In Saudi Arabia the duration and the lux come from the Saudi Building Code: at least 90 minutes for new buildings in every Civil Defense guide we read, and 11 lx average at the start with a required value that steps down to 6 lx. Civil Defense inspects against it. EN 1838 applies only when a specification names it, yet specifications often quote it instead.
Four ideas to carry into the next specification conversation you have.
The five Civil Defense guides we read, for malls, offices, hospitals, hotels and high-risk plants, all quote the same clause of the Saudi code, §1008.3.4: not less than 90 minutes, from batteries or an on-site generator, with exit signs at §1013.6.3. That is the scope for new buildings, in the numbering the guides use; the SBC-2024 text itself is sold and we could not read it. A Civil Defense instructions page still states 2 hours and switch-on within 10 seconds, with no date and a defer-to-Civil-Defense clause, so confirm with the authority which applies to the project. For existing buildings the ICC base code allows 60 minutes (IFC 2012 §1104.5.1) and we have not read the Saudi text, so 60 is not ruled out there. A client, insurer or risk assessment may still require 180; that is stricter, not wrong.
SBC 801-2007 §8.6.4, the last Saudi text we could read, asks for 11 lx average and 1 lx minimum at floor level along the egress path at the start, and lets the required values fall to 6 lx and 0.6 lx by the end, within 40:1. EN 1838:2024 clause 4.1 states no average, only a 1 lx minimum that holds for the full rated duration at the end of the design life. Neither stops the actual output from falling; both set the floor it may not cross.
IEC 60598-2-22 classifies and marks every emergency luminaire to its Annex B, and the classification ends with the rated duration in minutes. A product classified X 1 ABCEFG 60 (BSI test report 3873722 Rev 1, 2023) is 30 minutes short. Meeting the duration is not full compliance: the lux, the response time and the layout are separate checks, and a central battery system is judged on its autonomy, not on luminaire marking.
Where a specification names EN 1838, name the 2024 edition. The 2013 text asked for 1 lx on the centre line and half that over the central band. The 2024 clause 5.1.1 counts 1 lx across the floor, excluding a border of a quarter of the width each side on routes up to 2 m and 0.5 m on wider ones; Annex B still checks diversity along the centre line. Clauses renumbered: escape route 5.1, open area 5.2, high-risk task 5.3.
Grouped by the document that binds. In Saudi Arabia that is the Saudi code first; a European standard applies on top of it only where a specification names it.
| Requirement | Threshold · timing | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Building Code, inspected by Civil Defense | ||
| Duration, egress lighting, new buildings | at least 90 min, in all five guides read | SBC §1008.3.4, as quoted by Civil Defense |
| Duration, existing buildings | Saudi text not verified; the ICC base allows 60 min | ICC IFC 2012 §1104.5.1 |
| Exit signs | lit at all times, 90 min on mains failure | SBC §1013.6.3, as quoted by Civil Defense |
| Rooms on emergency power | electrical, fire pump and generator rooms; public restrooms over 28 m² | SBC §1008.3.3, as quoted by Civil Defense |
| Initial illuminance | 11 lx average, 1 lx minimum at floor level | SBC 801 (2007) §8.6.4; SBC Section 1008 |
| End-of-duration illuminance | 6 lx average, 0.6 lx minimum | SBC 801 (2007) §8.6.4; SBC Section 1008 |
| Uniformity | max : min not above 40 : 1 | SBC 801 (2007) §8.6.4 |
| Civil Defense instructions page | at least 2 h; on within 10 s; undated, defers to Civil Defense conditions | 998.gov.sa safety instructions §3-6/1, 3-6/2 |
| Switch-on time, high-rise (2007 text) | emergency systems within 10 s | SBC 801 (2007) §5D.4.2.14.3 |
| Test intervals | not verified in the Saudi text we read | SBC 801 |
| Plan submission | emergency lighting and sign locations on the drawings | Civil Defense plan-submission guide, §4.5 |
| EN 1838:2024, where a specification names it | ||
| Escape route illuminance | at least 1 lx on the floor, edge borders excluded | EN 1838:2024 cl. 5.1.1 |
| Room inter-reflections | not counted; the first reflection may count for qualifying indirect luminaires | EN 1838:2024 cl. 4.1 |
| Anti-panic illuminance | at least 0.5 lx over the core, 0.5 m border excluded | EN 1838:2024 cl. 5.2 |
| High-risk task illuminance | at least 10% of the task, never below 15 lx | EN 1838:2024 cl. 5.3.2 |
| Glare limit, escape routes | 500 cd below 2.5 m, up to 5000 cd above 4.5 m | EN 1838:2024 Table 3 |
| The luminaire and its tests | ||
| Response, escape route | 50% within 5 s, 100% within 60 s | IEC 60598-2-22:2021 cl. 22.17.3 |
| Response, high-risk task | 100% within 0.5 s | EN 1838:2024 cl. 5.3.7; IEC 60598-2-22:2021 cl. 22.17.3 |
| Duration marking | rated minutes at the end of the classification code | IEC 60598-2-22 Annex B |
| Battery, rated duration over time | rated duration for at least four years | IEC 60598-2-22 cl. 22.7.8 |
| Battery design life, one pack | 8, 6 and 4 years at a battery case up to 25, 35 and 45 °C | Tridonic data sheet 10/26-EM140-13 §8.5 |
| Battery replacement | when rated duration is no longer met after recharge | IEC 60598-2-22 cl. 22.6.10 |
| Daily inspection | status indicators of central systems; recommended for self-contained ones; record faults only | EN 50172:2024 cl. 7.4.2 |
| Monthly test | long enough to see each lamp light, at most 10% of rated duration; 10% a month in total where short discharges harm the battery | IEC 62034:2012 cl. 5.1 · EN 50172:2024 cl. 7.4.3 |
| Annual verification | full rated duration plus the 7.3 b) to f) checks, logged; a 3 h test with up to 24 h recharge ends at hour 27 | IEC 62034:2012 cl. 5.2 · EN 50172:2024 cl. 7.4.4 |
| Five-year verification | illuminance measured against the design minimums | EN 50172:2024 cl. 7.4.5 |
| Logbook | commissioning, every check and test, defects, changes, who did them | EN 50172:2024 cl. 7.2 |
| For reference, US code | 10.8 lx avg and 1.1 lx min, falling to 6.5 and 0.65 lx over 1½ h | NFPA 101-2024 §7.9.2.1.1 to .3 |
Seven practical realities of emergency lighting that show up in audits.
Escape routes and open areas must reach 50% of the required illuminance within 5 s and 100% within 60 s, the test IEC 60598-2-22:2021 clause 22.17.3 applies to the luminaire. The 0.5 s figure belongs to high-risk task area luminaires alone: control rooms, plant, kitchens, labs. Applying it to everything prices in a product nobody needed.
Both come from the same foot-candles: 1 fc average and 0.1 fc minimum at the start, 0.6 fc and 0.06 fc at the end. SBC 801-2007 prints 11, 1, 6 and 0.6 lx; NFPA 101-2024 §7.9.2.1.1 and .2 print 10.8, 1.1, 6.5 and 0.65 lx. A Saudi specification should quote the Saudi text, even where the numbers nearly agree.
EN 1838:2024 clause 5.3.2: not less than 10% of the maintained illuminance for the task, and never less than 15 lx, with diversity of at least 1:10 (5.3.3). Below a 150 lx task the floor governs and the percentage is irrelevant. This is EN 1838's number. IEC 60598-2-22 is a luminaire product standard: it tests the luminaire and sets no illuminance for the space.
EN 1838:2024 clause 4.1: the requirements hold for the full rated duration to the end of the design life, the design uses direct light only, and room inter-reflections are not counted. The exception is indirect or uplight emergency luminaires: the first reflection may be counted if that surface is maintained as part of the emergency lighting and nothing ever obstructs the path to it (2013 text: clause 4.1.1, no exception). Clause 4.1 also requires a maintenance factor but prints no number; the 0.8 in spacing tables is the maker's assumption. A mains luminaire on an emergency conversion kit is in no spacing table; calculate it on its emergency lumens.
One published self-contained bulkhead gives 3.28 lx directly beneath it at 2.5 m, 1.28 lx at 4 m and 0.57 lx at 6 m, the inverse-square law to two decimals. That describes the point directly below only. Spacing also depends on the luminaire's photometric distribution and the layout; this table spaces it 11.3 m, 9.6 m, then not at all at 6 m. Glare limits still apply: EN 1838:2024 Table 3 caps luminous intensity by mounting height, from 500 cd below 2.5 m to 5000 cd above 4.5 m, and the cap bites hardest in low corridors.
Tridonic's LiFePO4 Accupack 3.3 Ah (data sheet 10/26-EM140-13, section 8.5) states 8 years of design life at a battery case temperature up to 25 °C, 6 up to 35 °C and 4 up to 45 °C. That is the case of the battery inside the fitting, not the room ambient, and it is years of service, not the 1, 2 or 3 hours one discharge must last. IEC 60598-2-22 clause 22.7.8 asks for the rated duration over at least four years.
EN 50172:2024 clause 7 sets the regime. Daily: check the status indicators of central systems (recommended for self-contained ones too). Monthly: simulate a mains failure long enough to see each lamp light; IEC 62034 clause 5.1 caps an automatic test at 10% of rated duration, 18 minutes at most for a 180 minute luminaire, and at 10% a month in total for batteries harmed by short discharges. Annually: the full rated duration plus the 7.3 b) to f) checks (indicators, monitors, cleanliness, inhibit and rest modes, obstructions). Every five years: measure the illuminance. Record it all in the logbook (7.2). In the illustrated case, a 3 h test followed by up to 24 hours of recharge ends at hour 27; full rated autonomy may be unavailable until then, so keep adequate emergency cover in every area through the test and the recharge. We did not verify test intervals in the Saudi text.
Four lines, each naming a document, a quantity and a unit. None of them can be answered with an adjective.
a. SBC 201/801 Section 1008, current edition (values from the 2007 text): at least 11 lx average and 1 lx minimum at the start, 6 and 0.6 lx at 90 min, max:min 40:1 or less.
b. Self-contained luminaires to IEC 60598-2-22:2021, rated 90 min or more; a central supply, 90 min autonomy or more.
c. If EN 1838:2024 is also named, its values apply too.
d. Logbook and tests to EN 50172:2024 cl. 7: daily status, monthly function, annual full duration with checks, lux every 5 years.
A 90 min rating proves duration only. Line c is the one nobody writes: where a specification names EN 1838:2024 as well as the Saudi code, both sets of values apply, and the Saudi average and the EN minimum are checked separately.
For a Saudi project: SBC 201/801 for the duration and the lux (at least 90 minutes for new buildings), EN 1838:2024 only if the specification names it, self-contained luminaires to IEC 60598-2-22:2021 marked for at least 90 minutes or a central supply with that autonomy, IEC 62034 and EN 50172:2024 for the tests. Every number with its document and edition.
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Every number on this page, and the one document that sets it.