Phone, cable and satellite companies as well as systems integrators are all paying liability claims due to lightning damaging home electronics. Even one copper pathway allowing lightning to enter the structure can lead to tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. If you are concerned about liability use Transient Protection Design surge suppression products on all incoming and outgoing data and power wires going between buildings or to outside equipment in order to limit your potential liability. Between improperly or poorly grounded phone, cable and satellite installations your job as a systems integrator has become much more complex in recent years. To be able to diagnose, pin point and explain what or whom is responsible for electronic damage or malfunction in an enormous spiders web of interconnected equipment can be overwhelming. Chasing phantom errors or ghosts in any system is not uncommon.
You must be aware that at times your customers need to be educated on the potential for surge damage. The benefits of a Transient Protection Design system should make enough sense to them to justify an investment in quality protection. But if they are not educated as to the potential for widespread damage and downtime, they are more apt to decline the option for surge protection. Here is some wording from our surge protection waiver that may help the customer realize some of the reasons that you offered a surge protection package to them:
"The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), in its recommended practices book on Powering and Grounding Electronic Equipment, states that surge protection should be placed on all service entrance panels as well as on sub panels. IEEE also recommends that data and telecommunications lines be protected. Federal government publications also recommend that structures be protected with surge suppression. We, your integrators, have also recommended a Transient Protection Design System for your home which consists of protecting all copper wires entering and leaving the home along with protection installed on all electrical sub panels.
Leaving any copper wire unprotected that enters or leaves the structure offers an ideal path for lightning to ride into the structure and cause widespread damage and possible injury. Also, failing to protect service entrance electrical panels also allows destructive surges caused by the power company, the operation of equipment in nearby facilities, and surges from nearby accidents affecting the electrical distribution system to enter the structure and cause widespread harm.
Transient Protection Design (TPD) surge protection installed on all copper wiring entering and leaving the structure and at critical points inside the structure will allow all protected equipment to operate more efficiently with less repair and downtime, and will extend the useful life of all of all protected equipment. An investment in TPD protection equipment will pay for itself many times over throughout the life of the home. Furthermore, TPD products are very green and environmentally friendly. They will protect your investment in lighting, home automation, and HVAC controls and equipment and help assure that you get maximum saving and useful life out of your equipment.”
It is up to the customer to make the choice, and if you offer protection and they decline in writing, the liability issue is now off of you.
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