About the IEC EN 62305-2:2006
 
A foresighted risk management contains to calculate risks for the company. It delivers basics for the decision, to limit this risk and to make it transparent, which kinds of risks should be covered. 
 
Companies which produce or render services with extensive electronic facilities -  and nowadays these are well most -  the risk due to lightning influences also must find special consideration. It has to be taken into account that the damage due to the not availability of the electronic facilities and with that the production or the service and if necessary the loss of data often exceeds the physical hardware damage of the plant concerned by far. 
 
Lightning protection risk analyses aim at the objectification and quantification of endangering of strucures and their contents by direct and indirect lightning strikes. This new thinking had its precipitation found in Germany in the preliminary standard DIN V 0185-2 (VDE V 0185 part 2) first in 2002. This preliminary standard now in 2006 is detached by the DIN EN 62305-2 (VDE 0185 part 305-2). The new standard is the national implementation of the international standard IEC 62305-2:2006 and respectively the Europe standard EN 62305-2:2006. It remains to mention, that for projects still started, the preliminary standard from 2002 can be used until beginning of 2009. 
 
The IEC EN 62305-2: 2006 includes procedures and data for the calculation of the damage risk in case of lightning strikes in structures and for the choice of lightning protective measures. Compared with the VDE V 0185 part 2:2002 there are quite a number of changes. The risk management described in this norm uses a risk analysis to find the necessity of the lightning protection out first, then to fix the technically and economically optimal protective measures and to determine the remaining risk in conclusion. 
 
Thereto the protected object is divided into several lightning protection zones (LPZ). For every lightning protection zone the geometric limits, the substantial characteristics, the lightning threat data and the damage types to be taken into account are defined. Based on the remaining risk of the unprotected condition of the object, the remaining risk is as long  reduced by the application of (further) protective measures until it falls below the acceptable risk. 
 
The in IEC EN 62305-2:2006 given risk analysis warranted that, for all ones involved, a comprehensible lightning protection concept can be reached, which is technically and economically optimized, that means, to ensure the necessary protection with a efford as low as possible. 
 
The described procedures can be used for the simple determination of the safety class of a lightning protective system according to IEC EN 62305-3:2006 as well as for the specification of a complex protective system against the electromagnetic lightning impulse according to IEC EN 62305-4: 2006. 
 
About these Software: 
 
The application of the given methods and data in the practice is effortfully and not always simple. This should and may not keep away the experts, and in particular the practitioner, from dealing with this matter thoroughly. The quantitative assessment of the damage caused by lightning risk for a structure is an essential improvement opposite to the condition to be found in former times, at which for or against lightning protective measures were met out alone from subjective, and not always for all ones involved comprehensible decisions, considerations. 
 
Such a quantitative assessment is an essential prerequisite for the decision, whether, in what complexity and which lightning protective measures must be provided for a structure. A contribution to the acceptance of the lightning protection and to the loss prevention is also made with that in the long run. 
 
The effortful and not always simple application of the procedures of the risk assessment can be improved for the practice by a software solution. The procedures and data from IEC EN 62305-2: 2006 therefor were again converted userfriendly in an AIXTHOR software, as already done 2002 with the preliminary standard VDE V 0185 part 2, and improve with new features, to make the  application more and more easier.