The lightning-protection biz seems like a “brotherhood” of sorts. it’s one of those “everyone knows everyone else” situations. The “list” of participants is in the introduction of NFPA Standard 780. [I’ve learned just enough to be dangerous—before retirement I was able to attend a ‘facilities’ 3-day course at Lightning Technologies in Pittsfield, MA. It was riveting, but did not qualify me to so much as screw down an air terminal.] It seems that all building installations are carefully engineered before an installer begins work—sort of on a par with fire-protection sprinklers. Petrochems and recreational companies like Disney Corporation spend millions in their construction budgets for protection of users and facilities from lightning.
On the conductor, see
http://www.tlpinc.com/fullcat1/conductors.html or
http://www.harger.com/catalog2002/2_1_1.pdf ..note illustrations..
Class I lightning conductors are manufactured using a special rope lay process. This process maximizes the surface area of the conductor while allowing greater installation flexibility. [This message has been edited by Bjarney (edited 09-02-2003).]
