A lightning protection system is designed around the building as it exists on the day it is commissioned. Roofs do not stay that way. Condenser units get added, solar panels go up, telecom antennas arrive with a new tenant, and the metal cladding gets replaced during a façade upgrade — and none of it comes with a call to the LPS contractor.
Every one of those additions changes the system, even when nobody intended it to. New metal mass on the roof can alter where a strike is most likely to terminate. Cabling for new plant can create an unbonded path close enough to the protection system to create a dangerous side-flash risk. Replaced cladding can break a bond that was never reinstated.
What we look for
On every maintenance visit we walk the roof specifically looking for what has changed since the last visit — not just testing the existing system in isolation. New plant gets checked for separation distance and bonding before it becomes a problem, not after.
If your building has had any rooftop work since the system was last reviewed, that is reason enough to have someone look at it before the next storm season.