In fire safety engineering, significant attention is given to detection systems, alarm reliability, and overall system resilience. However, one of the most critical interactions in an emergency remains the simplest: a building occupant identifying a fire and activating a manual call point.

This action is entirely dependent on visibility.

Life safety response

Manual call points are universally specified and installed, yet their performance under emergency conditions is not always fully considered. When normal lighting fails, visibility is reduced, and occupants are under stress, the ability to quickly locate and identify a call point becomes a key factor in effective life safety response.

IS 3217:2023 recognises this requirement. Clause 5.7.2(i) references the need to achieve 5 lux at fire alarm call points and firefighting equipment. This illuminance level reflects practical human behaviour in emergency situations - occupants rely on clear visual cues rather than systematic search patterns. Where contrast is poor or illumination is insufficient, critical devices may not be immediately identifiable.

Achieving this requirement consistently can present challenges in modern buildings. Architectural trends across commercial, residential, and hospitality sectors increasingly favour low ambient lighting levels, darker finishes, and minimal visual contrast. While these approaches enhance design intent, they can reduce the effectiveness of traditional emergency lighting in providing sufficient vertical illuminance at wall-mounted devices.

Conventional emergency lighting design is typically focused on horizontal illuminance along escape routes and within open areas. As a result, compliance at floor level does not necessarily guarantee adequate illumination at manual call points, particularly in complex layouts or design-led environments.

This has led to a growing recognition that certain critical devices may require more targeted illumination strategies.

LUX5IVE has been developed to address this gap in a more targeted way. Rather than relying on ambient spill light, it delivers illumination exactly where it is needed, directly at the manual call point itself, helping engineers achieve the 5 lux requirement with greater certainty.

Powered from the fire alarm panel, the device operates in maintained mode, remaining illuminated at all times, including during mains failure via the standby battery supply. This removes reliance on the distribution of emergency lighting and instead ensures that visibility is inherent to the device location.

Not intended to replace compliant emergency luminaires

Importantly, LUX5IVE from Ventilux sits within the fire alarm system rather than the emergency lighting installation. It is not intended to replace compliant emergency luminaires, but to complement them, particularly in areas where achieving required lux levels through conventional layouts alone may be difficult or inefficient.

From a design perspective, this introduces a more precise and flexible approach. Installation is straightforward, using standard fire alarm cabling with no requirement for local batteries or additional testing regimes. As with any connected device, its load must be considered within fire alarm standby battery calculations, ensuring system capacity is maintained in line with EN 54-4.

What this approach ultimately offers is a shift in control. Instead of adapting emergency lighting layouts to suit individual problem areas, engineers can address visibility at the point of interaction itself, aligning design intent more closely with real-world performance.

Ultimately, ensuring visibility at manual call points is not simply a compliance exercise, but a critical aspect of building safety engineering.

For Ventilux, this reflects a wider commitment to supporting engineers with practical solutions that address real challenges on site, not just in theory, but in everyday application.

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