In the Dark over Vandal Resistant Lighting
Public areas, be they car parks, shopping centres, public buildings or parks need to be well lit at night, yet light fittings in these areas are particularly prone to vandal attack.
Fittings damaged by vandals present a number of potential dangers to the public. The absence of a working lamp may leave an area perilously dark at night and a damaged luminaire may be left with sharp edges that could cause injury if left unrepaired. In addition, any exposed live elements present the potentially fatal hazard of electric shock until a fitting has been isolated or replaced.
Lighting in public areas is often exposed to the elements and needs to be of rugged design in order to prevent water penetration (and salt damage in coastal areas). Seemingly robust fittings may, however, be ill equipped to withstand vandal attack. Many fittings sold as vandal-resistant actually perform very poorly in impact resistance tests. Lighting specifiers need to look for a recognised standard so that adequate impact resistance can be confidently specified.
The impact strength test required for fixed, rough service luminaires in the European standard EN605981: 1997 is 6.5 Joules. This is a low level that does not guarantee resistance to vandalism. An “attack” could easily involve the use of a baseball bat, metal bar, stone or even scaffolding pole, which will involve energies much higher than this level.
One French manufacturer has advocated the use of a third IP number in addition to those more widely used to denote protection against dust and water ingress. On this scale an IP rating of three represents 0.5J, seven equates to 6.0J and the top nine rating signifies the ability to withstand impact energies of 20J. While this 20J rating is significantly higher than the 6.5 J of EN605981: 1997, it is still not high enough.
Although not widely used up to now, BS EN 50102:1995, normally used for rating the impact strength of electrical enclosures, can also be used to rate luminaires for impact resistance (BS EN 50102:1995 “Degrees Of Protection Provided By Enclosures For Electrical Equipment Against External Mechanical Impacts (IK Code)”).
Specifiers and engineers would do well to take a very critical look at fittings which manufacturers are promoting as being vandalresistant. We believe that even IK10 is an unrealistically low standard of vandalresistance rating, yet there are some so-called vandal-resistant fittings being marketed with ratings as low as IK05 or IK06. It is likely that such fittings are vandal-resistant in name only and are offering a very low level of protection.
Although the IK10 rating given is for 20J, there is provision within the standard for an even higher value of 50J, which Designplan indicates as an IK10++ rating. To be sold as a vandal resistant luminaire, a Designplan fitting would have been tested to the 50J, IK10++ standard without sustaining damage that would impair safety and its further use.
Testing luminaires for rating under this standard can be done using testing equipment described in BS EN 60068-2- 75:1997 (IEC 60068-2-75:1997) using a pendulum hammer, spring hammer or vertical hammer. Designplan uses a pendulum hammer and for the 50J test a 10kg equivalent mass with a rounded head is dropped from a height of 500mm.
Engineers and specifiers who want to ensure they are choosing the most robust fittings, minimising potential dangers to the public and preventing excessive maintenance and repair expenditure already have a wide range of luminaires available that offer the high standard of the IK10++ rating. All Designplan fittings within its vandal-resistant range have already qualified for this IK10++ rating and can be supplied with the Designplan lifetime guarantee against breakage.
A RIBA accredited CPD seminar entitled “Vandal Resistant Lighting” is available from Designplan and can be given at your organisation’s premises. For further information, or to arrange a seminar contact:
Designplan Sales office on +49 30 5106 2020
E-mail: info@designplanleuchten.de
© Designplan Lighting Ltd
Fittings damaged by vandals present a number of potential dangers to the public. The absence of a working lamp may leave an area perilously dark at night and a damaged luminaire may be left with sharp edges that could cause injury if left unrepaired. In addition, any exposed live elements present the potentially fatal hazard of electric shock until a fitting has been isolated or replaced.
Lighting in public areas is often exposed to the elements and needs to be of rugged design in order to prevent water penetration (and salt damage in coastal areas). Seemingly robust fittings may, however, be ill equipped to withstand vandal attack. Many fittings sold as vandal-resistant actually perform very poorly in impact resistance tests. Lighting specifiers need to look for a recognised standard so that adequate impact resistance can be confidently specified.
The impact strength test required for fixed, rough service luminaires in the European standard EN605981: 1997 is 6.5 Joules. This is a low level that does not guarantee resistance to vandalism. An “attack” could easily involve the use of a baseball bat, metal bar, stone or even scaffolding pole, which will involve energies much higher than this level.
One French manufacturer has advocated the use of a third IP number in addition to those more widely used to denote protection against dust and water ingress. On this scale an IP rating of three represents 0.5J, seven equates to 6.0J and the top nine rating signifies the ability to withstand impact energies of 20J. While this 20J rating is significantly higher than the 6.5 J of EN605981: 1997, it is still not high enough.
Although not widely used up to now, BS EN 50102:1995, normally used for rating the impact strength of electrical enclosures, can also be used to rate luminaires for impact resistance (BS EN 50102:1995 “Degrees Of Protection Provided By Enclosures For Electrical Equipment Against External Mechanical Impacts (IK Code)”).
Specifiers and engineers would do well to take a very critical look at fittings which manufacturers are promoting as being vandalresistant. We believe that even IK10 is an unrealistically low standard of vandalresistance rating, yet there are some so-called vandal-resistant fittings being marketed with ratings as low as IK05 or IK06. It is likely that such fittings are vandal-resistant in name only and are offering a very low level of protection.
Although the IK10 rating given is for 20J, there is provision within the standard for an even higher value of 50J, which Designplan indicates as an IK10++ rating. To be sold as a vandal resistant luminaire, a Designplan fitting would have been tested to the 50J, IK10++ standard without sustaining damage that would impair safety and its further use.
Testing luminaires for rating under this standard can be done using testing equipment described in BS EN 60068-2- 75:1997 (IEC 60068-2-75:1997) using a pendulum hammer, spring hammer or vertical hammer. Designplan uses a pendulum hammer and for the 50J test a 10kg equivalent mass with a rounded head is dropped from a height of 500mm.
Engineers and specifiers who want to ensure they are choosing the most robust fittings, minimising potential dangers to the public and preventing excessive maintenance and repair expenditure already have a wide range of luminaires available that offer the high standard of the IK10++ rating. All Designplan fittings within its vandal-resistant range have already qualified for this IK10++ rating and can be supplied with the Designplan lifetime guarantee against breakage.
A RIBA accredited CPD seminar entitled “Vandal Resistant Lighting” is available from Designplan and can be given at your organisation’s premises. For further information, or to arrange a seminar contact:
Designplan Sales office on +49 30 5106 2020
E-mail: info@designplanleuchten.de
© Designplan Lighting Ltd