London Fire Safety Guidance for Houses in ... - Harrow Council

Staircase LightingNormal staircase lightingIn common escape routes including stairways, normal lighting with a suitablesystem of control should be provided so that people are able to move withinthe escape route from a building during the hours of darkness and in areasthat do not have the benefit of daylight.A dedicated lighting circuit for the stairway must be installed so that the use ofany one switch/push button along the route will illuminate the entire escaperoute.Careful consideration should be given to the duration of the lighting that canbe expected if press button slow release lighting switches are provided andshould be assessed according to risk i.e. distance of travel, height of building,mobility of occupiers etc. A minimum of 4 minutes duration is recommended inall cases.Emergency Escape lightingThis will be considered necessary in certain situations dependent upon risk,taking into account factors such as the amount of borrowed light and thecomplexity of the layout of the HMO in question. It is recommended that allHMOs are provided with emergency escape lighting.Where considered necessary, emergency escape lighting must be designedto automatically illuminate upon the failure of the supply to the normal artificiallighting. The emergency lighting installation must comply with BS 5266 : Part1 : 1988. On failure of the normal lighting, the emergency lighting must :Illuminate the escape route to assist the occupants to move easilyto exits and a place of safetyEnable easy identification of fire alarm call points and fire fightingequipment throughout the escape routeEmergency lighting must operate not only when there is complete failure ofthe supply to the normal artificial lighting but when there is a localised failurethat could be hazardous.The source of the supply should be from the same local fuse as the normal(staircase) lighting so that, in the event of fuse failure causing normal lightingto be extinguished, the emergency lighting is brought into operation in thesame locality.The supply to self contained luminaries should be designed to preventunauthorised disconnection, but it must incorporate a suitable means forsimulating a mains failure (i.e. test switch).London Fire Safety Guidance for Houses in Multiple OccupationVersion 2: 06/06