Grounding Maintenance

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East Reach

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Mike-

Great forum and a great service provided. As a property manager, I have a question for a building owner who has an old shopping center with light poles that illuminate the parking lot. Recently in a neighboring center a person was badly shocked when he touched a light pole that everyone agrees was not properly grounded. What should a building owner do to prevent this kind of injury? Are there codes that require inspection and maintenance of existing poles?

Thanks for any guidance.
 
In many areas of the U.S. (I'd dare say most), an electrical license is required to gainfully maintain or install electrical equipment. If someone received a shock from a light pole, a reputable electrician should be called out to examine the system for code violations.

In many commercial facilities, the parking lot lighting is 277 volts or greater, and is very hazardous - but more experienced electricians die every year to contact with plain old 120 volts. If a parking lot pole is not properly bonded with an equipment grounding conductor from it's source of power, it can be deadly to anyone who touches it, regardless of voltage.

Are there codes that require inspection and maintenance of existing poles?
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That would be determined by the local Building Department - but chances are, they have no such regulations. However, you could possibly determine who originally installed the poles from the building department, as they may have some records from the permit being pulled. I'd even go so far as to suggest (if an electrician discovers multiple unsafe poles) that the building department be notified, perhaps it wasn't an isolated event.

Hopefully, the event in the neighboring shopping center provokes all the neighboring businesses to take a close look at their poles in the interests of public safety.

I need to let you know (and anyone who responds to this thread), that we cannot give you troubleshooting/inspecting/repair advice, as it is against the forum rules. I am leaving this thread open, as you haven't directly asked for DIY advice, and the conversation could go a different route. :)
 
Make sure that an equipment grounding conductor has been installed with the circuit conductors. Some pole lighting relies on grounding at each pole to clear faults. While this is common, it is a violation of the NEC and will not clear a fault. You just end up with a pole that it energized with the supply voltage which is very dangerous. It sounds like this may be what happened at your neighboring center.
 
In the United States regularly testing is NOT required, generally we test by letting someone die first, then Katy bar the door all the experts in the world show up to point fingers followed shortly by the lawyers.

A comprehensive inspection by a QUALIFIED electrician would verify the poles are properly installed and wired. A letter detailing all findings pole by pole should be submitted signed by the shops master electrician, this at a minimum could give you some feeling of ease and insure you the shopping public at your center has some reason of safety in your parking lot.
 
This is starting to be a bigger deal lately. One shopping center customer of mine had every single aluminium handhole cover stolen for their lot poles (34 of them) and some of the wiring was ripped out of certain poles. The handhole covers are no longer available, so we're having some made at this very moment at a local foundry. The cost to the customer will be 125 dollars per handhole cover plus labor. Cheaper than new poles. I doubt if the crooks got 50 cents a cover.
 
It could be said that a licensed electrician may or may not be QUALIFIED.
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NO JOKE many licensed electricians are not suited to perform this type of work. For an inspection of this type you need "qualified" not just licensed
 
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