LOOTAH BUILDING SYSTEM

Method Statement for Installation of Earthing and

lightning protection

00 08.02.2020 For Approval

REV DATE REASON FOR REVISION BY CHECK APPROVED

Doc. No: - LBS-RC-EO001-MS-MEP-ELE-0013

Contents

1. SCOPE............................................................................................................................... 3
2. ABBREVIATION................................................................................................................. 3
3. REFERENCES.................................................................................................................... 2
4. RESPONSIBILITIES........................................................................................................... 4
5. SITE PLANNING AND PREPARATION..............................................................................4
6.0 WORK METHODOLOGY & SEQUENCE OF WORK.......................................................5
6.1 INSTALLATION OF EARTHING AND LIGHTNING PROTECTION..................................5
7. RESOURCES..................................................................................................................... 9
7.1 TOOLS & EQUIPMENT....................................................................................................9
7.2 MATERIALS...................................................................................................................... 9
7.3 MANPOWER.................................................................................................................. 10
8.0 QUALITY CONTROL......................................................................................................10
9.0 HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT (HSE).................................................................10
10.0 SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS.............................................................................................10
11.PERSONEL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT........................................................................11
12.ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.............................................................................................11
12.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................... 11
12.2 MITIGATION MEASURES............................................................................................12
13. APPENDIX...................................................................................................................... 12
13.1. RISK ASSESSMENT FOR INSTALLATION OF EARTHING AND LIGHTNING
PROTECTION....................................................................................................................... 12
1.0 SCOPE

The purpose of this method statement is to describe the procedure and methodology to be adopted
as a part of Earthing and lightning protection installation for the Construction of Bird Breeding
Building and Majlis at Ruwayyah Conservation. This document should be read in conjunction with
the Project Quality Plan and Contract Specifications.

2.0 ABBREVIATION

1. MS - Method Statement
2. RA - Risk Assessment
3. E/E - Employer /Engineer
4. PPE -Personal Protective Equipment
5. HSE - Health Safety and Environment
6. PTW – Permit to Work
7. EPCM- Engineering, Procurement, and Construction management.

Other abbreviations are within the document.

3.0 REFERENCES

1. LBS Safety Policy

2. LBS HSE plan & Procedures.
3. Federal Law No 8-regulation of labor Relationship
4. Federal Law No 24-Protection & Development of the Environment.
5. Local Order No 61 for Waste Management
6. Ministerial Decision No 32/1982 concerning preventing methods to protect employees
7. Ministerial Decision No 37/2 1982 concerning standards of medical care provided for
employees.
8. Code of Construction Safety Practice of Dubai Municipality (DM) Cop’s
9. OSHAS ,9001,14001 & 18001
10. IFC Drawings
4.0 RESPONSIBILITIES

Project Manager: Shall be responsible for the proper execution of this procedure and to
ensure that works are undertaken in a safe manner as described herein, to the requisite
quality in accordance with relevant quality procedures and to the agreed timescale.

Safety Manager: Shall be responsible for the implementation of safety procedures on-site
and to ensure that the Risk Assessment within this method statement is followed. He shall
assign a competent Safety Officer to enforce these procedures and to provide guidance to
the operations where applicable.

QA / QC Manager: Shall be responsible for the proper implementation of these procedures

and ensure that inspections and tests are carried out according to the relevant approved
Inspection Test Plan. He shall assign a competent Quality Control Inspector to perform
inspections.

Construction Manager: Shall be responsible for the site implementation of these

procedures and to provide all the resources from competent and trained manpower, tools,
equipment, and approved materials. He shall coordinate with the Quality Control Inspector
for inspections and issuance of Request for Inspections (RFI). He shall be responsible for the
safety of all personnel working on these activities.

MEP Engineer: Shall be responsible for the overall execution of works, and also responsible
for following all HSE and quality procedure.

Safety Officers: Shall be responsible for the implementation of all safety requirements and
to ensure that the works are undertaken in a safe and proper manner, all in accordance with
the approved Construction Phase HSE Plan, the approved method statement and the
approved Job Safety Analysis.

Quality Control Inspector: Shall be responsible for inspection and verification that the
procedures are properly implemented and that inspections are undertaken in accordance
with the approved Inspection Test Plan in a timely manner.

5.0 SITE PLANNING AND PREPARATION

 Ensure all the employees attend site-specific induction covering safety, environment, and
quality.

 Acquire approvals and inspection for plant & machinery to enter inside the site locations if
any.
 Any PTW for General works will be applied and obtained prior to works on site.
  All environmental control will be established in accordance with the Site Environmental
Plan.
 Ensure that all the necessary clearances from the Construction team are obtained prior to
start the work.
 Check that the shop drawings and material submittals are approved and verify that the
materials are as per the approved by the Engineer.
 Check that pipes are delivered pre-packed in standard quantities
 Inspect the pipes stored on a reasonably flat surface free from large stones or sharp
projections.
 Loading and unloading of pipes should be carried out by hand and use of skids should be
avoided
 Pipes should not be dragged along a rough surface.
 Extra care should be exercised in handling pipes to avoid damages.
 Check work area is clean and safe to proceed for the installation & testing works.

6.0 WORK METHODOLOGY & SEQUENCE OF WORK

 Installation of Earthing and lightning protection.

6.1 INSTALLATION OF EARTHING AND LIGHTNING PROTECTION:

 EARTHING:

The Earthing system comprising of grounding electrodes, grounding conductors,

equipment grounding conductors and connections to the ground bus

o Groung Rod and Accessories:

 Grounding rods shall be 20 mm dia & 1.2 m long solid copper, suitably coupled to the
required length as per specification. Solid copper rod can be driven by boring to the
required depths to ensure excellent corrosion resistance and eliminating electrolytic
action and to achieve the accepted value.
 The earth rods shall be connected together by suitable couplers allowing a full-face rod-
to-rod contact for driving. Suitable driving spike shall be used along with the first rod to
drive the rod smoothly to the ground. Also suitable driving head shall be used to drive the
rod to the ground.
o Earth Rod Clamps:
 Earth rods shall be designed for high corrosion resistance, conductivity and mechanical
strength so as to ensure an earthing system remains operative for many years. Suitable
clamps shall be used for connecting earth rod to tape, earth rod to cable etc. according to
the requirements.

o Earth Pits:
 Concrete inspection housings shall be used as required for inspection and testing of the
ground rod and grounding connections.

o Installation:
 Earth rod shall be driven to the ground by boring. Using couplers additional rods shall be
connected according to the required length. After the rod installation suitable clamps shall
be provided to connect the tape & cable. The clamp shall be tightened to the required
torque to get maximum contact between conductor and rod. The bolted connection shall
be maintained free from dust and shall be applied with anti-corrosion tape like Denso
tape.

o Use of Ground Enhancement Material:

 If the measured value of the earth rod is high ground enhancement material (Bentonite
moisten retaining clay) shall be used to improve the values. Bentonite is a moisture
retaining clay that when mixed with water swells to many times its dry volume. When
thoroughly mixed with water Bentonite is highly water retentive and can absorb water
from the surrounding ground.

o Measured Earth Resistance Values:

 The maximum earth resistance value should be less than one ohm for the entire
grounding system.

o Ground Conductor Installation:

 Installation is done as per the grounding layout drawing.150 sq mm copper bare
conductor is used for the main grid and 70 sq mm copper bare conductor is used for the
 tapping connection for the ground bus. Wherever concrete structures are coming, the
laying depth may vary accordingly.
 The cable to cable connection is done by exothermic welding process cable to rod by
suitable clamp. The 70 sq mm tap cable are exothermically welded and kept in a height
after rolling the extra length and is run through 32 mm PVC sleeves in concrete slabs /
walls as the civil work progresses. All taps are properly connected to Ground bus or I
columns as shown in the Grounding layout drawing. The connections to test clamp is
properly clamped to the grounding rod by earth pit bus bar. The bolted connections shall
be removable type for the future maintenance purpose.

o Exothermic Welding:
 The capacity of a grounding circuit to protect the safety of personnel depends on the
quality of the connections made. The exothermic welding process is a simple self-
contained method of forming high quality electrical connections.
 The conductors to be connected shall be cleaned using file card brush and kept inside
the weld cavity of the mould (refer page 119,138 & 139). A steel-retaining disc is
positioned in the bottom of the crucible of the mould to retain the weld powder and
starting powder which is poured in on top. Ignited with a spark gun, the starting powder
sets off an exothermic reaction in the weld powder, reducing it to molten copper alloy.
This instantaneously melts the retaining disc, and flows down to the weld cavity, where it
partially melts the conductors, before cooling to leave a fusion weld of great mechanical
and electrical integrity. All joints shall be checked for continuity before back filling as per
the approved test format to ensure an efficient grounding system.

o Lighting Protection System:

 The conductor is of 25x 3 mm bare aluminum tape conductor / bare copper tape
conductor.
 The roof grid shall be properly fixed to the standing seam with DC tape clips. Wherever
offset is coming square tape clamps shall be used for connecting the tape. Down
conductors shall be positioned to provide the most direct path from aluminum bare tape
to copper tape termination to a low impedance grounding system, to ensure safe and
effective dissipation of the lightning impulse. The down conductors shall be clamped at
regular intervals to the wall or structure and finally shall be connected to the earth pits by
using appropriate clamps. The rod to tape clamp connection shall be tightened to the
required torque.
o Testing of Earth Resistance:
 The Basic procedure for the fall of potential method is to first connect the test set
terminals C1 and P1 to the earth electrode under test.
 Connect the test set C2 terminal to a current probe located some distance from the earth
electrode and finally connect the test set P2 terminal to a potential probe located a variable
distance between.
 The two probes normally are located in a straight line.
 At each potential probe location, the resistance is recorded.
Fig.1

.
o Measuring of Earth Resistance:
 Connect C1 and P1 terminals on the test set to the earth electrode ( Fig.1).
 Drive a probe into the earth 100 to 200 Ft from the center of the electrodes and connect to
terminal C2. This probe should be driven to a depth of 6-12 inches.
 Drive another probe into earth midway between the electrodes and probe C2 and connect
the terminal P2. This probe should be driven to a depth of 6-12 inches.
 Drive another probe into earth midway between the electrodes and probe C2 and connect
the terminal P2. This probe should be driven to a depth of 6-12 inches.
 Move the potential probe 10 feet farther away from the electrode and make a second
measurement.
 Move the potential probe 10 feet closer to the electrode and make a third measurement.
 If the three measurements agree with each other within a few percent of their average,
then the average of the three measurements may be used as the electrode resistance.
  Measuring of roof network resistance is done with low resistance megger. Attached the
test procedure from the manufacturer/supplier.

7. RESOURCES

7.1 TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

The following tools will be utilized to complete the works:
 Earth tester
 Multimeter
 Low resistance megger
 Hammer
 Graphite Moulds
 Shovel
 Hand tools
 Hand gloves.

7.2 MATERIALS

 Wiring Accessories (As per approved Material Submittal)

7.3 MANPOWER

The required manpower shall be reassessed for each activity. In general, the following Supervision
& resources will be in deployed:

 MEP Engineer
 Safety Officers
 Foreman and charge hands
 Technician
 General Labors

8.0 QUALITY CONTROL

 All delivered Wiring Accessories shall be subject to inspection and approval of the
Engineer/ Consultant in line with the approved material submittal.
 All Wiring Accessories installations shall be inspected in accordance with the approved
drawings.
9.0 HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT (HSE)

The Health Safety and Environment Project Management Plan institutes the overall mechanism for the
risk management processes with regard to the Project. Processes are implemented at the earliest
stages within the project cycle, identifying risk and facilitating an opportunity for the application of
appropriate mitigation strategies. As an integral part of the planning process, prior to the commencement
of any operational activity a suitable and sufficient specific assessment (RA) of the risks associated with
the works should be undertaken.

10.0 SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

 Starting instructions will be given by the supervisors at the start of each activity to explain
the methodology of works and to communicate safe working procedures to the operatives.
These talks are structured in a way to highlight to major risks involved in the activity and
the various control measures required in order to minimize the risk. It is delivered in a
manner such as the key points that will be remembered by the operatives receiving it.

 Toolbox talk meetings will be held for each crew, on group or employees, regarding more
general topics of the Project HSE Policy; for example, lessons learned, near-miss reports,
implementation of the requirements and message from the LBS management or
Employers HSE personnel.

11.0 PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENTS

All workers will be issued and trained in the use of the required PPE equipment to comply with
contract procedures and local regulations and will be supplemented with PPE as required by MSDS
& COSHH assessments. This will include but will not be limited to;

 Hard Hats
 Safety Boots with ankle support and steel toe caps
 Safety Goggles
 High Visibility Vests / Overalls with integrated reflective strips
 Hand gloves
  Face Masks

 A variety of mechanisms, such as method statement briefings and toolbox talks will be
implemented to ensure all relevant personnel is appropriately informed.

 In addition to their safety induction received at their arrival on-site, all the workers will have a
toolbox meeting in order to be briefed about the risks of their specific work task, prior to the
start of works.

12.0 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

12.1 INTRODUCTION
As part of the development of the Organization’s Environmental Management System(s) the
significant issues that are faced both on-site and within offices or other facilities should be
addressed. This approach subsequently allows for a systematic focus upon the important
environmental aspects to be adopted which in turn facilitates prioritization of limited
resources

12.2 MITIGATION MEASURES

 Toolbox talks and care shall be taken to avoid excessive usage of water.
 General housekeeping rules for all operatives shall be observed.
 Stationary equipment e.g. lighting towers, generator, etc. will have containment trays
beneath.
 Maintaining good housekeeping minimizes hazardous waste production by increasing the
likelihood that chemicals will be used before they expire and reducing the need to clean up
chemical spills.
 Hazardous substances shall be stored as per the manufacturer’s recommendation or as
mentioned in the safety data sheet.
 Hazardous waste shall be collected and disposed of in the hazardous waste skip.
 Spill kits shall be made available on site.
 Drip tray with a capacity of 110% shall be provided to control the chemical spill.
 Unauthorized personnel entry shall be restricted.
 Organize the work and setup tools and equipment correctly.
 Check all types of equipment are in good working condition.
13. APPENDIX

13.1. Risk Assessment for Installation of Earthing and Lighting Protection.