Conclusion

It is important to understand protecting the integrity of the building envelope is critical. Commercial roofing contractors are not experts in lightning protection installation, and lightning installers are not roofing experts. It is therefore the specifier’s or system manufacturer’s responsibility to clearly document how the roofing and LPS effectively interface, for the benefit of the building structure, equipment, occupants, and owner.

The 2024 IBC will be available for adoption by individual jurisdictions beginning in 2024. However, even if it has not yet been adopted for a specific jurisdiction, the impact of LPS on the performance of roof systems needs to be considered. Moving forward, manufacturers of edge metal systems and roofing materials will need to work with the lightning protection industry to provide clear installation instructions for this equipment, in conjunction with the roofing system.

It is also important to remember the IBC is written to benefit society, building owners, and occupants. There will always be conflicts among the various component providers, which need to be addressed and resolved by all parties. Building consensus is time consuming, difficult and requires compromise by all entities, for the overall benefit of the building owner and occupants.

Authors

Brad Van Dam is the vice-president of sales for MTL Holdings, the parent company of Metal-Era, Citadel Architectural Products, and Hickman Edge Systems. Van Dam is currently the president of Single Ply Roofing Industry (SPRI) Inc., the trade association representing the manufacturers of single-ply roofing systems and the related component materials. He attended Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California. In addition to SPRI, Van Dam is also a member of the International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants (IIBEC), and the Roofing Industry Committee on Weather Issues Inc. (RICOWI).

Tim Harger is an industry expert with an entrepreneurial spirit. For more than 35 years, he has engaged in all aspects of the lightning protection industry: manufacturing, installation, and inspection. His desire to maintain high standards comes from his involvement with ANSI accreditation and the ISO certification processes. Harger holds a BS in industrial technology from Iowa State University (ISU). He also is a certified LPI Master Installer Designer. He has served as the executive director of the Lightning Protection Institute (LPI) for more than two years and has been the program manager for the LPI-IP, which is the industry’s third-party inspection program, for more than 10 years.