Electricity + Control February 2018

CABLES + ACCESSORIES

ELPA Empowers Electrical Engineers with SANS 62305-based CPD Programme

By Trevor Manas, (ELPA)

Established in June 2017, the Earthing and Lightning Protection Association (ELPA) is some eight months old and has already achieved a great deal in its short history.

E LPA has already accredited close to 200 lightning protection installers via two rounds of accreditation examinations. In November 2017, ELPA launched its installers’ reg- istrar and inspectorate, which means that the work carried out by our accredited installers is being inspected by our inspectorate. We have already seen a significant improvement in the standard of work carried out by our accredited installers. This can be attributed to the upskilling of LPS installers through the accreditation process and the fact that their work may be inspected. As 2018 began, ELPA continued furthering its goal as being the recognised earthing and light- ning protection National Professional Body. We launched our Lightning Protection Designers’ ac- creditation programme in January 2018 and will launch our Inspectors’ accreditation in April 2018. These accreditations will complete the lightning protection Certificate of Compliance (CoC) pro- cess, from the design phase to the installation phase and finally the inspection phase, and will provide the industry with ‘Certainty through Com- pliance and Certification’, which is our slogan. One of ELPA’s main goals is to provide a plat- form for the dissemination of information and give

clarity on the requirements of the relevant SANS lightning protection standards. To this end, ELPA launched two very important membership pro- grammes in January 2018. The first membership was the Surge Protection Installers’ membership, which is designed to assist electricians through a training programme on the proper selection, instal- lation, placement and coordination of surge pro- tection devices to power supply systems. We see, far too often, that surge arresters are incorrectly installed, poorly selected or wrongly coordinated. The ELPA surge protection installers’ training programme will provide clear guidance in all aspects of surge protection systems to electri- cal installations. The second membership, launched in January 2018, was ELPA’s Electrical Engineers’ member- ship. We have had a huge demand from electri- cal engineers for this type of membership. This is for good reason: most electrical engineers have received very little or no training in earthing and lightning protection as part of their tertiary educa- tion. Only engineers who do a high voltage post graduate course are exposed to this specialisa- tion. We do find, however, that most consulting electrical engineers are exposed to earthing and

Take Note!

Become an ELPAmember and be assured that the earthing and lightning protection installations on your projects are technically sound and properly installed. Become an ELPAmember and keep up-to-date with the latest developments in the earthing and light- ning protection industry. ELPA’s electrical engi- neers’ membership gives members the knowledge, information and techni- cal support they need on a daily basis.

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FEBRUARY 2018