Emergency Lighting & Exit Signs
Install, Test & Replace in Shops and Offices (2026)

What emergency lights and exit signs do

Wikipedia's emergency light entry defines an emergency light as a battery-backed lighting device that switches on automatically when a building experiences a power outage. It lists the purposes: lighting the pathways people use to escape, and helping them find nearby fire-fighting equipment. An exit sign, in Wikipedia's exit sign entry, is a pictogram or short text marking the location of the closest emergency exit.

In a fire the normal lighting may fail and smoke makes a familiar room confusing. The emergency lighting and signs are what get staff and customers from their desk or the back of the shop to the street.

Types of fitting you will come across

The maintained and non-maintained terms come from the UK and Australian practice described in the emergency light entry. Whichever type is used, the fitting has a battery that must be kept charged and a lamp that must work when called upon.

Where they are usually needed

The layout is set by the building's approved fire safety design, not by rule of thumb, but the logic is consistent. Expect to see emergency lighting and signs:

• Above and beside every exit door and final exit.
• Along corridors and at every change of direction on the escape route.
• On staircases and landings.
• Near fire-fighting equipment such as extinguishers, hose reels and call points.
• In rooms where people could be trapped in the dark: large offices, stockrooms, toilets used by the public.

What Bomba and the building expect

ClickBina's commercial renovation permit guide explains that anything affecting escape routes, sprinklers, smoke detection or emergency lighting needs Bomba review and approval, and that Bomba clearance typically comes before the council issues the business premise permit. In a strata building, the strata fire safety guide lists emergency lighting among the fire safety items that are common property and are checked when the building's fire certificate is renewed.

For a tenant that means two things: the emergency lights inside your unit must keep working with the building system, and your fit-out must not remove, cover or confuse the signs that show the way out.

When your fit-out changes the layout

A new layout is the most common reason emergency lighting stops matching the premises. New partitions create rooms with no emergency light. A new ceiling can bury fittings or leave them at the wrong height. Shelving, signboards and display walls can hide an exit sign from the people who need it.

• Mark every emergency light and exit sign on the new layout drawing before work starts.
• Check that each new room and each new turn in the escape route still has light and a visible sign.
• Move or add fittings through the electrical contractor or the building's fire contractor, not as a finishing touch.
• Keep exit signs clear of new signage, displays and hanging decorations.
• Test everything again before handover.

ClickBina's companion guide to fire safety equipment for shops and offices covers the extinguishers, hose reels and alarms around them.

Testing: the step everyone forgets

The emergency light entry notes that modern fittings usually have a test button that simulates a power failure and makes the unit run from its battery even while the main power is on. It also describes UK practice, where emergency lights receive monthly and annual tests along with maintenance and battery replacement.

ClickBina's commercial electrical maintenance guide makes the practical point: emergency lighting function testing should be named explicitly in the maintenance contract, with the result recorded, because it is the classic asset everyone assumes somebody else checks, and in offices it is the asset most often forgotten. Keep a simple log of each test, which fittings failed, and when they were fixed.

Common faults and what they mean

Repair or replace?

An old fitting with a failing battery can often be repaired, but where several fittings are failing, the housings are yellowed or the building is being refurbished anyway, replacing them together is usually simpler to test and maintain. Modern emergency lights commonly use LEDs, which the emergency light entry notes have superseded older lamp types. Whatever is chosen, the new fittings must still meet the building's approved layout and be tested and recorded after installation.

Who does the work

Emergency lights are wired into the building's electrical installation, and in some buildings they are part of a central system monitored with the fire alarm. Fixed electrical work is done by a registered electrical contractor, and work on a central or monitored system goes through the building's fire contractor. ClickBina handles commercial renovation and fit-out works, and coordinates that specialist with the partitions, ceilings and signage.

Process and timeline

Where the work is part of a larger fit-out, ClickBina's commercial fit-out process guide gives about 2 – 6 weeks for commercial approvals; start early.

What to send us for a quote

WhatsApp us your job details for a quote:

• Premises type: shoplot, office suite, mall unit or factory office.
• Floor area and the layout plan, with the exits marked if you can.
• Scope: repair, replacement, new fittings for a new layout, or testing only.
• Roughly how many emergency lights and exit signs there are now.
• Any notice from building management or Bomba, and your deadline.

ClickBina coordinates the electrical or fire contractor with the rest of the fit-out. ClickBina is an experienced KL & Selangor contractor. We reply within the hour, the price we agree is a flat price with no hidden charges, and a site visit is RM150, waived if you go ahead.

Sources & methodology

• Wikipedia, Emergency light — definition, purposes, maintained and non-maintained types, test button, UK testing practice, LEDs.
• Wikipedia, Exit sign — definition of an exit sign.
• ClickBina commercial renovation permit and strata fire safety guides — Bomba review; emergency lighting as common property.
• ClickBina commercial electrical maintenance guide — recorded function tests; the most forgotten asset.

Methodology: this page gives no prices, battery durations, light levels or test intervals for Malaysia, because none are published on a ClickBina page. Confirm requirements with the building management, the fire consultant and Bomba.