. Our searchable database of existing Q & As now contains over 3,500 entries; you can browse through them here.