Do I Need Emergency Lights?

If you’re starting or reopening your business, you may have asked yourself

Do I really have to have emergency lights? And the short answer is yes. Whether this is your first endeavor opening a business space, or you’re looking to expand to new markets, no matter where you go, your space will need an emergency lighting system. And not only that, you’ll need to keep your emergency lighting system up to code.

What Is Emergency Egress Lighting?

Simply put, emergency egress lighting is lighting that stays on during a power outage that leads a path to safety exits from the building or space. “Egress” means by way of exit, so that means emergency lighting includes your EXIT signs, too!

Lighting is Key

We know as a retailer your mind is keen on top of mind, day to day tasks like current sales, marketing, and even the lighting of your product displays. You know good lighting plays an important role in the sale of your products—that’s why you spent all the time and money on good lighting systems to display your products in the best, most flattering light in the first place.

But what happens if you ignore the nitty gritty, perhaps not so alluring world of emergency egress lighting? Well, it could cost you.

What Happens If My Emergency and Egress Lighting Isn’t Up to Code?

It may very well be that your current facility or business space has emergency and exit lights. But are they up to code? This is an especially good question considering you’ll need to make sure your emergency lights are up to code if your business has been closed for a while due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

By not addressing your emergency egress lighting, costs down the road could be substantial:

• Code compliance penalties range in the hundreds of dollars, depending on city or state ordinances.
• You risk potential shut down of facilities from retail operations, costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on when you can finally get the issues with your emergency egress lighting addressed.
• You present a possible danger to the customer, which could lead to real personal injury in the event of an emergency or power outage and they can’t safely exit with a clearly marked path. And real personal injury leads to a real lawsuit or liability to you as the business owner.

And it’s not about getting your lighting up to code and then you wipe your hands clean of it. There’s more to it than that: we’re talking regular maintenance.

Maintaining Emergency Egress Lighting

To maintain your emergency lighting effectively, you’ll want a skilled team of professionals that are responsive to the specific lighting system you have. Nothing is worse than calling a company and realizing they can’t come out for weeks on end, or worse, when they do finally come, tell you they don’t work on that specific lighting system.
There are two approaches to maintaining your emergency lights:

1. Preventive, regular maintenance. This is the best way to stay on top of your emergency lights and avoiding any issues from a surprise visit from city inspectors.

2. Responsive maintenance. This is where you notice one or more of your lights are out, or something does kick on as it should when the power goes out and you need to call an electrical company to diagnose and eventually fix the problem. You can do self checks of your lights regularly to know when to call in maintenance or service for your emergency lights.

Obviously, preventative regular maintenance and lighting system checks is the ideal way to address your emergency lighting situation—but we get it. You’re a business that has a lot going on and we know that the “I’ll deal with it when I have to” mentality is convenient in a lot of ways.

That’s why it’s important to have a responsive lighting and electrical company in your back pocket when things start to fail. A national company that can serve any location you have across the U.S. is ideal. You know, like Triangle for instance.

What Do I Need to Do for My Emergency Egress Lighting?

1. You can install upgraded emergency lighting systems that need little maintenance. To keep it off your mind, but still have peace of mind, try going with a company that offers scheduled checks, can install self-diagnostic equipment, and has regular communication with the fire safety inspection teams to ensure you’re covered from all angles.

2. Make sure it’s code compliant. If you decide to go with an existing system at your facility of choice, make sure it’s fully up to code. Having a team of experts come in and put your mind at ease is the best way to make sure it’s running properly.

3. Have a dedicated lighting and electrical company that can either quickly respond to your needs or have scheduled for regular checks and maintenance so that your lighting systems are never flagged due to a state inspection.

 

Get Triangle Involved

Having Triangle’s Retainer Program is a great way to ensure your all your lighting and electrical systems are up to date, code compliant, and working well takes the issue off your brain, even when trouble arises.
If that’s not possible for your business plan, we’ll work with your brand however it best fits you.

Our service and maintenance teams are on call 24/7 across the U.S. with our carefully vetted and selected partners. There’s no need to place call after call to find a company that can do what you need when you need—Triangle really does it all.

Let us strengthen your brand!