Wembley High Technology College and East Lane Primary School
Annual test and inspection of the lightning protection systems on two school sites, seven structures and 38 earth electrodes, with one certificate per site and a defect flagged for remedial action.
- Client
- Wembley High Technology College (direct) and East Lane Primary School
- Location
- Wembley, London HA0 and HA9
- Sector
- Testing and maintenance
- Year
- 2026
7
Structures tested
38
Electrodes tested
Pass, 1 Attention
Result
The challenge
Two neighbouring school sites with seven separate structures between them, including a legacy early streamer emission system on the Maths Hall that does not conform to BS EN 62305 and has to be reported as such. The schools want testing done in the summer break, a certificate they can hand to their insurer and the local authority, and early warning of anything that will fail next year. In previous years the sites had been certificated block by block, giving seven documents a year to file.
What we did
- Tested both sites in one day, 10 August 2026, during the summer break so there was no disruption to the schools.
- At Wembley High Technology College tested the Main Block (9 electrodes), the IT Cafe and Sixth Form (3 electrodes) and the Maths Hall (2 electrodes), and inspected the roof networks, fixings, bonds and any new plant.
- At East Lane Primary tested Blocks A to D including the Dining Hall, 24 electrodes in all, with the 3 pole fall of potential method used wherever the ground allowed.
- Reported every individual reading against the 10 ohm per electrode convention carried from the previous certificates, and calculated the parallel combined value for each structure: 1.15 ohms for the Main Block, 1.60 ohms for the IT Cafe and Sixth Form, 5.04 ohms for the Maths Hall.
- Flagged electrode E5 on East Lane Block C at 43.7 ohms as Attention. It has read in the mid 40s two years running, so we recommended a rod extension or supplementary rod before the 2027 test and offered a price.
Outcome
Both sites passed. Two certificates were issued on 2 September 2026, one per site in place of the old seven, with readings, combined values, the ESE note, the instrument reference and the next due date of August 2027. The Block C electrode is on record as a planned remedial rather than a surprise failure next year.
Standards
- BS EN IEC 62305:2024 Part 3, Section 7 and Annex E
- BS 7430:2011
- Maintenance
- Compliance
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