Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Maintenance
It has been shown that in cases where damage has occurred to a protected structure, the damage
was due to additions or repairs to the building or to deterioration or mechanical damage that was
allowed to go undetected and unrepaired, or both. Therefore, it is recommended that an annual
visual inspection be made and that the system be thoroughly inspected every five years.
INSPECTION CRITERIA
1. The minimum inspection requirements shall be as outlined in Annex D of NFPA 780.
Visual inspections should be performed to verify the following:
a) The system is in good repair.
b) There are no loose connections that might result in high-resistance connections.
c) No part of the system has been weakened by corrosions, vibration, or an obvious
lightning strike.
d) All down conductors and grounding electrodes are intact (non-severed).
e) All conductors and system components are fastened securely to their mounting surfaces
and are protected against accidental mechanical displacement.
f) There have been no additions or alterations to the protected structure that would require
additional protection against lightning strikes or surges.
g) There is no indication of damage to surge protection devices.
2. Recommended Testing, Maintenance & Inspection Frequencies
a) An annual visual inspection should be performed on all visible Lightning Protection
System (LPS) components per the requirements of NFPA 780 Annex D. In some areas
where severe climatic changes occur, it might be advisable to visually inspect systems
semiannually or following extreme changes in ambient temperatures.
b) A visual inspection should be performed whenever any alterations or repairs are made to
a protected structure, as well as after a known or suspected lightning strike or other
natural phenomena that could have damaged the LPS.
c) The annual visual inspection should be scheduled to proceed the normal lightning high
frequency period for the site, if practical.
d) All components, conductors, clamps and splicers must be refastened and tightened
annually.
e) A complete inspection of the LPS should be performed on 36 to 60 month frequency as
practical for the site. It is recommended that critical systems be inspected every 1 to 3
years depending on occupancy or the environment where the protected structure is
located. In most geographical areas, and especially in areas that experience extreme
ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA
1. General Criteria The LPS shall be maintained equal to its original installed condition.
Deficient conditions identified by the Testing, Maintenance & Inspections shall be corrected
so that the system will function as intended to protect the structure, installed equipment and
processes, and personnel.
2. When conducting required follow up inspections on building LPS, maintenance inspectors
shall utilize the following categories/ classifications for reporting any identified LPS
deficiencies.
a) Level 1 (Non-Functional): Personnel and Sensitive Operations protection:
Deficiencies that significantly compromise the ability of the LPS to effectively protect
facility occupants, special nuclear material or hazardous contents from a lightning related
event. Examples may include but are not limited to:
1. Missing, improperly spaced, or fallen air terminals (usually two or more adjacent
air terminals).
2. Disconnected, broken, or damaged conductors or down leads.
3. Disconnected, broken, or damaged connections between the LPS and the
associated ground electrode system.
4. Broken or missing bonding connections (25% or greater).
5. Damage to or failure of surge protection devices (2 or more for the facility).
A Level 1 deficiency shall be repaired within one week.
b) Level 2 (Impaired but Functional): Equipment Protection:
Deficiencies that leave rooftop mounted equipment and high value asset equipment
within the building subject to damage from a lightning related event. Examples may
include but are not limited to:
1. Existing rooftop mounted equipment that is not bonded.
2. SPDs not installed (electrical, communications data, etc.).
3. Building components subject to sideflash that are not properly bonded (door &
window frames, roof flashings, structural supports, bollards, ladders etc.).
4. New rooftop equipment not bonded to LPS.
A Level 2 deficiency shall be repaired within 30 days.
c) Level 3: Component Protection and Testing:
Existing equipment and metal structures that are constructed of materials that are less
than 3/16" in thickness and are not properly bonded with required conductors and/or
terminals. Ground resistance testing that is not completed due to the inability to isolate
the system or inability to meet the distance requirements of NFPA-780 Annex-E.
Examples may include but are not limited to:
1. Exhaust fan housings, ventilation stacks, other metal components less than 3/16"
thick which require separate bonding and air terminals.
2. Improper height or support of air terminals.
3. Equipment with less than two paths to ground.
4. Conductor bend radius less than 8".
5. Conductors supported at lengths greater than 3ft.
A Level 3 deficiency shall be repaired as soon as practical.
3. Consult with the LPS Subject Matter Experts to ensure these priority classifications are
acceptable for individual sites.
NFPA_780 ANNEX E
E.1 General.
E.1.1 In order to determine the ground resistance of a lightning protection system, it is necessary
to remove it from any other ground connection. This can prove a virtually impossible task,
necessitating certain assumptions. In reality, ground resistancemeasuring equipment works at
low frequencies relative to the lightning discharge. The resistance it computes is therefore often
affected by the resistance of power-system ground electrodes or a similar ground medium that
can be several thousand feet from the structure being protected. The ground resistance to be used
to calculate lightning conductor potentials when a high-frequency lightning discharge strikes a
building must be the grounds in the immediate area of the building, not the remote ones that
ground-measuring equipment probably monitor.
E.1.2 If the building is small, and the lightning protection system can be disconnected totally
from any other grounding network, its resistance can be measured by the three-point technique
described in E.1.3. If the building is large or cannot be disconnected totally from any other
grounding network, then the ground resistance of individual isolated lightning protection ground
rods should be measured by the three-point technique described in E.1.3 and this resistance
multiplied by a factor depending on the number of ground rods.
E.1.3 The principle of ground resistance measurement is shown in Figure E.1.3. L is the
lightning ground rod or ground rod system, P is a test probe, and A is an auxiliary current probe.
M is the standard ac measuring equipment for three-point technique ground resistance
measurements.
Convenient distances for LP and LA are 23 m (75 ft) and 36 m (120 ft), respectively. In general,
P should be at 62 percent of the distance from L to A. If 36 m (120 ft) is not convenient, it could
be increased significantly [or reduced to no less than 15 m (50 ft)], provided LP is increased
proportionately.
Where:
R = total system ground resistance
Rm = average single ground rod resistance
n = number of lightning protection ground rods