ISO 23601:2020

Safety identification - Escape and evacuation plan signs

This document establishes design principles for displayed escape plans that contain information relevant to fire safety, escape, evacuation and rescue of the facility's occupants. These plans may also be used by intervention forces in case of emergency. These plans are intended to be displayed as signs in public areas and workplaces. This document is not intended to cover the plans to be used by external safety services nor detailed professional technical drawings for use by specialists.

Identification de sécurité — Plans d'évacuation et de secours

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 18-Oct-2020
• ICS: 01.080.10 - Public information symbols. Signs. Plates. Labels
• Technical Committee: ISO/TC 145/SC 2 - Safety identification, signs, shapes, symbols and colours
• Drafting Committee: ISO/TC 145/SC 2 - Safety identification, signs, shapes, symbols and colours
• Current Stage: 9020 - International Standard under periodical review
• Start Date: 15-Oct-2025
• Completion Date: 15-Oct-2025

Relations

• Revises: ISO 23601:2009 - Safety identification - Escape and evacuation plan signs
• Effective Date: 23-Apr-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.

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 23601
Second edition
2020-10
Safety identification — Escape and
evacuation plan signs
Identification de sécurité — Plans d'évacuation et de secours
Reference number
©
ISO 2020
© ISO 2020
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting
on the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address
below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
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ii © ISO 2020 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 General . 2
5 Design requirements . 2
6 Size of plan elements . 3
7 Contents and representation . 4
7.1 Header . 4
7.2 Overview plan . 4
7.3 Escape plan detail . 4
7.4 Safety notices . 5
7.5 Legend . 5
7.6 Other information . 5
7.7 Use of colours . 6
7.7.1 Escape routes . 6
7.7.2 Safety signs . 6
7.7.3 Point of location of the user . 6
7.7.4 Background colour . 6
7.7.5 Outline of facility structural elements . 6
7.7.6 Header . 6
7.7.7 Text . 6
8 Materials . 6
9 Installation and location . 6
10 Inspection and revision . 7
Annex A (informative) Examples of escape plans . 8
Bibliography .13
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/ directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/ patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www .iso .org/
iso/ foreword .html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 145, Graphical symbols, Subcommittee
SC 2, Safety identification, signs, shapes, symbols and colours.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 23601:2009), of which it constitutes a
minor revision. The previous edition has been editorially revised.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www .iso .org/ members .html.
iv © ISO 2020 – All rights reserved

Introduction
There is a need to standardize a system of communicating escape routes in facilities that relies as little
as possible on the use of words to achieve understanding.
Continued growth in international trade, travel and mobility of labour requires a common method of
conveying this important safety information to the occupants of facilities.
The use of this document is expected to reduce risk by providing a means of improved training and
education and to reduce possible confusion in times of emergency.
Through the use of ISO 7010 safety signs, colour coding and specific design requirements, this document
establishes a common method of illustrating the position of the viewer in relation to designated escape
routes leading to emergency exits and the location of fire safety and emergency equipment close and
adjacent to escape routes.
Escape plans are an integral part of a facility’s system of safety signs and play an integral role in a
building owner’s fire safety management plan. Escape plans are a necessary component of a facility’s
safety way guidance system (see ISO 16069).
NOTE Some countries’ statutory regulations might differ in some respect from those given in this document.
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 23601:2020(E)
Safety identification — Escape and evacuation plan signs
IMPORTANT — The colours represented in the electronic file of this document can be neither
viewed on screen nor printed as true representations. For the purposes of colour matching,
see ISO 3864-4, which provides colorimetric and photometric properties together with, as a
guideline, references from colour order systems.
1 Scope
This document establishes design principles for displayed escape plans that contain information
relevant to fire safety, escape, evacuation and rescue of the facility's occupants. These plans may also
be used by intervention forces in case of emergency.
These plans are intended to be displayed as signs in public areas and workplaces.
This document is not intended to cover the plans to be used by external safety services nor detailed
professional technical drawings for use by specialists.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 3864-1, Graphical symbols — Safety colours and safety signs — Part 1: Design principles for safety
signs and safety markings
ISO 3864-3, Graphical symbols — Safety colours and safety signs — Part 3: Design principles for graphical
symbols for use in safety signs
ISO 3864-4:2011, Graphical symbols — Safety colours and safety signs — Part 4: Colorimetric and
photometric properties of safety sign materials
ISO 7010, Graphical symbols — Safety colours and safety signs — Registered safety signs
ISO 17398, Safety colours and safety signs — Classification, performance and durability of safety signs
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1
emergency safety notice
instructions for occupants, to be followed in case of emergency
3.2
escape plan
plan displayed for the occupants of a facility on which are illustrated the necessary elements for escape
and on which may appear information required for evacuation, rescue and for a first intervention
...