Are the contents of your facility worth protecting from lightning strikes and other power disturbances?

Depending on which source you use for data in the United States 30-40 million business lose between $26 billion to $280 billion from lightning strikes and other power disturbances each year.

Builders rely on the National Electrical Code or the National Electrical Safety Code codes for just about all construction in the United States. However, methods for lightning protection cannot be found in these codes.

Electrical equipment damage from lightning and other power disturbances are usually caused by

1. Improper grounding
2. Insufficient grounding
3. Internal equipment and wiring issues
4. No protection from a ground potential rise (GPR)
5. No Ac Surge Protection
6. No CATV Surge Protection
7. No CCTV Surge Protection
8. No Telco Surge Protection
9. No Data Surge Protection
10. Ground Loops
11. Electrical utility power delivery issues

Depending on the building size and condition of the building wiring the solutions could prove costly. Because the National Electrical Code or the National Electrical Safety Code deal with personnel safety and not equipment protection and equipment continuity in house and local electricians typically are not qualified to locate and correct these issues.

Facility owners are left with few options continue to run the risk of major equipment failures and outages or locate a subject matter expert (SME) on facility electrical protection. This choice becomes very difficult because your in-house electrician, local electrician or in-house staff may not have the knowledge to choose the correct SME. The SME chosen must have case history that supports finding the root causes and solutions to the above issues.

The SME must be capable of evaluating the entire facility while supplying a detailed report that would permit the facility owner to either bid the project out or have in-house electricians correct the recommendation themselves. However, the SME should be hired out to return and verify that recommendations were properly implemented.