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Emergency Lighting Design Guide — AS/NZS 2293.1 & NCC 2022 Part E4
A practical guide to designing compliant emergency and exit lighting for Australian buildings. Learn where emergency lighting is triggered by building classification and floor area under NCC 2022 Part E4, how to read a luminaire’s A–E classification under AS/NZS 2293.3, and how to set out fitting spacing from the AS/NZS 2293.1 spacing tables. An interactive spacing simulator lets you enter a corridor length and maximum spacing and see the coverage and the minimum number of fittings, alongside the specific locations that always need a luminaire and the stairway 1-lux rule.
Why this page matters
A practical guide to designing compliant emergency and exit lighting for Australian buildings. Learn where emergency lighting is triggered by building classification and floor area under NCC 2022 Part E4, how to read a luminaire’s A–E classification under AS/NZS 2293.3, and how to set out fitting spacing from the AS/NZS 2293.1 spacing tables. An interactive spacing simulator lets you enter a corridor length and maximum spacing and see the coverage and the minimum number of fittings, alongside the specific locations that always need a luminaire and the stairway 1-lux rule. This static content is published so the canonical route has meaningful crawlable HTML even before the interactive application hydrates.
Who this page is for
Australian electrical engineers, electricians, building designers, certifiers and fire-safety practitioners designing or checking emergency and exit lighting to AS/NZS 2293.1 and NCC Part E4.
Relevant standards
- AS/NZS 2293.1:2018 (Emergency escape lighting and exit signs — system design, installation and operation)
- AS/NZS 2293.3 (Emergency escape luminaires and exit signs — luminaire classification)
- NCC 2022 Volume One Part E4 (Emergency lighting, exit signs and warning systems)
What this tool helps with
- Where emergency lighting is required by NCC 2022 Part E4 — building classification and floor-area triggers.
- Reading a luminaire’s A–E classification under AS/NZS 2293.3 and how it maps to the spacing tables.
- Setting out fitting spacing with an interactive coverage simulator to AS/NZS 2293.1.
- The specific locations that always need a luminaire, and the stairway 1-lux rule.
- Links to the ElecAS Lighting Design tool for full automated layouts.
How to design emergency lighting spacing under AS/NZS 2293.1
- Fix the classification and required areas — Determine the building classification and storey floor areas, then mark every zone where NCC 2022 Part E4 requires emergency lighting — paths of travel to exits, large rooms and all stairways.
- Select the luminaire and read its class — Choose an emergency luminaire and read its A–E classification under AS/NZS 2293.3, which maps to a specific maximum-spacing table in AS/NZS 2293.1.
- Read the maximum spacing from the table — Using the luminaire class and mounting height, read the maximum spacing for a general area (0.2 lux) or stairway / path of travel (1 lux).
- Lay out fittings so coverage overlaps — Space fittings so their coverage circles overlap and reach walls at half-spacing, keeping every point above the required illuminance, and never let one luminaire serve more than 500 m².
- Add specific-location and stairway fittings — Place a luminaire within 2 m of exit doorways, direction changes, corridor intersections and level changes, and provide 1 lux to every stair flight and landing.
How to design emergency and exit lighting under AS/NZS 2293.1 and NCC Part E4
Where emergency lighting is required under NCC 2022 Part E4
The National Construction Code (NCC 2022 Volume One, Part E4) sets where emergency lighting must be provided, driven by building classification and floor area. Emergency lighting is required in every fire-isolated stairway, passageway and ramp, in every required non-fire-isolated stairway, and in the path of travel to an exit on storeys above a threshold floor area (typically 300 m² for Class 5, 6 and 9 buildings), among other triggers.
The first design step is always to fix the building classification and the storey floor areas, then mark the required zones — corridors and paths of travel to exits, large rooms that do not open onto an already-lit space, and every stairway. Stairways carry emergency lighting in effectively every building, regardless of class.
Reading a luminaire classification (Class A–E)
Emergency escape luminaires are classified A to E under AS/NZS 2293.3 by the shape of their light distribution. Each class maps to its own maximum-spacing tables in AS/NZS 2293.1, and only the light within the geometric cut-off counts toward compliance.
Practically, the classification plus the mounting height set the maximum spacing you are allowed between fittings for a general area (0.2 lux) or a stairway and path of travel (1 lux). Pick the fitting first, read its class and the matching spacing table, and only then lay out the fittings.
Setting out fitting spacing to AS/NZS 2293.1
For a corridor or open area, the maximum spacing from the AS/NZS 2293.1 table for the luminaire class and mounting height gives the coverage diameter of each fitting. Lay fittings so their coverage circles overlap and reach the walls at half-spacing, so no point on the escape path falls below the required maintained illuminance.
Two extra limits apply on top of the spacing table: a single luminaire must not serve more than 500 m² regardless of spacing (Clause 4.3), and the light loss factor (0.75 for maintained fittings) is applied in the photometric calculation. The interactive spacing simulator in this guide lets you enter a run length and the table maximum spacing and see both the coverage and the minimum number of fittings the run needs.
Specific locations and stairways
Beyond the spacing across open areas, AS/NZS 2293.1 requires a luminaire within 2 m of specific points where people make decisions or meet hazards — exit doorways, changes of direction, intersections of corridors, and changes of floor level (Clause 4.5). These points get a fitting even if the general-area spacing would not otherwise place one there.
Stairways are treated separately: every flight and landing must receive at least 1 lux (Clause 4.8), using the higher-illuminance F-series spacing tables rather than the 0.2 lux general-area tables. Combined with the specific-location rule, this ensures the whole path of travel to a place of safety stays lit when normal supply fails.