01 Oct 2026

ICEL Emergency Lighting Conference 2026: Emergency lighting sector calls for greater collaboration, competence and accountability

The emergency lighting industry must ‘strengthen collaboration, competence and accountability’ across the building lifecycle if it is to protect life-safety standards, delegates heard at the ICEL Emergency Lighting Conference 2026.

Held at the Cavendish Conference Centre in London, the ICEL Conference - which is now in its fourth year - attracted more than 200 delegates from across the emergency lighting and wider built environment sectors.

This year, around 70% of attendees came from the wider industry, including designers, installers, fire risk assessors and consultants, representing the strongest engagement beyond the emergency lighting sector in the event’s history. The Lighting Industry Association (The LIA) believes the growing interest reflects the need for greater understanding of emergency lighting responsibilities in a building safety landscape reshaped by the Building Safety Act.

Bringing together manufacturers, consultants, contractors, facilities managers, responsible persons and end users, the ICEL Conference provided an opportunity for different parts of the supply chain to examine some of the most pressing challenges facing emergency lighting. One of the clearest messages to emerge from the event was that emergency lighting cannot be treated as the responsibility of a single discipline. Equally, it should not be considered at just one stage of a building’s design, construction or operation.

Closing the gaps across the supply chain

This year’s speakers, who included leading figures from the worlds of lighting, fire risk assessment and building safety, highlighted the need for closer collaboration across the emergency lighting supply chain. Each called for greater sharing of knowledge and best practice to ensure emergency lighting is properly understood and prioritised as a life-safety-critical system.

Competence was a recurring theme on the day. Delegates and speakers argued for stronger, more consistent frameworks covering the design, installation, commissioning, inspection and maintenance of emergency lighting.

An audience poll, facilitated by The LIA, underlined the challenge. Asked whether they considered themselves competent when it came to emergency lighting. Almost half (49%) of those responding recognised that their own competence had limits.

Delivering a keynote presentation, Jon Vanstone, Chair of the Industry Competence Committee (ICC) within the Building Safety Regulator, reminded delegates why emergency lighting needs to remain a priority for every organisation.

Emergency lighting spends years doing nothing at all. Then, on one day, in the dark, someone who has never given it a thought has to find the way out,

he said.

Maintaining the golden thread

The conference also reinforced the importance of maintaining the golden thread of information and responsibility throughout the building lifecycle.

Clear communication and involvement at each stage, from risk assessment and design through to commissioning and ongoing management, are essential to ensure critical information is not lost and responsibilities are clearly understood.

Commenting on the success of the ICEL Conference, Ayça Donaghy, CEO of The Lighting Industry Association, said:

Emergency lighting is not the responsibility of one organisation, one discipline or one stage of a building’s lifecycle. It is a shared responsibility. What came through clearly at ICEL was that we need to strengthen the connections between everyone involved, sharing knowledge, maintaining the golden thread of information and building greater consistency around competence. The conversation cannot stop when the conference ends; we need to turn these shared priorities into practical action across the industry.

Feedback from ICEL 2026

The value of bringing different parts of the industry together was also reflected in feedback from delegates.

“My third ICEL conference and it's impossible to come away without learning something new.” Paul Brickell, Laing O'Rourke

“We weren’t sure what to expect at first, as we mainly cover fire risk assessments and fire strategies. However, it turned out to be one of the better conferences we have attended and gave us some really useful information that will definitely help with future reports.” Mark Bullard, My Fire Safety Ltd

“A very informative and worthwhile event. I particularly found the discussions around competency, collaboration and the golden thread useful. It highlighted the importance of everyone involved understanding their responsibilities and working together to ensure emergency lighting is treated as a life-safety-critical system.” Claire Moyses, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Support & sponsors

The 2026 event was made possible by the support of leading brands in the emergency lighting sector.

“We are indebted to our sponsors for their support,” said Ayca Donaghy. “This year’s conference was generously supported by Fox Lux Ltd, ABB, P4, Helvar, Emergency Lighting Products Limited (ELP), Clevertronics UK, Society of Light and Lighting, and DALI Alliance.”

The LIA also extends its thanks to the conference’s media partners: Electrical Contracting News (ECN), Parrot PR, The Light Review, and Professional Electricians Wholesaler, for helping to extend the conversation across the wider industry.