Every building should have its lighting systems inspected occasionally. It's important to keep an eye on your lighting as those fixtures and high-powered bulbs have potential to cause injury or even fire if they malfunction.
Your emergency exit lights also need care and there are more strict regulations determining how often you should have these inspected. Today, we discuss when a business should schedule a lighting inspection and how to schedule the inspection service carefully to accommodate customer and employee needs.
The most frequent lighting inspections you need are monthly tests for all of your building's emergency lights. It is necessary for the emergency exit lights to achieve a certain amount of current and a certain rating of lumens, which basically means they need to glow bright enough to get people's attention in an emergency.
The NFPA requires that these lights be tested once a month to ensure that they are still working properly and emitting the right number of lumens. Fire code also requires that your emergency lights be tested annually for 90 minutes. Lighting Services, Inc. offers monthly, annual, and semi-annual maintenance plans for your emergency lighting.
Maintaining written records of all emergency lighting inspections is important in case the local fire marshal or other authority requests them. Be assured that Lighting Services, Inc. provides you with a complete report after every inspection.
You will also want to schedule inspections of your other lighting to ensure that it is as safe and efficient as possible. This is essential to be certain that, for example, a light fixture does not short out, spark, fall, or explode during the course of everyday work tasks. An annual commercial lighting inspection is a good idea for keeping everyone safe.
An inspection can also assist in avoiding dark spots and general loss of illumination throughout your building. Technicians can clean bulbs and lenses and replace lighting equipment that is deteriorating before it becomes detrimental to your business.
Then there's the question of when to schedule your monthly, semi-annual, or annual lighting inspection. A lighting inspection requires workers to climb ladders and inspect each light fixture, which could potentially be disruptive to a productive day. Often the best answer is to plan your inspections for early on a weekday morning before your clients would usually start to arrive. The technicians will work quickly to check out every light and fixture to give you the all-clear before the building officially opens for the day.
Some buildings literally never close so there are staff and maybe even clients at all hours of the day. Many of these simply accept that lighting inspections and everyday work will happen at the same time, while others get clever. For example, you could send your staff into a team meeting while the lighting inspection goes on.
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Getting the lights inspected in your building is not something you want to overlook. It's important so that your business is safe according to the fire code and so that your light fixtures are well-installed and secure and effective for employees to work beneath. For more insights into lighting, contact us!