Grounding Interior Columns

[bfletcher]

I have a project where the exterior walls of warehouse/building are made of precast concrete panels. There are no perimeter columns on this building. There are structural steel columns on the interior of the building. This building has a lightning protections system, including a counterpoise. Down conductors for the lightning protection system are run in a conduit that has been precast into the precast wall panels and are connected to the counterpoise. The electrical system uses the rebar in the concrete footing as the grounding electrode as well as the water service pipe. Do the interior building columns have to be grounded (with there own ground rods)? I would think the soil under/around these columns would be very poor for grounding as there is no/little moisture as compared to ground around the building. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Bill

 

[bphgravity]

NO. non-electrical materials are not required to be grounded per the NEC or NFPA 780, unless the component is being used as a down conductor.

The steel columns may serve as a grounding electrode for the electrical service and / or may need to be bonded per the NEC. The columns most certainly shoul dbe bonded to the LPS.