Inspection template in the LeanSuite app
Last reviewed
Emergency lighting inspection checklist
An emergency lighting inspection checklist records the monthly function test of emergency lights and exit signs in a building or zone. This one has 8 questions: every light in place and not covered or damaged, exit signs lit and readable, each unit coming on when the test switch is used or power is cut, staying on for the required time, charge indicators showing, faulty units tagged with a repair raised, and the monthly and annual tests recorded.
NFPA 101, the Life Safety Code, calls for a functional test of battery emergency lighting every month for at least 30 seconds and a full 90-minute test once a year, with records kept. Facilities or a maintenance electrician usually runs it. A failure looks like an exit sign over the warehouse door that has been dark since a forklift clipped it, a light boxed in behind racking added last year, or a unit whose battery gives up after a few seconds, which nobody sees until the power goes on a night shift.
What it is for, as built: Monthly function test of emergency and exit lighting.
The full question list
The 8 questions in the inspection
Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A. Each No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, so the finding arrives with its evidence.
Lights
- 1Every emergency light is in place and not damaged or covered
- 2Exit signs are lit and readable
- 3Each light comes on when the test switch is used or power is cut
Battery
- 4Each light stays on for the required time
- 5Charge indicators show the units are charging
- 6Faulty units are tagged and a repair is raised
Records
- 7The monthly test is recorded
- 8The annual full-duration test is in date
Worked example, illustrative
A filled-in example
One section as it might be filled in on the floor, with every other section of the inspection answered Yes. The place and finding are made up to show how the inspection reads and scores.
Result: fail, 87.5% against a pass mark of 90
- 8 questions, all of them count.
- 1 answered No, so 7 of 8 are Yes: 7 ÷ 8 = 87.5%.
- 87.5% is under 90, so the inspection fails.
What happened next: Electrician tagged the unit, fitted a new battery within the week and retested it for the full time.
Scored here as one point per question with N/A left out. In the app each answer carries the points set on the template, so change them after you clone it if your plant weighs some checks more.
Emergency Lighting Test Check
Inspection, monthly
- Building or zone
- Warehouse, zone C
Battery
- Each light stays on for the required timeNo
Comment: Unit above the east fire exit lit on the test switch then went dark after a few seconds. Battery looks original.
Photo attached to the No
- Charge indicators show the units are chargingYes
- Faulty units are tagged and a repair is raisedYes
When to use it
- Once a month.
- The person responsible for the area or equipment answers each question on the spot.
- Each record starts with: Building or zone.
How it is scored
The template is built with points per answer and a pass mark of 90. In this library every audit is set to pass at 80 and every inspection at 90. Each submitted inspection shows its score and pass or fail, and every No is flagged with its photo and comment.
Change the points or the pass mark after you clone it. How rules and scoring work.
Read and print
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FAQ
Emergency lighting inspection checklist: common questions
Monthly per building or zone is how the test is built, with the longer annual test on top. Test again after a power cut, after electrical work on the lighting circuits, after racking or new walls change the escape routes, after a unit is hit by a forklift, and when a new zone or mezzanine opens. A run of failures in one zone means check the whole batch.
Facilities or a maintenance electrician does it, walking the zone with a plan of every unit so none is missed. They need to know how each unit is tested, where the test switches or key points are, and what the charge indicator should show. Faulty units go to the maintenance lead, who raises the repair and confirms the retest.
A fail means an escape route could go dark in a power cut: a unit that does not light, one that dies early, an exit sign that is unreadable or hidden. Tag the unit, raise the repair that day and, where a route is left dark, put up a temporary light until it is fixed. Uncover blocked signs at once. In this template every No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, and an inspection that scores under its pass mark of 90 is a fail.
Keep the building or zone, date, who tested it, a numbered list of units with pass or fail for each, the photos of damaged or blocked units, and the repair that closed each fail. The annual test result sits with the monthly ones. Over a year the list shows which batteries are ageing out together. In LeanSuite each submitted inspection is stored with its score, its pass or fail, and the photo and comment on every No.
8 questions in 3 sections: lights, battery and records. Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A.
Use this template in LeanSuite
It is ready in the Template Marketplace inside Lean Creator as “Emergency Lighting Test Check”. Clone it into your plant, change any question, then schedule it to a person, role or asset with reminders. Auditors complete it on a phone or tablet, with photo evidence where required.
Not on LeanSuite yet? On a 90-day pilot our team sets up your account and digitizes the forms and checklists you use today, this one included.