April 10, 2014 — It’s unlikely that you’d hire a roofer to service your appliance repairs or contract with a plumber to handle electrical wiring for your home or business. So, isn’t it common sense to apply the same logic for your lightning protection system installations? After all, a single bolt of lightning can generate up to 200 kA of electrical energy. Grounding for that magnitude of electricity requires special expertise and strict adherence to safety standards. Surely, it’s important to insist on quality control when allocating money to protect your important investments against mega electricity!
Lightning protection specialists aren’t the only professionals communicating reminders about quality control. The International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI) reiterated the importance of LPI-certified and UL listed installers for lightning protection applications. IAEI devoted a new chapter called “The Fundamentals of Lightning Protection” to its 10th edition of the “Soares Book on Grounding and Bonding” in 2008, which was updated and expanded in the 11th edition, released in 2011. The handbook now includes a reminder to electrical contractors that “installation of a lightning protection system is much different from the installation of electrical service wiring.” (Remember, there’s electricity and then there’s mega LIGHTNING electricity!)
According to the Soares handbook: “specialized material and installation methods such as that specified in NFPA 780 and UL 96 are required and the system should only be installed by qualified personnel trained and certified in the installation of lightning protection systems.”
A third-party, independent lightning protection inspection service, such as UL or the LPI-IP Inspection Program can ensure quality control for residential and commercial systems. The LPI-IP Inspection Program is serving a growing need for property owners, insurers and builders as a comprehensive third-party quality control approach for commercial and residential lightning protection projects. The LPI-IP Inspection Program is accepted in MasterSpec as a quality control inspection option for lightning protection. More information about the program is available at the LPI-IP web site at www.lpi-ip.com.
Lightning protection is a specialty service, so electricians, roofers and general contractors aren’t the best sources for up-to-date information about lightning protection. Business and homeowners need to contact an experienced, LPI-certified lightning protection specialist for reliable service that meets industry requirements. The LPI-certified specialist will know how to interpret the safety standards, as well as provide the proper third-party inspection requirements for quality assurance closeout.
Perhaps Benjamin Franklin, the inventor of the first lightning rod, provided the best advice about quality control when he said, “Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.”
Yes, the devil is often in the details, so don’t let April thundershowers sink your ship! Stay ahead of the storm by insisting on quality lightning protection from a reputable, experienced specialist to safeguard those property investments; especially your home, trees and business structures.
Very well stated. If ALL projects required a 3rd Party Nationally recognized inspection, non compliant installations would virtually disappear. With the availability of the 3 U.S. Lightning Protection System Standards, NFPA 780, LPI 175, & UL 96a, the industry has a great opportunity to not only raise awareness of compliance, but also promote 100% inspections. That alone would help eliminate inexperienced trades to “dabble” in the Lightning Protection Industry. Let’s all get updated specs out there to reflect the LPI-IP & UL inspection programs.
Ditto! Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
It is important to convey the fact that value is added to projects when lightning protection is installed by certified lightning protection installers and followed up with
with a third party inspection.
Thanks for joining the conversation and reiterating the importance of third-party inspection.
Great post here. Lightning protection is a safety measure on a structure and to have unqualified people completing the work is just plain dangerous. Always get your protection inspected!
Thanks for the positive feedback!
You can check the plumbing for leaks and the wiring for tripped circuit breakers. If they are done incorrectly, you know it immediately. Lightning Protection require expertise to identify design /installation flaws that inexperienced people wouldn’t notice or consider important. Third party inspection is the best protection against failures.
Excellent point. Thanks for enlightening consumers by pointing this out!
Kim – Great job. Kohler doesn’t pull certifications for their customers. Siemens doesn’t either. There’s a reason for this. They’re not in the business of installing the products. Project specifiers want what they ask for. In our field its trained and certified installers. Definitely not an installation made by a company who takes a one day class.
Another good point. Unfortunately, the customer is the one left with the expense of paying for the improper installation and then paying AGAIN to correct the installation issues to bring the system up to standards compliance.
Excellent article, however the disruption of the LP system due to the roof or mechanical equipment replacement/repair is a common occurrence that does not get repaired and does not get inspected or relabeled. We have observed many projects where the LP system was removed and not replaced at all. Herein lies the problems. The owners of the majority of the projects, that have of LP systems, are not aware that the system requires reinspection per NFPA 780 code. They think their label is still applicable and compliant. Until the codes and code authorities insist that the owner must have a current certified properly installed and maintained system the Devil in the details will continue to exist while most people look the other way. A lot of ships will sink.
Thanks for weighing in, here. Excellent points re: the importance of maintenance for these systems. Please feel free to checkout the February blog for more specifics on the topic of lightning protection maintenance.
Kim, thank you for getting this information out there. The more articles and information written about lightning protection systems and 3rd party inspections the better. It’s all about educating the public. Keep those articles and information coming.
Thank you for reading the blog and taking the time to share your feedback!
Excellent article that touched on many valid industry concerns. I would however ask that the term “quality lightning protection” be replaced with another phrase that didn’t accidentally indorse any particular installer. I propose “Code Compliant Lightning protection System or Lightning Protection System constructed to or above recognized installation standards such as…” Thanks for your efforts to increase awareness of Lightning Protection as well as your work to promote the use of qualified installers.
Thanks for pointing this out, and yes we do not intend to endorse a particular installer with the term “quality.” Standard-compliant lightning protection is what were are talking about here, for sure 🙂