Focus on 315 | CCTV Highlights Counterfeit and Substandard Fire Protection Products

Fire protection products play a significant role in firefighting and evacuation, and the quality of fire equipment directly affects everyone's safety. However, counterfeit and substandard fire products appear on the market every year; if installed in densely populated places or residential buildings, the consequences would be unimaginable. As the March 15 Consumer Rights Day approaches, the Fire and Rescue Department of the Ministry of Emergency Management has recently deployed local fire and rescue departments to collaborate with public security and market supervision authorities to inspect fire products.

Through inspections, multiple outlets were found selling non-compliant fire protection products, including fire extinguishers, fire hydrants, fire helmets, evacuation signs, and emergency lighting. The fire department and inspection team legally seized and destroyed these counterfeit and substandard products. Firefighters stated that if these inferior products entered the market, they would not only fail to provide protection during a fire but could also exacerbate the spread of flames, potentially causing casualties.

Firefighters destroy substandard fire products such as fire extinguishers and emergency lighting

As an important product required in fire safety measures, fire emergency luminaires provide lighting like ordinary luminaires under normal conditions. In emergencies such as earthquakes, fires, or power outages caused by circuit failures, when all light sources stop working, they must immediately provide reliable illumination and indicate the direction of evacuation and the location of emergency exits to ensure that people trapped in darkness can evacuate safely.

With the acceleration of urbanization and growing public emphasis on life and property safety, fire safety awareness has steadily increased. In recent years, rising demand for fire emergency lighting has driven continuous expansion of its market size. As a critical component of safe evacuation systems, fire emergency luminaires are closely monitored by relevant national authorities, with increasingly stringent market regulation. In 2018, the National standard (mandatory / recommended) "Technical Standard for Fire Emergency Lighting and Evacuation Indication Systems" (GB51309-2018) was issued for the first time and came into effect on March 1, 2019, further standardizing the development of the fire emergency lighting industry.

The National standard (mandatory / recommended) "Technical Standard for Fire Emergency Lighting and Evacuation Indication Systems" includes technical requirements for the design, construction, and acceptance of fire emergency lighting and evacuation indication systems. Among them, Articles 3.2.4, 3.3.1, 3.3.2, 4.1.4, 4.5.11(6), 6.0.4, and 6.0.5 are mandatory provisions and must be strictly implemented.

According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in 2019, the revenue of lighting luminaire manufacturing enterprises above designated size nationwide reached RMB 355.14 billion, with a total profit of RMB 22.9 billion, a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 7.7%. The continuous expansion of the lighting luminaire market has provided broad space for the development of the fire emergency light market. In 2019, the market size of fire emergency lights in China approached RMB 4.0 billion, a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 6.8%.

From a global market perspective, the main manufacturers of fire emergency lights include Signify, Acuity Brands, Schneider, Eaton Electrical, and Ventilux; from a domestic market perspective, the main manufacturers of fire emergency lights include OPPLE Lighting, WAROM Technology, Pak Group, Kinlite Electric, Minhua Electric, and Zhejiang Taiyi.

In addition, in recent years, China has been vigorously building smart cities. The main purpose of smart cities is to improve the quality of life for urban residents. As important manifestations of smart cities, power supply assurance and fire emergency capabilities have gradually drawn people's attention, bringing unprecedented development opportunities to emergency lighting.

China's emergency lighting industry is booming, but there are also some issues. On one hand, there is a strong demand for personalized emergency lighting solutions and a high technical threshold. For instance, in factories, industrial and mining sites, chemical plants, shopping malls, gas stations, stages, and other locations, each venue has different emergency lighting needs. Moreover, requirements differ between southern and northern regions; for example, at gas stations, the low winter temperatures in the north impose quite high demands on temperature adaptability and reliability. In addition, varying levels of understanding among technical personnel regarding fire safety concepts such as building fire protection and safe evacuation, along with uneven professional skill levels, may lead to certain defects in the design of luminaire control logic for engineering projects.

According to different uses, fire emergency luminaires can be divided into two categories: fire emergency sign luminaires and fire emergency lighting luminaires. Among them, there are many types of fire emergency lighting luminaires, and the commonly used emergency light in general places is the LED double-head emergency light. The power supply of the luminaire shall consist of a main power supply and a battery power supply, and the power supply mode of the battery power supply is divided into centralized power supply mode and luminaire with built-in battery power supply mode.

根据《消防应急照明和疏散指示系统技术标准》的规定，消防应急照明灯的光源色温不应低于2700K，应采用多点、均匀布置方式，建、构筑物设置照明灯的部位或场所疏散路径地面水平最低照度应符合表3.2.5的规定。

Fire emergency luminaires feature non-aging materials, fast heat dissipation, impact resistance, low power consumption, high luminous efficacy, long service life, and automatic activation upon power failure. The housing and diffuser of compliant emergency lighting luminaires are made of non-combustible materials.

Fire emergency lights are type-approved products, possessing corresponding type approval certificates and inspection reports, and can be queried on the China Fire Product Information Network. During the recent inspections of fire products by local fire rescue departments, inspectors focused on verifying whether these products have relevant market access permits, inspection reports confirming compliance from the National Center for Quality Supervision and Inspection of Fire Products, anti-counterfeiting marks, and identity labels.

1. Qualified documentation is essential

Before purchasing, you should review the product's type approval certificate and inspection report. The seller must provide the corresponding type approval certificate and inspection report, and each product must be affixed with a new identity label.

2. Consistency between internal and external aspects is important

Qualified products must have the fire product ID label, charging indicator light, test switch button, certificate of conformity, manufacturing date, manufacturer name, and relevant technical parameters on the lamp body. Non-compliant products will have these details blurred, incomplete, or missing.

The batteries in emergency lighting fixtures and evacuation sign luminaires are also key components where some manufacturers substitute inferior or counterfeit parts. The batteries used in the luminaire must clearly indicate the model, voltage, capacity, and other details, and must match the product's test report. If these details are missing or do not match the test report, the product is considered a non-compliant fire safety product.

3. Simple test reveals the answer

Fire emergency lighting and evacuation indicator lights should immediately switch to emergency mode after a power outage, with a continuous illumination time of no less than 90 minutes. It is recommended to purchase one unit first for a discharge test. If the emergency duration is less than 90 minutes, the product is non-compliant.

Emergency lighting enterprises must strictly adhere to the baseline, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of counterfeit, inferior, or non-compliant fire protection products. At the same time, they need to strengthen their understanding of fire safety concepts such as building fire prevention and safe evacuation, increase R&D efforts, enhance technological innovation capabilities, and develop more practical fire emergency luminaires that meet the personalized needs of emergency lighting.