NIST CUP LPS Inspection Report.pdf

Lyncole Project No: 202303-036 Project Name: NIST Building 42 Engineer: Benjamin Du Account Manager: Zahid Mitha Date & Revision: January 29, 2024 - Initial Release

WE ARE LIGHTNING

PROTECTION

Lightning Protection System Inspection December 20, 2023

Olgoonik Construction Division/NOAA NIST Building 42 Boulder, CO

Project # 202303-036 Lightning Protection System Inspection

January 29, 2024 - Initial Release i Lyncole XIT® Grounding

Contents

Introduction

General

Scope of Work

Observations

Utility Services

Rooftop

Summary

Recommendations

Utility Services

Rooftop

Photos

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Lightning Protection System Inspection Olgoonik Construction Division/NOAA

NIST Building 42 Boulder, CO

Introduction

This report contains the results of the inspection of the Lightning Protection System (LPS) on behalf of the Olgoonik Construction Division for NIST – Building 42. This facility is located at 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305. The inspection was conducted on December 20, 2023, by Tito Nunez of VFC Lightning Protection. The report was written by Benjamin Du of Lyncole Technical Services.

General

The current state of the LPS is unknown, as well as whether this system complies with the latest UL 96A & National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 780-2023 Standards. Therefore, VFC Lightning Protection/Lyncole Technical Services was contracted to perform an LPS inspection to confirm if the existing LPS’s installation complies with latest NFPA 780 and UL 96A Standards for Lightning Protection Systems.

Scope of Work

VFC Lightning Protection/Lyncole Technical Services was contracted to perform the LPS inspection to determine if, the LPS complies with the latest UL 96A and NFPA 780 Standards and conforms to the best installation practices, identify any risks and deficiencies, and to provide recommendations for mitigations or improvements.

The Scope of Work includes the following:

• Visual inspection of the existing LPS

• Provide a list of the system’s deficiencies

• Provide recommendations to repair the system(s) to bring it/them up to present code compliant levels

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Observations

The LPS inspection is based on National Fire Protection Associations (NFPA) 780, LPI, UL 96A, National Electrical Code (NEC) and other industry standards.

Utility Services

• The natural gas pipe is not bonded to the grounding system per NFPA 780 Section 4.13.4.1 (Photo 1, Rec. 1).

• No Surge Protection Device (SPD) is installed on the main service entrance per NFPA 780 Section 4.19 (Photo 2, Rec. 2).

• Both the emergency water pipe and the domestic water pipe entrances are not bonded to the grounding system per NFPA 780 Section 4.13.4.1 (Photo 3, Photo 4, Rec. 3).

• The bonding connection from the LPS to the grounding system was not visible at the Main Ground Bar (MGB) per NFPA 780 Section 4.13. Multiple grounding conductors bonded to the MGB have sharp bends, violation NFPA 780 Section 4.8.5 (Photo 5, Rec. 4).

Rooftop

• At multiple locations, the bonding conductors to the rooftop equipment and along the cross runs are not properly secured at 3 ft. intervals per NFPA 780 Section 4.9 (Photo 6, Photo 7, Rec. 5).

• The air terminals installed on the vent covers are not interconnected with an LPS conductor. The vent covers are less than 3/16 of an inch thick, violation per NFPA 780 Section 4.6.11 (Photo 8, Photo 9, Rec. 6).

• All bonding conductors bonded to the vent stacks are secondary bonding conductors.

These stacks are exposed directly to lightning strikes and should be bonded using main size conductors per NFPA 780 (Photo 10, Photo 11, Rec. 7).

• Missing two (2) air terminals on two (2) vent stacks (Photo 12, Rec. 8).

• An air terminal is missing at the corner of the building, in violation of NFPA 780 Section

4.6.2.1 (Photo 13, Rec. 9).

• The rooftop’s newly installed piping system is not protected/bonded to the LPS per NFPA 780 Section 4.15.3 (Photo 14, Photo 15, Rec. 10).

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• The conductors have multiple sharp bends, in violation of NFPA 780 Section 4.8.5 (Photo 16, Photo 17, Rec. 11).

• The LPS on the AHU was removed during its last maintenance service but was never repaired/reinstalled or replaced, violation of NFPA 780 Section 4.6.12 (Photo 18, Rec. 12).

Summary

The present Lightning Protection System (LPS) is not compliant with NFPA 780 and UL 96A.

VFC can provide a proposal to repair the existing LPS and bring it into compliance with NFPA 780 and UL 96A.

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Recommendations

Utility Services

Bond the natural gas pipe entrance to the nearest grounding system using a main size conductor.

Install an SPD on the main service panel. This SPD must be compliant with the UL 1449 5th Edition.

Bond the emergency water pipe entrance and the domestic water pipe entrance to the nearest grounding system using main size conductors.

Verify if the LPS is bonded to the exterior grounding system. If not, bond the LPS to the MGB using a Class I copper conductor and a main bonding plate. Repair or replace the bonding conductors on the MGB to ensure bends are greater than 90 degrees.

Rooftop

Repair/replace/install additional fasteners on the conductors to ensure all conductors are properly secured at 3 ft. intervals.

Repair the Lightning Protection Systems on the vent covers to ensure the systems are compliant with NFPA 780.

Replace all bonding conductors that are bonded to the vent stacks using main size conductors.

Replace the two (2) missing air terminals on the vent stacks.

Replace the missing air terminal at the corner of the building.

Bond the rooftop’s piping system to the LPS at 200 ft. intervals using main size conductors.

Repair the sharp bends on the conductors to ensure that all bends are greater than 90 degrees or have at least an 8 in. bend radius.

Repair/replace the LPS on the AHU.

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Photos

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Photo 1: Natural Gas Pipe Entrance is not Bonded

Photo 2: No SPD installed on the Main Services Entrance

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Photo 3: Domestic Water Pipe is not Bonded

Photo 4: Emergency Water Pipe is not Bonded

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Photo 5: LPS is not Visible on the MGB. Multiple Grounding Conductors with Sharp Bends

Photo 6: Conductors are not Secured at 3 ft. Intervals

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Photo 7: Conductors are not Secured at 3 ft. Intervals

Photo 8: LPS Installed on the Vent Covers

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Photo 9: LPS Installed on the Vent Covers

Photo 10: Vent Stack is Bonded using a Secondary Bonding Conductor

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Photo 11: Vent Stacks are Bonded using Secondary Bonding Conductors

Photo 12: Missing Air Terminals on the Vent Stacks

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Photo 13: Missing Air Terminal at the Corner of the Building

Photo 14: Ungrounded Pipes

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Photo 15: Ungrounded Pipes

Photo 16: Sharp Bend on the Conductor and not Secured at 3 ft. Intervals

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Photo 17: Conductor with a Sharp Bend

Photo 18: LPS was Removed from the AHU