The previous sections addressed luminaire labelling and provisions intended as protection against luminaires as causes of fire.
Fire prevention properties
Furthermore, operators of electrical installations also have a need for protection when it comes to equipment, meaning that it must not further promote the spread of a fire, e.g. through burning components falling down. Therefore, electrical equipment including luminaires also need to feature fire resistance to a certain extent. This particularly applies to insulation components providing protection against electric shocks or fixating live components in their position. For insulation materials, EN 60598 stipulates needle burner testing during which these components are exposed to a test flame over 10 s. 30 seconds after the removal of the test flame, the test item must not be on fire anymore. Burning drops that might fall down must not ignite components located beneath (blotting paper in test situations).
In public areas, non-halogen lines are often used for electrical installations to prevent the release of toxic gases in the event of a fire. In such cases, the use of non-halogen luminaires is often required as well. Generally, luminaires are not equipped with non-halogen inner wiring, however, requests to the manufacturer are possible.
For fluorescent lamp luminaires it is important to ensure that non-halogen installation lines are protected against UV radiation effects in cable entry areas. Information of this nature must be enclosed with the luminaire.