Maritime Lightning Protection is qualified to provide a formal Lightning Damage Risk Assessment based on industry standards as outlined in the CSA B72-20 and NFPA 780. These technical Risk Assessments have been developed and refined to provide a mathematically-based evaluation and recommendation based on project-specific factors as to whether a structure SHOULD have lightning protection installed or if, by code, installation of a system is OPTIONAL.
The following factors are evaluated:
- Occupant Safety: liability for the safety of occupants
- Nature of building/structure and contents: susceptibility of the building, historical value, replacement value, contents (value, environmental impact, flammability, etc.)
- Relative Exposure to Lightning: topographical elements and surrounding building density
- Lightning flash density: frequency and intensity of lightning storms in the area
- Indirect Losses: consequences of loss such as business interruption or disruption of services provided by the structure.
The assessment quantifies two factors: the lightning threat evaluation and the tolerable lightning frequency. The lightning threat evaluation determines the average lightning strike frequency for the structure using:
- Lightning ground flash density for the specific project location using environmental data.
- Equivalent collection area of the structure using the length, width, and height of the structure to input into a collection area formula. We are able to account for structures with a complex footprint
- The structure's location includes the topography and other structures within the collection area.
The tolerable lightning frequency determines the risk tolerance for the structure using:
- A construction coefficient considers the materials used to build the framework, along with the material the roof is constructed of.
- A contents coefficient taking into account the value and combustibility of the contents
- An occupancy coefficient taking into account the normal occupancy of the structure during peak lightning hours
- A lightning consequence coefficient takes into account the requirement for continuity of service requirement and the environmental impacts of a strike.
Once the assessment is complete, a formal report is provided containing an appendix with the risk assessment calculation completed with associated variables. If your project requires a risk assessment to be certified by an engineer, we can also arrange for that!
Contact us today if you want a risk assessment for your current or future property!
