Emergency lighting: Emergency lighting of premises: Code of practice.

BS 5266-1 gives recommendations on the design, installation and wiring of emergency lighting systems. The 2025 edition, published on 29 October 2025, is a full revision of the 2016 edition. Its scope has grown from emergency escape lighting to include local area lighting and standby lighting, with three purposes: helping people evacuate, protecting occupants who remain in the building, and keeping activities going when mains lighting fails. It covers areas with fixed seating and the common access routes in blocks of flats and maisonettes, but not private dwellings.

The revision reflects changes to the European standards BS EN 1838 (lighting applications) and BS EN 50172 (emergency escape lighting systems).

In England, Approved Document B Volume 2 says escape lighting should conform to BS 5266-1 (paragraph 5.27) in the same section that calls for exit signs to BS ISO 3864-1 and BS 5499-4 (paragraph 5.28). HSE's L64 says that where natural light is poor, adequate illumination including emergency lighting is needed, and that photoluminescent signs may also have a role.

Illuminated exit signs are usually supplied by the emergency lighting contractor, while non-illuminated escape signs and the rest of the statutory signage come from the sign contractor. Get both onto the same drawings so pictograms, arrows and positions agree.

BS 5266-1:2016 is withdrawn. The NSI's notice on publication says systems where installation or commissioning had not started by the publication date must follow the 2025 edition, and certificates for that work should refer to BS 5266-1:2025.