What illuminance level is required for warehouse lighting in the UK?

The CIBSE Lighting Guide LG1 (Industrial Lighting) and the HSE guidance on lighting at work both provide recommendations for warehouse illuminance levels. General storage areas require a maintained average illuminance of 100 to 200 lux at floor level. Active picking and order assembly areas require 300 to 500 lux. Offices within warehouse buildings require 500 lux at desk level. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 require sufficient lighting for the tasks carried out. LED high-bay luminaires with appropriate optics can achieve these levels efficiently, and a dialux or similar photometric design should be carried out before specifying the lighting installation.

What three-phase supply size is typically required for a warehouse?

The supply size depends on the warehouse size, occupancy, and intended use. A typical 5,000 m² logistics warehouse with LED lighting, office facilities, dock levellers, and a modest EV charging provision might require a 630 kVA or 800 kVA transformer. A large fulfilment centre with extensive conveyor systems, refrigeration, and significant EV charging might require 2 MVA or more. A load schedule must be prepared at the design stage, accounting for connected loads, diversity factors, and future growth. The electricity distributor (DNO) must be notified of the intended demand to confirm the available supply capacity.

What electrical regulations apply to EV charging in warehouses?

EV charging installations in warehouses must comply with: BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 Section 722 (Supplies for Electric Vehicles); the Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021 (which require smart charge point functionality for new private charge points); and PAS 1899:2022 (the British Standard for electric vehicle smart charging). Where the EV charging demand is significant (more than 50 kW total), a dynamic load management system is strongly recommended to prevent simultaneous charging from overloading the incoming supply. All EV charge points must be protected by a 30mA Type B RCD (or Type A where the charge point manufacturer confirms no DC residual current above 6mA will flow).

How should fire detection cables be installed in a warehouse electrical installation?

Fire detection cabling in warehouses must use fire-resistant cable in accordance with Regulation 560.8 of BS 7671 (Chapter 56 — Safety Services) and the requirements of BS 5839-1. Regulation 560.8 requires cables supplying safety circuits to have a resistance to fire rating for the period specified by building regulations or the relevant British Standard — or one hour minimum where no other period is specified. The cable must maintain circuit integrity in fire conditions for a period appropriate to the evacuation requirements of the building, typically 30 or 60 minutes. Enhanced fire-resistant cables (such as MICC complying with BS EN 60702-1 or fire-resistant cable complying with BS EN 50200) are used where longer survival times are required. Regulation 560.7.1 requires safety service circuits to be independent of other circuits. Cables must not pass through fire compartment walls without appropriate fire stopping to maintain the fire compartmentation of the building.

What is the minimum emergency lighting requirement for a warehouse?

Emergency lighting in warehouses must comply with BS 5266-1 (Emergency Lighting) and Regulation 560.7 of BS 7671. Escape route lighting must provide a minimum horizontal illuminance of 1 lux at floor level along the centreline of the escape route, with a minimum uniformity ratio of 1:40. Anti-panic lighting in open areas must provide a minimum of 0.5 lux at floor level. The duration of emergency lighting must be a minimum of 1 hour for escape routes and 3 hours for high-risk task areas. In large warehouses, the route to exits can be long and complex, requiring careful emergency luminaire placement to ensure all escape routes are adequately lit.

What energy metering is required for UK warehouses?

All new commercial buildings over 1,000 m² in the UK are required to install sub-metering in accordance with Part L of the Building Regulations. For warehouses, this typically means separate metering for: lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), small power (sockets and equipment), and any significant process loads. EV charging should be sub-metered separately to allow occupiers to monitor and manage EV energy costs. The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) requires organisations employing more than 250 people or with a turnover above €50 million to carry out a detailed energy audit every four years. Sub-metering data is essential for completing an ESOS audit.

How is earthing and bonding carried out in a warehouse?

Warehouse earthing follows the requirements of BS 7671 Chapter 54. The main earthing terminal (MET) is located at the main distribution board, connected to the earth electrode system and (where a PME supply is used) to the incoming neutral. Main protective bonding conductors connect the MET to all metallic services entering the building (gas pipes, water pipes, structural steelwork) in accordance with Regulation 544.1.2, which requires each connection to be made as near as practicable to the point of entry of that service into the premises. Within the warehouse, supplementary bonding may be required in wet areas. Tall metal racking systems and conveyor steel structures should be connected to the earthing system to prevent dangerous static electricity accumulation, particularly in dry environments handling plastic packaging or granular materials.

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Warehouse Electrical Installation UK: Industrial Lighting & Power Guide

The complete technical guide to warehouse and logistics facility electrical installation — covering high-bay LED lighting design, three-phase distribution, EV charging infrastructure, energy management, fire detection integration, and emergency lighting.

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14 min readUpdated 2026-06-10Andrew Moore, Founder of Elec-Mate

Written and reviewed by Andrew Moore, founder of Elec-Mate, against BS 7671:2018+A4:2026, IET Guidance Note 3 and the IET On-Site Guide.

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Key Takeaways

1Warehouse LED high-bay lighting design must achieve the required maintained average illuminance (typically 200 to 300 lux at floor level for general storage, 500 lux for picking aisles) in accordance with the CIBSE Lighting Guide LG1 for industrial premises.
2Three-phase 400V distribution is standard for warehouse installations. Sub-main circuits to distribution boards within the warehouse should be sized for the connected load plus 25 per cent spare capacity for future tenant fit-out.
3EV charging infrastructure for warehouses with large vehicle fleets must include load management systems to prevent demand charges from overloading the incoming supply. BS 7671 Section 722 and the Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021 apply.
4Fire detection systems in warehouses are closely integrated with the electrical installation — fire alarm wiring must use fire-resistant cable with a resistance to fire rating in accordance with Regulation 560.8 of BS 7671 (Chapter 56 — Safety Services) and the system must comply with BS 5839-1 for design, installation, commissioning, and maintenance.
5The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 apply to all warehouse electrical systems. Warehouse operators must maintain all electrical equipment in a safe condition and ensure competent persons carry out all electrical work.

01 · Industrial Electrical Guide

Warehouse Electrical Installation in the UK

Warehouse and logistics facility electrical installation is a major and growing specialism for UK electrical contractors. The rapid expansion of e-commerce, supply chain infrastructure, and cold-chain logistics has driven significant demand for new-build and refurbishment electrical work in warehousing and distribution centres.

Modern warehouses are far more electrically complex than their predecessors. High-bay LED lighting with smart controls, large-scale EV charging infrastructure for delivery fleets, solar PV installations, battery energy storage, sophisticated conveyor and automation systems, and advanced fire detection all create substantial electrical design and installation requirements. Electricians and contractors specialising in warehouse work must be familiar with all of these systems and with the regulatory frameworks that govern them.

Key regulations: BS 7671:2018+A4:2026, Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, Building Regulations Part L (energy efficiency), Part B (fire safety), BS 5839-1 (fire detection and alarm systems), BS 5266-1 (emergency lighting), Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021.
Market context: The UK logistics and distribution sector operates approximately 600 million square metres of warehouse floor space. The BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) scheme is widely applied to new warehouse construction and places demands on energy management, sub-metering, and lighting controls.

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02 · Industrial Electrical Guide

High-Bay LED Lighting Design for Warehouses

LED high-bay luminaires have transformed warehouse lighting. Modern LED high-bays offer efficacies of 150 to 200 lumens per watt, compared to 80 to 100 lm/W for legacy metal halide or high-pressure sodium fittings. For a large warehouse, switching to LED typically reduces lighting energy consumption by 60 to 70 per cent.

Photometric design: A DIALux or Relux photometric design study should be carried out for all warehouse lighting installations. The design must demonstrate that the specified luminaires achieve the required maintained average illuminance (Em), uniformity ratio (Uo), and glare rating (UGR) in accordance with CIBSE LG1 and the task requirements of the specific warehouse operation.
Controls: DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) or wireless lighting control systems allow individual luminaire addressing, daylight dimming, occupancy-based switching, and zone control. BREEAM and Part L of the Building Regulations require automatic lighting controls in warehouses, with automatic switching or dimming in response to occupancy and daylighting.
Circuit design: High-bay lighting circuits in warehouses are typically single-phase final circuits, each serving a row or zone of luminaires. Circuit loading should not exceed 80 per cent of the protective device rating. Where DALI control is used, a separate 2-wire DALI bus circuit is required in addition to the power circuit.
Maintained illuminance: LED luminaire manufacturers provide a maintenance factor (typically 0.85 to 0.90 for LED in clean environments) which accounts for lumen depreciation over the rated life. The design must achieve the required Em using this maintenance factor to ensure the installation meets the specification throughout its lifetime.

03 · Industrial Electrical Guide

Three-Phase Distribution in Warehouses

Large warehouses require well-designed three-phase distribution systems to supply power efficiently across the building footprint. Poor distribution design leads to excessive voltage drop, oversized cables, and difficulty managing future load growth.

Main distribution board (MDB): The MDB receives the incoming LV supply and distributes it to zone distribution boards throughout the warehouse. The MDB should include main incomer protection (typically a motorised circuit breaker or air circuit breaker), metering, power factor correction, and outgoing MCCB-protected feeders to zone boards.
Zone distribution boards: Sub-main feeder cables distribute power from the MDB to zone boards within each warehouse bay. Zone boards serve lighting, small power (sockets), dock levellers, and EV charging in that zone. This arrangement limits the length of final circuit cable runs and simplifies fault finding and isolation.
Busbar trunking systems: For large warehouses with high power requirements, overhead busbar trunking (busway) provides a flexible distribution method. Tap-off boxes can be installed at any point along the busway to provide a supply, and repositioned as the warehouse layout changes. Busway eliminates the need for extensive cable tray runs and is particularly suited to warehouses with regularly changing layouts.
Voltage drop: In a large warehouse the distance from the MDB to the furthest distribution board can be 150 metres or more. Cable sizing must ensure that voltage drop from the origin to the furthest point of use does not exceed the limits of BS 7671 Appendix 4, Section 6.4 (BS 7671:2018+A4:2026) — typically 3 per cent on lighting circuits and 5 per cent total from the origin of the installation to the furthest point of use, as referenced by Regulations 525.202 and 525.203.

04 · Industrial Electrical Guide

EV Charging Infrastructure for Warehouses

EV charging is rapidly becoming one of the most significant electrical requirements for new warehouse construction and refurbishment. Logistics operators are electrifying their delivery van and HGV fleets, and warehouse employees increasingly need workplace charging. The electrical infrastructure must be designed to accommodate very large future EV charging demands without requiring costly supply upgrades.

BS 7671 Section 722: All EV charging installations must comply with Section 722 of BS 7671, which specifies requirements for supplies for electric vehicles including RCD protection (30mA Type B, or Type A where no DC residual current exceeds 6mA), earthing arrangements, and the requirements for mode of charging.
Smart charge points: The Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021 require all new private charge points to be smart charge points capable of responding to off-peak signals and supporting demand management. For warehouse operators, smart charging allows EV charging to be scheduled during periods of low tariff rates and managed to prevent demand peaks.
Load management: A dynamic load management (DLM) or energy management system (EMS) is essential for large warehouse EV charging installations. The DLM monitors the available supply headroom and allocates charging power to each charge point, preventing the aggregate EV charging demand from exceeding the available supply capacity. This allows a much larger number of charge points to be installed without upgrading the incoming supply. BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 Regulation 722.311.201 (introduced in Amendment 4) expressly permits load curtailment — including automatic or manual load reduction or disconnection — to be taken into account when determining the maximum demand of an EV charging installation, providing a regulatory basis for DLM schemes in supply capacity assessments.
Infrastructure-ready provisions: For cost efficiency, PAS 1899 and BREEAM recommend installing ducting and distribution boards for future EV charging during the initial construction, even if charge points are not installed immediately. This avoids disruptive and costly groundworks when EV adoption accelerates.

05 · Industrial Electrical Guide

Energy Management and Sub-Metering

Energy management and sub-metering are increasingly important requirements for warehouse operators, driven by Building Regulations Part L, BREEAM assessments, ESOS obligations, and the desire to reduce energy costs and carbon emissions.

Part L sub-metering: Building Regulations Part L2A (new non-domestic buildings) requires sub-metering of significant energy uses. For warehouses this means separate metering for: lighting, heating and cooling, small power, and any significant process loads (conveyor systems, refrigeration, EV charging). Metering data must be accessible to building operators.
Half-hourly metering: Warehouse operators with a maximum demand above 100 kW are required to have a half-hourly electricity meter. This data allows the operator to manage demand charges (capacity unit charges applied by utilities to maximum demand) and identify energy waste.
Power quality monitoring: Warehouses with large VFD installations, UPS systems, or EV charging can experience power quality issues including harmonic distortion, voltage fluctuations, and poor power factor. Power quality monitors at the main incomer can identify these issues before they cause equipment damage or utility penalty charges.

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06 · Industrial Electrical Guide

Fire Detection Integration in Warehouse Electrical Installations

Warehouses are high-risk environments for fire due to the concentration of combustible goods, the height of racking (which delays detection and suppression), and the potential for fork-lift truck impacts on electrical equipment. The electrical installation plays a critical role in the fire detection and suppression systems.

BS 5839-1 compliance: The fire detection and alarm system must be designed, installed, commissioned, and maintained in accordance with BS 5839-1. For large warehouses, Category L2 (automatic detection in areas of highest fire risk) or L1 (full automatic detection throughout) is typically specified.
Fire-resistant cable: Regulation 560.8 of BS 7671 (Chapter 56 — Safety Services) requires that cables supplying safety circuits (fire alarms, emergency lighting, sprinkler system pumps, smoke ventilation) shall have a resistance to fire rating for the duration specified by building regulations or the relevant British Standard, or one hour where no other period is specified. Regulation 560.7.1 additionally requires that safety service circuits shall be independent of other circuits.
Electrical integration: The fire alarm panel must interface with the building's electrical systems to trigger automatic actions on fire detection, including: shutting down air handling units (to prevent smoke spread), releasing magnetic door holders (to close fire doors), activating smoke extraction systems, and signalling to the local fire brigade monitoring service.

07 · Industrial Electrical Guide

Emergency Lighting in Warehouses

Emergency lighting in a warehouse must ensure that all occupants can safely evacuate the building in the event of a mains power failure. The large floor area, complex racking layouts, and multiple exit routes of a warehouse create significant emergency lighting design challenges.

BS 5266-1 requirements: Emergency luminaires must be positioned at all changes of direction, at every exit door, at stairways, and to illuminate every exit sign. The minimum maintained illuminance on escape routes is 1 lux at floor level along the centreline. Anti-panic lighting in the body of the warehouse requires 0.5 lux minimum.
Three-hour duration: For large warehouses classified as high-risk task areas, emergency lighting must maintain illumination for three hours. Self- contained maintained luminaires (combining normal and emergency operation) with battery backup, or a central battery system supplying dedicated emergency luminaires, are both acceptable approaches.
Testing and records: Emergency lighting must be tested monthly (brief functional test) and annually (full rated duration test). Test results must be recorded in a log book as required by BS 5266-1. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to ensure emergency lighting is maintained in working order.

08 · Industrial Electrical Guide

Earthing and Bonding in Warehouses

Correct earthing and bonding in a warehouse protects personnel from electric shock, ensures that protective devices operate correctly under fault conditions, and prevents dangerous static electricity accumulation in dry goods storage environments.

Main protective bonding: All metallic services entering the warehouse (gas, water, oil pipelines, structural steelwork) must be connected by main protective bonding conductors to the main earthing terminal in accordance with Regulation 544.1.2 of BS 7671, which requires the bonding connection to each extraneous-conductive-part to be made as near as practicable to the point of entry into the premises.
Structural steelwork bonding: The structural steel frame of a warehouse should be connected to the earthing system. This provides an additional earth electrode effect, improves the reliability of fault protection, and prevents the steel frame from floating at a dangerous potential if it contacts a live conductor.
Static bonding for racking: Metal racking systems in dry warehouses handling plastic packaging, granular materials, or powders can accumulate dangerous electrostatic charges. Earth bonding straps connecting racking sections to the building earth system dissipate these charges safely.

09 · Industrial Electrical Guide

For Electricians: Warehouse Electrical Contracting

Warehouse electrical contracting is a substantial and growing market for UK electrical contractors. New logistics parks, distribution centre refurbishments, and the retrofit of EV charging and LED lighting in existing warehouses all generate significant contract opportunities.

Testing and Commissioning Records

Large warehouse installations require extensive testing and commissioning documentation. Emergency lighting duration tests, fire detection system commissioning, EV charger commissioning, and full EICR documentation must all be provided to the client on completion. Use the Elec-Mate certification app to complete all certificates on site with instant PDF delivery.

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Warehouse projects involve large cable quantities, significant containment systems, and multiple sub-systems. Use the Elec-Mate quoting app to build detailed, professional proposals with accurate material takeoffs and labour calculations.

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Warehouse Electrical Installation UK: Industrial Lighting & Power Guide

Key Takeaways

Warehouse Electrical Installation in the UK

Get the BS 7671 A4:2026 Cheat Sheet — free

High-Bay LED Lighting Design for Warehouses

Three-Phase Distribution in Warehouses

EV Charging Infrastructure for Warehouses

Energy Management and Sub-Metering

Try Elec-Mate free for 7 days

Fire Detection Integration in Warehouse Electrical Installations

Emergency Lighting in Warehouses

Earthing and Bonding in Warehouses

For Electricians: Warehouse Electrical Contracting

Testing and Commissioning Records

Quote Large Projects Accurately

Manage warehouse electrical projects with Elec-Mate

Frequently Asked Questions — Warehouse Electrical Installation

What illuminance level is required for warehouse lighting in the UK?

What three-phase supply size is typically required for a warehouse?

What electrical regulations apply to EV charging in warehouses?

How should fire detection cables be installed in a warehouse electrical installation?

What is the minimum emergency lighting requirement for a warehouse?

What energy metering is required for UK warehouses?

How is earthing and bonding carried out in a warehouse?

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