Building Engineering Services

POLICY AND SERVICE CONTEXT

Overview

Many of the Building Engineering Services of a health facility have specialised needs within the context of healthcare provision and infection prevention and control. Specialist needs may include a combination of hygiene, redundancy and contamination-control requirements over and above the normal best engineering practice. The Building Engineering Services dealt with in this document include: ventilation systems, wet services, gas and vacuum services, electrical services and electronic services. The primary function of this document is to provide terms of reference to designers who are contacted to develop building engineering services systems. This document does not serve as a principal facility planning guide but as a best-practice guide within any planned level of healthcare service.

“This document describes engineering design, installation and commissioning principles in terms of current specialist clinical, contamination control and maintenance requirements“

Policy and Service Context

Context This document serves as guidance in the development of all levels of the healthcare facility. Certain sections may not be applicable to all considered levels of facility although, where a certain engineering service is supplied, that service shall be developed in accordance with the guiding principles contained herein. Design principles This document will detail design principles within the scope of services described in the Engineering Council of South Africa’s gazetted Guideline scope of services and tariff of fees in terms of the Engineering Professions Act (46 of 200). This document will also describe design, installation and commissioning principles in terms of current specialist clinical, contamination-control and maintenance requirements. While this document details design requirements and acceptance criteria which have an impact on clinical services, these requirements are prescribed within the framework of the entire IUSS set of guidance documents, and cannot be viewed in isolation. The following documents should be complied with, together with this document:

Within the South African healthcare context, many clinical and administrative zones may be subject to infection prevention and control measures with particular consideration for airborne contamination control.

Service Context

Levels of care

1. “Levels of Care” is discussed in detail in the Project Planning and Briefing document. The Building Engineering Services document does not prescribe levels of care within the healthcare system and does not delineate the application of technology within these levels. It intends only to describe the building engineering services and technical aspects that should be considered from the concept development to the closeout and handover stages of the project. It is not incumbent on the engineer to prescribe appropriate levels of care and this subject is therefore not addressed herein. The allocation of appropriate technologies and services within the prescribed levels of care is a function of the engineer during the facility-planning stage as described by this document.
2. In this document, where three distinct options are made describing system quantities or capacities, these are to be interpreted as the minimum acceptable standard, recommended best practice, and maximum practical limit respectively. Where only two options are given, these are to be interpreted as the minimum standard and best practice respectively. Where only one option is given, this is to be interpreted as the minimum acceptable standard. The reader is cautioned not to interpret these capacity standards as levels of care.

King George V (KZN 2013)

PLANNING AND DESIGN

Overview

The national and provincial service and policy context should be the basic determinant of planning and design principles in the public sector

The national and provincial service and policy context (Part A of this document) is the basic determinant of planning and design principles in the public sector. In the private sector, planning and design will have determinants as defined by the service provider, within certain minimum prescribed limits. Part B describes the scope of planning and design guidance, design considerations and functional relationships between engineering systems. These principles are subsequently developed into a series of Design Specifications (Part C), Commissioning, Handover and Decommissioning (Part D) including some case studies (Part E). Parts C, D and E are intended to demonstrate how the principles prescribed in Part B should be applied. Parts C and D, if used directly, are deemed to satisfy the principles developed in Part B, but are not the only acceptable solutions. Case studies (Part E) are for illustrative purposes, to demonstrate worked solutions and should not be adopted without appropriate contextual adaptation

Stages of design and implementation

1. It is critical that building engineering services professionals involve themselves in the early stages of a project’s initial planning, studies, investigations and assessments. Exclusion or late inclusion of an engineering team from the planning stages of a multi-disciplinary construction project presents a considerable risk of resulting, not in savings, but fruitless expenditure, design delays and ultimately compromises in the functional and build quality of the product.
2. The scoping and broad coordination of services is invaluable during concept development, and the value-added through the early inclusion of building services professionals is frequently underestimated.
3. Briefing authorities or developers are therefore encouraged to ensure that the client’s representative consults with a team of engineering professionals during the earliest project-planning stages. The deliverables of the concept and viability study stages should, therefore, include the following:
   1. Summaries of collated information
   2. Reports on technical feasibility, benefits and risks
   3. Reports on regulatory compliance issues
   4. Reports on financial feasibility and risks
   5. List of consents and approvals required
   6. Schedule of additional surveys, tests, analyses, studies and investigations.
4. The Guideline Scope of Services and Tariff of Fees for Persons Registered in Terms of the Engineering Profession Act 46 of 2000 (2012) defines the following as within the Normal Scope of Professional Services.
   1. INCEPTION
      1. At the inception stage, the client’s requirements and needs are established. The project brief is established and the professional team is appointed. The professional team should contribute towards developing the project brief and concluding the terms of its appointment. Here the professional team should advise on criteria that could significantly impact on the project life cycle cost.
   2. CONCEPT AND VIABILITY STUDY
      1. At the Concept and Viability study stage, the preliminary design details and cost estimates should be finalised. This should be concluded in accordance with the project brief.
      2. A Preliminary design report would include the:
         1. Concept design
         2. Process design
         3. Schedule of design assumptions, required surveys, tests, reports and investigations
         4. Preliminary design details
         5. Installation and life cycle cost estimates
   3. DESIGN DEVELOPMENT / DETAIL DESIGN
      1. During design development the design team will further develop the concept to realise the following:
         1. Finalised design
         2. Detail specification outline
         3. Financial plan
         4. Project programme.
   4. DOCUMENTATION AND PROCUREMENT
      1. This stage is often combined with the design development stage.
      2. Its deliverables include:
         1. Procurement and construction documentation and specifications
         2. Application of timeous procurement strategies appropriate for the project
         3. Assisting in tender evaluation of detailed services and samples for compliance with design intent.
   5. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION
      1. This stage includes the management and administration of the construction contracts and works to facilitate practical completion in accordance with the design intent.
   6. CLOSEOUT
      1. Closeout deliverables include:
         1. Final works-completion lists
         2. Financial reports and final accounts
         3. Facilitation in development of Operation and Maintenance Manuals (O&Ms), warranties and guarantees.
         4. As-built drawings