Assessment Parameters & Instruction Manual

Prepare the source information

Collect the inputs before opening a project. At minimum obtain the project brief, site/location, selected standard edition, general arrangement and elevations, maximum dimensions, roof shape, incoming service routes and lengths, earthing/bonding information, equipment impulse withstand values, occupancy, hazardous-area/fire information, internal-system importance, existing LPS/SPD details, and the lightning-data source.

• Mark unknown items as assumptions; do not silently replace missing evidence with a convenient default.
• Identify connected or adjacent structures that can transfer lightning effects through services.
• Agree who will approve assumptions and who will verify the completed report.

Sign in and create the project

1. Sign in with an account that has permission to create projects and generate the required report type.
2. From Project Dashboard, select Create New Project.
3. Complete project name, client, location, consultant/contractor fields, date, revision, created by, and verified by.
4. Upload the approved company logo when it is required on the report.
5. Check the summary panel, then select Next.

Document control: treat a changed technical input as a revision event. Do not overwrite the meaning of an already issued revision.

Record the questionnaire, parameters, and approved assumptions

1. In Parameters, write the applicability statement explaining which risk categories are included or excluded.
2. Paste or type one source parameter per line. Include symbol, value, unit, source, and assumption status where possible.
3. Record special decisions such as a capped line length, adopted lightning density, fire class, occupancy basis, or credited protection measure.
4. Keep wording factual because this text is reproduced in the generated report for audit traceability.

Select the assessment standard and applicable risks

1. Open Risk Selection and choose the exact standard edition required by the project.
2. Select only risks supported by the assessment scope. For older IEC/BS EN profiles, review life, public-service, cultural, and economic risks individually.
3. For IEC 2024, use the main risk acceptance basis and include a frequency-of-damage check where internal-system availability or service continuity is important.
4. Confirm the Next control becomes available; unresolved selection requirements should be corrected before continuing.

Define each assessed structure

1. In Structures, select the representative shape and enter maximum length, width, and height.
2. For complex geometry, use a known collection area only when it has been calculated and documented outside the app.
3. Select the location factor from the real surroundings—not the desired risk outcome.
4. Add adjacent structure information when a connected service can introduce a flash effect.
5. Review calculated collection areas for order-of-magnitude plausibility before moving on.

Enter the lightning environment

1. In Environment, enter the lightning density directly when verified data is available, or use thunderstorm days only where the selected method permits conversion.
2. Choose the matching rural, suburban, urban, or high-rise urban environment.
3. Record the lightning-data source and date in the Parameters page.
4. For IEC 2024 data from a lightning location system, confirm the provider factor k or document the allowed fallback assumption.

Check: the environment factor describes the service/line surroundings and must be reconsidered when a long line crosses different environments.

Define incoming power, telecom, data, and metallic lines

1. Create a line entry for every relevant incoming service.
2. Split a line into sections where aerial/buried routing, environment, shielding, grounding, transformer isolation, or cable type changes.
3. Enter section length, installation factor, line type factor, environmental factor, shield/bonding condition, and equipment impulse withstand voltage.
4. Credit isolating interfaces or bonded shields only when their installation is confirmed.
5. Review direct-line and near-line collection areas and dangerous-event counts for each section.

Unknown length: use the standard-permitted assumption only after checking available utility/site information, and state the assumption explicitly in Parameters.

Build defensible risk zones

1. Create at least one zone and describe its physical boundary and use.
2. Create additional zones when occupancy, surface type, fire compartment, shielding, protection, internal systems, or loss consequences differ materially.
3. Enter persons present, annual occupancy hours, surface/floor factor, fire or explosion class, fire provisions, and internal wiring/shielding condition.
4. Enter the loss factors and cultural/economic values only for applicable risk categories.
5. Check totals: zone populations and values must reconcile with whole-structure totals and must not be double-counted.

Compare unprotected and protected cases

1. Open Protection and first review the unprotected result and dominant risk components.
2. Select the LPS class, service-entrance SPD/bonding, and coordinated SPD set that are existing or formally included in the design.
3. Review the recalculated protected result. A green/acceptable indication means the numerical criterion is met; it does not prove constructability or installation compliance.
4. If risk remains excessive, improve the measures or revisit evidence-backed inputs—never reduce an input solely to force a pass.
5. Document the final required measures in the project assumptions and conclusion.

Complete financial inputs when required

1. Enter interest, amortization, and maintenance rates using the project’s approved commercial basis.
2. Enter the installed cost of protection and the estimated cost of loss.
3. Link the loss case to the correct unprotected result.
4. Review annual protection cost, residual loss, and annual saving. Leave this section out of the decision narrative when financial risk is outside the agreed scope.

Save, reopen, and generate the report

1. Select Save where available before generating the final report.
2. Use View Projects to reopen the saved record and confirm the correct revision and owner.
3. Select Generate Report from Protection or Financial and choose a report format permitted for your account.
4. Review the generated report’s cover, project identity, assessment basis, input register, component tables, before/after comparison, and conclusion.
5. Store the issued file using the project’s document-control naming convention.

PWA use: the installed app shell can open without a connection, but sign-in, shared projects, backups, and other server/API operations require the server or network to be available.