BCA Emergency Ltg

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When is emergency & exit lightingrequired to be installed in a building?Submitted by rporteous on March 29, 2011 - 11:04

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On several occasions, I have been asked about the requirement for the installation of emergency lights insmall (Class 6) retail buildings. When I say small I mean less than 500m 2.

The Building Code of A ustralia (BC A ) 2010 provides the deemed-to-satisfy requirements for theinstallation of Emergency Lighting and Exit Signs in Section E, Part E4.

Essentially for all Class 6 buildings over 100m 2 require emergency lights; and all Class 6 buildings requireat least one exit sign.

A ll required emergency lights and exit signs should must comply with A ustralian Standard A S 2293.1.

E4.2 E mergency lighting requirements

An emergency lighting system must be installed

a. in every fire-isolated stairway, fire-isolated ramp or fire-isolated passageway; and b. in every storey of a Class 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 building where the storey has a floor area more

than 300 m2 i. in every passageway, corridor, hallway, or the like, that is part of the path of

travel to an exit; andii. in any room having a floor area more than 100 m2 that does not open to a

corridor or space that has emergency lighting or to a road or open space; andiii. in any room having a floor area more than 300 m2; and


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c. in every passageway, corridor, hallway, or the like, having a length of more than 6 mfrom the entrance doorway of any sole-occupancy unit in a Class 2 or 3 building or Class4 part of a building to the nearest doorway opening directly to

i. a fire-isolated stairway, fire-isolated ramp or fire-isolated passageway; or ii. an external stairway serving instead of a fire-isolated stairway under D1.8; or

iii. an external balcony leading to a fire-isolated stairway, fire-isolated ramp or fire-isolated passageway; or

iv. a road or open space; andd. in every required non fire-isolated stairway; ande. in a sole-occupancy unit in a Class 5, 6 or 9 building if

i. the floor area of the unit is more than 300 m2; andii. an exit from the unit does not open to a road or open space or to an external

stairway, passageway, balcony or ramp, leading directly to a road or open space;and

f. in every room or space to which there is public access in every storey in a Class 6 or 9b building if

i. the floor area in that storey is more than 300 m2; or ii. any point on the floor of that storey is more than 20 m from the nearest doorway

leading directly to a stairway, ramp, passageway, road or open space; or iii. egress from that storey involves a vertical rise within the building of more than

1.5 m, or any vertical rise if the storey concerned does not admit sufficient light;or

iv. the storey provides a path of travel from any other storey required by (i), (ii) or (iii) to have emergency lighting; and

g. in a Class 9a health-care building i. in every passageway, corridor, hallway, or the like, serving a treatment area or a

ward area; andii. in every room having a floor area of more than 120 m2 in a patient care area;

andh. in every Class 9c aged care building excluding within sole-occupancy units; andi. in every required fire control centre.

In addition, the BC A also details the deemed-to-satisfy requirements for Exit Signs;

E4.5 E xit signs

An exit sign must be clearly visible to persons approaching the exit, and must be installed on, aboveor adjacent to each

a. door providing direct egress from a storey to i. an enclosed stairway, passageway or ramp serving as a required exit; and

ii. an external stairway, passageway or ramp serving as a required exit; andiii. an external access balcony leading to a required exit; and

b. door from an enclosed stairway, passageway or ramp at every level of discharge to a roador open space; and

c. horizontal exit; andd. door serving as, or forming part of, a required exit in a storey required to be providedwith emergency lighting in accordance with E4.2.


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D irection signs

If an exit is not readily apparent to persons occupying or visiting the building then exit signs must beinstalled in appropriate positions in corridors, hallways, lobbies, and the like, indicating the direction to arequired exit.

B uilding ClassificationsThe BC A is a nationally consistent technical document that represents the level of safety that meetscommunity expectations. Compliance with the BC A is the responsibility of local government authorities.

The BC A provides a classification system for a building or part of a building and is determined by the

purpose for which it is designed, constructed or adapted to be used.

S ummary Classifications

BuildingClass Type of building

Class 1

Class 1a - a single dwelling being

. a detached house;ii. one of a group of two or more attached dwellings,

each being a building, seperated by a fire-resisting wall, including a row house, terrace house, town houseor villa unit;

Class 1b - a boarding house, guest house, hostel or the like

. with a total area of all floors not exceeding 300 m2measured over the enclosing walls of the Class 1b; and

. in which not more than 12 persons would ordinarily beresident, which is not located above or below another dwelling or another Class of building other than a privategarage.

Class 2 a building containing 2 or more sole-occupancy units eachbeing a separate dwelling.

Class 3Backpacker accommodation, residential parts of hotels or motels, residential parts of schools, accommodation for theaged, disabled or children a residential building, other than a


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building of Class 1 or 2, which is a common place of longterm or transient living for a number of unrelated persons,including -

a. a boarding-house, guest house, hostel, lodging-house

or backpackers accommodation; or b. a residential part of a hotel or motel; or c. a residential part of a school; or d. accommodation for the aged, children or people with

disabilities; or e. a residential part of a health-care building which

accommodates members of staff; or f. a residential part of a detention centre.

Class 4 a dwelling in a building that is Class 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 if it is theonly dwelling in the building.

Class 5 an office building used for professional or commercialpurposes, excluding buildings of Class 6, 7, 8 or 9.

Class 6

a shop or other building for the sale of goods by retail or thesupply of services direct to the public, including

a. an eating room, cafe, restaurant, milk or soft-drink bar;or

b. a dining room, bar, shop or kiosk part of a hotel or motel; or

c. a hairdressers or barbers shop, public laundry, or undertakers establishment; or

d. market or sale room, showroom, or service station.

Class 7

a. Class 7a - a carpark; or b. Class 7b - for storage, or display of goods or producefor sale by wholesale.

Class 8

a laboratory, or a building in which a handicraft or process for the production, assembling, altering, repairing, packing,

finishing, or cleaning of goods or produce is carried on for trade, sale, or gain.

Class 9

a. Class 9a - a health-care building, including those partsof the building set aside as a laboratory; or

b. Class 9b - an assembly building, including a tradeworkshop, laboratory or the like in a primary or secondary school, but excluding any other parts of the


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building that are of another Class; or c. Class 9c - an aged care building.

Class 10

a. Class 10a - a non-habitable building being a private

garage, carport, shed, or the like; or b. Class 10b - a structure being a fence, mast, antenna,retaining or free-standing wall, swimming pool, or the like.

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