Schools and offices: the two ceiling questions that decide the project

Two questions, asked early

• Is the ceiling void deep enough for the emergency module, including the connector and cable bend radius, not just the body of the driver?
• Will that void still be accessible when the battery needs replacing, five or eight years later?

Both are cheap to resolve at design stage and expensive to resolve afterwards. A void that fits the module but seals itself behind a fixed plasterboard ceiling turns every future battery replacement into a building works job.

Configuration that suits these buildings

• Recessed downlights along corridors, matched to the general lighting so the emergency function is not visually obvious.
• Self-testing units, because a facilities team responsible for several buildings will not manually test hundreds of fittings on schedule.
• Exit signs with a slim profile where the architecture is exposed, and standard profile where it is not.
• A consistent cut-out diameter across the project, so a failed fitting can be swapped with any spare on site.

Where projects usually go wrong

Three avoidable failures recur: the void is measured to the driver body and not to the cable entry; the ceiling is specified as fire-rated after the luminaires are chosen, forcing a change; and the spare fittings kept on site are a different cut-out size from the installed ones, so they cannot be used.

Before you order

• Ceiling type and void depth, with a drawing rather than a verbal description.
• Whether the ceiling is fire-rated or moisture-rated, and what that requires of the fitting.
• The duration required by the local authority for the building type.
• Whether the maintenance team wants self-test, remote test, or a DALI system reporting to a central point.

Anshine supplies recessed and surface emergency luminaires from 3W to 300W with CE, RoHS, CB and ISO 9001 documentation, batteries warranted for 3 years and other parts for 5 years.