Move to have buildings adopt adequate protection

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s electricity regulator will begin enforcement on buildings that do not adhere to the international lightning protection standard next year.

The Energy Commission (ST), which is in the midst of a nationwide study to estimate the number of buildings that are not MS IEC 62305-compliant, will begin with government buildings first.

ST electrical safety regulation director Mohd Elmi Anas said the commission tabled and passed amendments to the Energy Commission Act 2001, which states that all of its circulars, including the mandatory adoption of MS IEC, were now law.

This means the commission can blacklist contractors found to be installing lightning protection that was not MS IEC-compliant.

House and building owners were also liable for penalties under the new amendments, he said.

“They could face up to RM200,000 in fines and up to two years in jail. We are looking to start enforcing this law. The commission requires that all buildings are protected internally from lightning,” he told The Star.

The commission issued a circular calling for all contractors to adopt the international standard in 2011, following a fire in the Putrajaya Hospital caused by a lightning strike.

However, the circular was not mandatory and even the ST had not enforced it.

Mohd Elmi said the commission did not follow through to see if any government agencies had adopted the standard, and that ST only checked its own building for lightning protection this year.

In its 14-year history, the commission only has six lightning damage incidences on its record.

“This is a very new thing to us. Lightning is a phenomenon that everyone is afraid of but there is a way to minimise the danger to your equipment and life.

“We have just started a study on lightning awareness in the country, to be followed by an awareness drive and enforcement,” he added.

In layman’s terms, MS IEC requires homes to have surge arresters on their switchboards and an air terminal system, which looks like a rod with a dish on the roof that directs lightning to the ground.

The number of rods needed varies depending on the size of a home, said the Centre for Electromagnetic and Lightning Protection Research (Celp).

The commission said only Selangor and Terengganu state governments have adopted the MS IEC standard in their buildings.