Testing and Verifying Grounding ?

[Davebones]

Our manufacturing plant was built in 1984 . We have about 150,000 sq ft of manufacturing area plus office space . The structure is metal columns bolted on concrete pads with concrete floors and concrete walls . The metal columns and bar joists are all welded and bolted together . We have quite a few areas with chemical containers which are bonded to the nearest building steel for static charge . Our safety department is inquiring about doing annual testing to verify the bonding and grounding in the plant . ( 1) What kind of testing would be recommended for the static grounds ? ( 2 ) As we have five services into the plant what would we want to do to verify the original grounds and the existing grounding in the plant ? I know we could get a ground tester and use a ohm meter for continuity but as this something we haven't done I want to be sure we use the correct approach to do this ...

 

[zog]

Low R ohmmeter for connections, 3 pt FOP test for your ground. Any testing company can do that for you and do it right.

 

[publicgood]

You might review NFPA 70B for intervals. Annual visual inspect is more appropriate with actual testing ever few years. 70B,NETA and NECA will help with the method.

http://www.nfpa.org/Codes-and-Standards/All-Codes-and-Standards/Free-access

 

[petersonra]

do you want to test grounding or bonding?

if so, what are your pass/fail criteria?

the NEC criteria is essentially that the connection is made and that can be verified by a visual inspection.