A monthly activation test requiring that Exit Signs and Emergency Egress Lighting come on and provide the required emergency illumination for a minimum of 30 seconds.

An annual test where Exit Signs and Emergency Egress Lighting are activated for 90 minutes to simulate a long-term emergency.

Exit Signs and Emergency Egress Lighting to be operational during testing.

Written records of the monthly and yearly tests (showing documentation with respect to maintenance and retesting if problems occur) must be maintained.

Depending on the facility, requirements may also be governed by:
Fire Marshal (AHJ)
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Department of Labor / OSHA
Health Department
Insurance companies
Other accreditation or regulatory organizations
Applicable requirements vary by facility type and jurisdiction.

OSHA 2026 Updates: Standard 1910.37

Non-Compliant Signs:
$16,550 - First Violation
$165,514 - Willful or Repeat Violations
$16,550 PER DAY - Failure to Correct

Non-Compliant Egress Lighting:
$16,550 - First Violation
$165,514 - Willful or Repeat Violations
$16,550 PER DAY - Failure to Correct

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State, Local & Industry specific fines may also apply.
Top Causes for Failures:
Back-up battery failure
Obstruction
Lighting failure

NFPA 101 requires maintenance personnel to perform a manual test every 30 days, meaning that the “test” button on the Exit Sign needs to be pushed and held in place for 30 seconds to simulate a short outage. The Exit Sign needs to stay illuminated during the test while operating on the battery.

NFPA 101 requires an annual battery test of 90 minutes on each Exit Sign.

Written records need to be maintained and produced during an audit including maintenance and replacement records. The same applies to Emergency Egress Lighting.

Manual testing of Exit Signs is labor intensive, expensive (typically involves overtime), typically requires multiple people (ladders or lifts) and is very disruptive to normal building operations.

Willard Smart Exit provides a centralized real-time status of all your Exit Signs & Integrated Emergency Egress Lighting. It is secure, fast, flexible and facilitates a scalable, reliable administration.

A comprehensive life-safety solution that addresses NFPA 101 regulations in Exit Signs with a rapid ROI.

The Willard Smart Exit monitors the internal battery, providing battery status to an administrative dashboard. The dashboard provides battery status of all Exit Signs in your building(s) in a single location, replacing the need for manual testing.

Reports can be generated immediately upon request.

NFPA 101, NFPA 110, and NFPA 111 require every emergency exit sign & emergency egress light to provide at least 90 minutes of illumination following a loss of normal power. This requirement applies to all approved emergency power systems, including internal batteries, generators, and centrally stored-energy systems.

Emergency power systems must automatically restore power to life safety systems within 10 seconds of a normal power failure (generators frequently have a lag time of 30+ seconds). Backup power alone does not guarantee that every exit sign is functioning properly or that your facility is compliant. A single failed exit sign can go unnoticed until an inspection or worse, during an actual emergency when occupants depend on it most.

The consequences of an undetected failure can include failed inspections, costly corrective actions, increased liability, and unnecessary risk to occupants. The Willard Smart Exit™ system provides continuous monitoring and automated compliance reporting, helping facilities identify problems before they become violations or life safety hazards.

Yes. Installing a Smart Exit Sign with its own battery backup creates no electrical or mechanical issues as to how the existing generator or stored energy system operates.

In addition to the generator and stored energy systems having their own separate NFPA standards to meet, the facility now has a second emergency exit sign backup system should the generator or stored energy system experience a failure or delay.

The NFPA 101, NFPA 110 and NFPA 111 standards state clearly that an emergency exit sign, whether backed up with a generator, stored energy system or a battery pack within the Exit Sign, must illuminate for a minimum of 90 minutes. If the generator or stored energy system cannot exceed the 90 minutes than it is not acceptable as the emergency power source for the Exit Signs.

Emergency power systems provide automatic backup power in the event of normal power loss. They are required by code and shall provide power within 10 seconds to all life safety systems.