Emergency Lighting & Exit Signs · Toronto & the GTA
Emergency Lighting in Toronto
Tested and certified. When the power goes out, people have seconds to find the exit. Ontario’s Fire Code requires your emergency lights and exit signs to work — and requires proof they were tested. We install, test, repair and certify emergency lighting for commercial buildings across Toronto, Etobicoke and the GTA.
What the law requires
Emergency lighting is one of the few electrical systems the Fire Code makes you prove — on a schedule, in writing. Here is the short version for building owners and property managers.
Monthly functional tests
Every emergency light and exit sign must be checked every month: the unit is test-fired and inspected to confirm it lights, its battery is holding, and nothing is damaged, painted over or blocked.
An annual full-duration test
Once a year, every unit has to run on battery under a simulated power failure for the full time your building was designed for. The floor is 30 minutes; some buildings are designed for one or two hours. A unit that lights for five minutes and fades does not pass.
Equipment that meets the standard
Emergency lighting units must meet CSA C22.2 No. 141, and exit signs must stay lit and visible whenever the building is occupied. We install listed equipment only — no unlisted offshore units.
Records, kept and ready
Test results have to be recorded and kept available for the fire inspector. Our annual certification gives you a written report and a dated tag on every unit — the paperwork an inspector, an insurer or a buyer’s lawyer asks for.
What “required” actually means
It applies to the building you already occupy. Emergency lighting rules live in Ontario’s Fire Code — the rules for existing buildings, not just new construction.
The owner carries the duty. The Fire Code makes the building owner responsible for keeping life-safety systems in working order — testing included. Occupants and tenants have their own duty: exits, corridors and signs stay clear and unobstructed.
It is enforced by the fire department. Fire prevention officers inspect commercial buildings and can order testing and repairs. Leaving required life-safety equipment unmaintained is an offence under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act — on conviction, an individual faces a fine of up to $50,000 for a first offence, and corporations face more.
Insurers and buyers ask, too. After a fire, an insurer will ask for your testing records. So will a buyer’s lawyer on a building sale, and a condo auditor on the annual review. Records you have are worth money; records you don’t have become a negotiation.
What we do
Installations, the testing schedule, and the repairs — one contractor looking after the whole system, start to finish.
New installations
Unit lights, remote heads and exit signs, laid out for the building.
We lay out emergency lighting for the paths of travel your building actually has — corridors, stairwells, exits, washrooms and open floor areas — with listed equipment and the battery capacity your building’s design duration calls for.
Monthly & annual testing
The tests the Fire Code requires, done on schedule.
Monthly functional checks and the annual full-duration test under simulated power failure. We keep the schedule, show up, and leave records behind — so the duty is handled, not just intended.
Repairs & battery replacement
A dead battery is the number one failure — and the easiest fix.
Sealed lead-acid batteries typically last three to five years. When a unit fails a test, we diagnose it on the spot — battery, charger board, lamp or the whole unit — and quote the repair before we do it.
Exit signs — the running man
Canada’s standard pictogram, lit at all times.
We install LED running-man exit signs with battery backup, and replace failed, damaged or outdated signs. If a sign is dark or the wrong type for the space, it goes on the deficiency list with a price to fix it.
Testing & certification
The annual certification
Once a year we simulate a power failure and run every emergency light in the building on battery for its full design duration. Every unit, remote head and exit sign is checked. Failed batteries are flagged with a price to replace them, and you receive a written report with a dated tag on each unit. Tap the photo to view it full size.
Book your annual test →How it works
Tell us about your building
Type of building, number of floors, and roughly how many units and signs you have — photos help. We come back with a price for the test.
We test everything
Monthly checks, or the full annual certification: every unit test-fired, timed on battery, and inspected — remote heads and exit signs included.
You get the report
A written report, a dated tag on every unit, and a priced list of anything that failed. Repairs are quoted upfront and done on your go.
Buildings we serve
Offices. Retail stores and restaurants. Condo and apartment common areas. Warehouses and industrial units. Rental buildings working through a RentSafeTO audit. If people work, shop or live in the building, its emergency lighting has to work — and its testing has to be documented. We look after single buildings and small portfolios across Toronto and the GTA.
Questions
How often does emergency lighting have to be tested?
Two tests, both required by Ontario’s Fire Code. Every month, each emergency light and exit sign gets a functional check — the unit is test-fired and inspected to make sure it lights and its battery is holding. Once a year, every unit runs a full-duration test: we simulate a power failure, and the lights have to stay lit on battery for the full time the building was designed for — never less than 30 minutes, and one or two hours in some buildings. Both tests have to be recorded, and the records kept for the fire inspector.
How long do emergency lights have to stay on in a power failure?
For as long as your building was designed for. The National Building Code sets the floor at 30 minutes of battery operation; some occupancies and taller buildings are designed for one or two hours. The annual test proves your units can still do it — a battery that lights the lamp for five minutes and then fades has failed, even though a quick press of the test button looks fine.
How long do emergency light batteries last?
A sealed lead-acid battery — the type inside most unit equipment — typically lasts three to five years. Newer lithium and nickel-metal-hydride batteries can run five to seven. Heat shortens battery life, so units mounted high in warm spaces age faster. The annual full-duration test is what catches a weakening battery — before a real power failure, or a fire inspector, does.
Our building got a fire inspection order. Can you help?
Yes — this is common, and it is fixable. Send us the order. We test every unit and sign in the building, repair or replace what failed, and give you the written report and dated tags that show the work was done. Most orders are about testing and maintenance that fell behind, and a completed annual certification with records is exactly what closes them.
Do exit signs have to be the green running man?
In Canada, yes — the running-man pictogram is the national standard for exit signs, and it is what we install. A pictogram reads instantly, in smoke and in any language. Older illuminated EXIT signs that were approved when they were installed are generally left in service until they fail or are replaced; when we replace a sign, it goes in as a running-man sign with battery backup.
Who is responsible — the building owner or the tenant?
The Fire Code places the duty for a building’s life-safety systems on the building owner: the equipment, the testing and the records. Tenants and occupants have their own duty to keep exits, corridors and signs clear and unobstructed. A lease sometimes passes maintenance costs to a tenant, but as far as the fire department is concerned, it starts with the owner. If you manage the building, one annual program covers the duty end to end.
What do we receive after the annual test?
A written report listing every unit and sign tested and its result, a dated certification tag on each unit, and a priced deficiency list for anything that failed — batteries, lamps, signs — with repairs quoted upfront. Keep the report with your fire safety records: it is what an inspector, an insurer or a buyer’s lawyer will ask to see.
Areas we serve
Emergency lighting installation, testing and certification for commercial buildings across Toronto and the GTA.
When the power fails, your building is ready.
Book the annual test, or have us bring a building that has fallen behind back up to standard. We are among the best in the business.
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