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Street lighting and reporting a fault

Roads Service is responsible for the design, installation and maintenance of street lights, illuminated sign lights and illuminated bollards on public roads and streets across Northern Ireland.

Reporting a problem with street lights

You can report a fault to Roads Service online, by e-mail, in writing or in person to the relevant office or by telephone.

To allow Roads Service to correctly locate the faulty light for a prompt repair, it would be helpful if you could let them know the:

  • town
  • road or street name
  • nearest house number
  • column number (on yellow and black label), if known
  • details of the fault; for example ‘not working at night’, ‘lit during daylight’, ‘column door missing’, or ‘traffic accident damage’

The response time depends on the nature of the fault. Electrical hazards such as missing column doors receive the quickest response.

Improvements to street lighting

Street lights are provided mainly to improve road safety at night, but we know that they also help to reduce crime and the fear of crime, and to enhance the night-time urban environment

  • generally, all roads, car parks and footpaths adopted (owned) by Roads Service in urban areas are lit
  • rural roads are not usually lit unless there is a community of at least 10 houses along a 200-metre stretch, or a history of night-time road collisions
  • all changes to street lighting, including improvement requests, are considered by Roads Service
  • Roads Service has an annual programme of replacing old deteriorating columns, as funding becomes available
  • the public lighting energy consumption is in excess of 108GWh per year
  • Roads Service aims to minimise light pollution and conserve energy by using efficient lanterns for new and replacement lighting schemes
  • Roads Service takes into account various issues, including the age and condition of the existing lighting and its light output
  • Roads Service inspects street lights at night, every fortnight in winter and every four weeks in summer, to identify any that are not working properly
  • maintenance work is carried out by Roads Service personnel and private contractors

Roads Service aims to have at least 98 per cent of street lights working normally at any one time

Roads Service also aims to repair faults within five working days of discovery, unless the fault is due to the electricity supply when the repair may depend on the response of the supply company.

How can I request better lighting?

If you feel that street lighting needs to be upgraded or installed in your road, you should write to the street lighting engineer for your area:

Your request will be assessed to determine if it meets the criteria for new or improved lighting. If it does, it will be added to the programme of work to be implemented as funding becomes available.

Street lighting in new housing developments is provided and installed by the building developer during construction.

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