Emergency Lighting Logbook Requirements (AS/NZS 2293.2)

Why the logbook exists at all

In Victoria, exit signs and emergency lighting are an essential safety measure. Essential safety measures carry an ongoing maintenance obligation that sits with the building owner, not the tenant and not the contractor. AS/NZS 2293 splits into three parts: Part 1 covers system design and installation, Part 2 covers inspection and maintenance, and Part 3 covers the products themselves. Part 2 is the one that generates paperwork.

The regulator for this in Victoria is the Building and Plumbing Commission, which took over the functions of the former Victorian Building Authority on 1 July 2025. If your compliance documentation or service agreement still names the VBA, it is out of date.

What has to be in the logbook

A compliant record is not a tick-and-flick sheet. Each six-monthly service entry needs to carry enough detail that a third party could reconstruct what was done, by whom, and what condition the system was left in.

• Date of test – and the date the next test falls due.
• Test duration – the full 90-minute discharge, not a lamp-check.
• Name and signature of the competent person who carried out the test.
• Individual luminaire identification – every fitting, listed and located, so a failure can be traced to a physical light.
• Faults and defects found – described specifically, not as “NC” or “fail”.
• Remedial action taken, including parts replaced and the date of the repair.
• Battery condition and charger performance notes for each fitting.
• Any fitting left non-compliant, with the reason and the plan to rectify.

The point of the luminaire schedule is continuity. Without it, the next contractor cannot tell whether the fitting that failed this cycle is the same one that failed two cycles ago – which is the difference between a battery replacement and a system that needs redesigning.

The six-monthly cycle

The headline obligation under AS/NZS 2293.2 is a 90-minute discharge test every six months. The system is switched to battery, left to run for the full rated duration, and each fitting is then assessed for whether it maintained adequate illumination for the entire period. Fittings are also inspected for physical damage, obstruction and correct signage orientation.

Two practical notes from the field. First, a 90-minute test leaves the batteries flat – the building is genuinely less protected for the recharge window afterwards, so timing the test outside peak occupancy matters. Second, a fitting that passes at 90 minutes but only just is a fitting that will fail next cycle. A logbook that records margin, not just pass/fail, is the one that lets you budget replacements instead of reacting to them.

Full detail on how we run the test itself is on our exit and emergency lighting testing page.

How long records must be kept

Victorian essential safety measure records must be retained for seven years and made available on request to a municipal building surveyor or the fire authority. That is the retention period, not the audit period – you are expected to be able to produce a continuous chain of six-monthly entries going back seven years, on site.

The logbook also feeds the Annual Essential Safety Measures Report. The AESMR is due within 28 days of the anniversary of the building’s occupancy permit, is signed by the owner or their agent, and is kept on site rather than lodged with anyone. It certifies that each essential safety measure has been maintained to the required standard – and the emergency lighting logbook is the evidence behind that signature. We cover the wider obligation on our essential safety measures page.

The five logbook failures we find most often

1. No luminaire schedule. The book records “all fittings tested” with no count and no locations. Unauditable, and it hides fittings that were never reached.
2. Unsigned entries. A test result with no named competent person against it does not discharge the obligation.
3. Gaps after a change of contractor. The previous provider keeps the book. Six or twelve months vanish from the chain. Always take custody of the logbook at handover.
4. Defects logged, never closed out. The fault is recorded honestly and then never revisited – which is arguably worse evidentially than not recording it, because it documents a known unrepaired defect.
5. Records held only by the contractor. The obligation sits with the owner. If the book lives in someone else’s van, you cannot produce it when asked.

Paper or digital?

Either is acceptable. Digital records are easier to keep for seven years and easier to hand to a new managing agent, and they make the trend visible – you can see which fittings have been marginal for three cycles running. What matters is that the digital record captures the same fields, carries an attributable signature, and can be produced on site when someone asks for it. A cloud folder nobody at the building can access is not a compliant record.

For owners corporations, this is usually the cleanest thing to standardise across a portfolio – see our strata electrical and electrical compliance pages.

Common questions

How long do I have to keep emergency lighting records in Victoria?

Seven years. Records must be kept on site and produced on request to a municipal building surveyor or the fire authority.

Who is legally responsible for the emergency lighting logbook?

The building owner, or the owners corporation in a strata building. The obligation can be delegated to a managing agent or contractor in practice, but it cannot be transferred away in law.

What happens if the logbook is missing or incomplete?

An infringement notice and fine can be issued. More practically, an incomplete logbook usually stalls a property sale, lease or insurance claim, because the AESMR cannot be signed with confidence without it.

Does a monthly flick test replace the six-monthly logbook entry?

No. A brief function check confirms a lamp illuminates; it proves nothing about battery capacity. Only the full 90-minute discharge, recorded per fitting, satisfies AS/NZS 2293.2.

Can I start a new logbook if the old one is lost?

Yes, and you should – immediately. Open a new book, record a full baseline discharge test with a complete luminaire schedule, and note the reason the chain restarts. A documented restart is defensible; a silent gap is not.

Get your logbook audited

Carlin Co Electrical is a licensed Victorian electrical contractor (REC 33210) servicing Melbourne metro. We test exit and emergency lighting to AS/NZS 2293.2, take custody of and rebuild logbooks at handover, and hand back a per-fitting record your building surveyor can actually read. Get in touch for a logbook review or a six-monthly maintenance schedule.