ISO 23601:2020

Overview

ISO 23601:2020 - Safety identification - Escape and evacuation plan signs - defines design principles for displayed escape plans used in public areas and workplaces. The standard specifies how escape and evacuation information relevant to fire safety, escape, evacuation and rescue should be presented on signs intended for occupants (and optionally for intervention forces). It is not intended for detailed professional technical drawings or plans used exclusively by external emergency services.

Key topics and requirements

• Scope and purpose: Escape plans assist occupant orientation and complement a facility’s safety way guidance system. They must reflect the facility’s evacuation strategy and fire safety procedures.
• Mandatory elements: Exact user location, legend, standardized header (including the words “Escape plan” in local language), assembly points, safety notices and overview/detail plans.
• Use of colour and symbols: Plans shall use colour and the safety signs shown must match installed signs per ISO 7010.
• Scale and sizes:
  • Scales not less than 1:250 (large facilities), 1:100 (small–medium), 1:350 (individual rooms).
  • Minimum plan size A3 (297 × 420 mm); A4 acceptable for individual-room plans.
  • Minimum lettering height 2 mm; header height ≥ 7% of the smallest plan dimension.
  • Safety signs on plan ≥ 7 mm high.
• Graphic details: Wall and partition line widths (e.g., structural walls ≥ 1.6 mm; partitions ≥ 0.6 mm); finer details ≥ 0.15 mm.
• Illumination and materials:
  • Normal vertical illumination ≥ 50 lx; emergency lighting for ordinary or phosphorescent materials ≥ 5 lx.
  • Colour-rendering index of light source (Ra) ≥ 40.
  • Phosphorescent materials allowed (ISO 17398 classification C or better); background must be safety white or phosphorescent white per ISO 3864-4.
• Orientation and maintenance: Plan orientation must correspond to viewer perspective; plans must be kept up to date and inspected/revised as required.

Applications and users

Who benefits from ISO 23601:2020:

• Facility managers, building owners and safety officers implementing evacuation signage.
• Architects, fire-safety planners and designers producing occupant-facing escape plans.
• Sign manufacturers and installers ensuring compliant materials, sizes and colours.
• Emergency preparedness teams, fire marshals and workplace health & safety personnel.

Typical applications:

• Escape and evacuation signs in hotels, offices, shopping centers, transport hubs, schools, factories and healthcare facilities.
• Integration with a facility’s safety way guidance (see ISO 16069) and ISO 7010 safety signs.

Related standards

• ISO 7010 - Registered safety signs
• ISO 3864 (Parts 1, 3, 4) - Safety colours, graphical symbols, colourimetric/photometric properties
• ISO 17398 - Durability and classification of safety signs
• ISO 16069 - Safety way guidance systems

Keywords: ISO 23601:2020, escape plan signs, escape and evacuation plan signs, safety identification, evacuation signage, ISO 7010, phosphorescent escape plans, illumination requirements.