On June 7 in Orlando, FL at the NFPA World Safety Conference and Exposition- Association Technical Meeting, Mitch Guthrie has been approved through the Notice of Intent to Make a Motion (NITMAM) process to present the NFPA 780 Committees position on adding clarification to both NFPA 13 & 24 of bonding piping systems to the lightning protection system. He will have 5 minutes to present the Certified Amending Motion, and comments from the membership on the floor will follow.
The NFPA 780 Committee submitted new wording to NFPA 13 & 24 to make it clear that grounded piping systems must be interconnected or bonded to the lightning protection system to stop side flashing within a structure or piece of equipment. The Committees rejected this wording, stating that no "technical justification" was included. These Committees contend that they don't preclude bonding between systems, but they include a statement warning against the substitution of piping systems as ground devices. This has led to the problems we have with "authorities having jurisdiction" disallowing pipe bonds as required by the lightning protection Standard. By the way, the "technical justification" for interconnecting systems is fully outlined in the body of the NFPA 780 document, and explained further in the Annexes.
These are the beginning documents in our push to harmonize all NFPA documents on this point, which causes much confusion with authorities - who may call for no grounded systems to be bonded, or intentionally disconnect a lightning protection system bonding connection - thus defeating the potential equalization between systems and creating a safety hazard during lightning strike conditions. We are asking that the general membership of NFPA override the Committee decision, and add appropriate wording to those documents.
We need your help. If you have made plans to attend the meeting, participate in the floor debate and vote the question. If you can make plans to attend, please make the extra effort to join us. We know this may be short notice, but the agenda was just confirmed last week. If you have a conflict, but know others associated with NFPA who are planning to attend, please lobby them on this issue. The floor vote to add this amendment to NFPA 13 & 24 is important to personnel safety and the operation of critical equipment within a structure. It will set the stage for various other documents.
Thank you for your help in improving the Standards process. Your efforts in this area can help resolve an industry headache that we deal with daily in the field.
