Bad emergency lighting install

[Fazz711]

You say if the breaker trips the E/M lights won't come on.
Are they not battery operated for power loss?

 

[westward10]

You say if the breaker trips the E/M lights won't come on.
Are they not battery operated for power loss?

He means if either of the lighting circuits trip they won't come on because they are wired through another circuit.

 

[Lister1987]

560.9, any emergency lighting should comply with the relevant parts of BS 5266/BS EN 1838. If it is designed/installed in such a way that it doesn't perform as it should then it can't, by extension, be deemed to meet the parts of 5266-1/1838.

Really you want to see how it was designed as it could be fundamentally flawed, in which case a case could be made under the Fire Safety (Regulatory Reform) Order 2005 and statutory breaches could be present but that is really for the licensing authority.

Whether to C2/C3 is would be personal choice, being a safety service I would want it fixed so would C2 it, moreover being a HMO it may have additional stipulations from the licensing authority, given more weight to a code of C2 over C3.

 

[timhoward]

Thanks a lot everyone. I've met landlord this morning to talk through this, the fire alarm (T+E feed and shared supply) and other matters.
He's on board with making improvements.

 

[sinewove]

Two lighting circuits covering various communal areas on two floors of a HMO.
The non-maintained emergency lighting that covers those areas is on a separate circuit (actually with the fire alarm). So either of the lighting breakers could trip and the relevant lighting wouldn't come on.

Who takes the view that this is a NOTE as it's not an electrical safety issue, and who takes the view that the electrical installation was badly thought out and/or implemented and it's fair game to code this as an electrical issue? My leaning is the former. Who's on which side of the fence?!

As far as I can see the only trivial improvement is putting the maintained links in them all.

Not an expert on em lighting,but could a contactor on each lighting cct with series contacts break the cct to the em lights if any lighting cct failed?

 

[timhoward]

Not an expert on em lighting,but could a contactor on each lighting cct with series contacts break the cct to the em lights if any lighting cct failed?

Yes. (actually option b in post #7!)
Since writing that it seemed overkill I've realised that low rated contactors are under £10 and this could in fact be the simplest solution.

 

[davesparks]

Not an expert on em lighting,but could a contactor on each lighting cct with series contacts break the cct to the em lights if any lighting cct failed?

Yes, but it adds more potential points of failure and may make the system less easy to maintain in the future.

 

[Lister1987]

(T+E feed and shared supply) and other matters.

Please tell me that's in FP from the board to those safety services?

 

[timhoward]

Please tell me that's in FP from the board to those safety services?

That's exactly the point - it isn't.
To be fair when that system was installed it actually didn't have to be. (if I I remember correctly from my fire alarm days 2002 was the change in BS 5389 that bought that in)
Anyway, it's been bought to the landlords attention and he is being meticulous in wanting everything spot-on, so it's being upgraded. I've phoned the fire alarm service company and they are on board.