Building steel as effective ground

[charsmit]

Our project has a 3 story building with a steel column and beam construction with bearing connections at the splices and joints.
The steel was pre-primed in the fab shop.

Do the connecting bolts in general provide an effective ground or do we need additional bonding of the steel members?

We plan to have the ground resistance tested at various locations on the steel before we look at additional bonding.

What is your historical experience with these buildings? Do they require bonding straps at splices and connections?

 

[petersonra]

Our project has a 3 story building with a steel column and beam construction with bearing connections at the splices and joints.
The steel was pre-primed in the fab shop.

I am not sure the priming matters one way or the other. It is likely that the bolts or rivets used to hold the structure together will pierce the primer.

Do the connecting bolts in general provide an effective ground or do we need additional bonding of the steel members?

I think that "in general" the bolts are an adequate means by which to bond all the framing members together.

We plan to have the ground resistance tested at various locations on the steel before we look at additional bonding.

Are you planning to test the resistance to ground, or for example, the resistance between adjacent columns?

What is your historical experience with these buildings? Do they require bonding straps at splices and connections?

I was in a plant once where the operators noticed a mild shock when they touched a control panel and a nearby column simultaneously. The plant electrician "fixed" it by connecting a large bonding wire between the control panel and the column.