Commissioning of health care facilities

1.1 General

1.1.1

This Standard provides requirements for the commissioning of health care facilities and all related building systems. It applies to new facilities, and renovations and additions to existing facilities.

This Standard is based on CSA Z320, Building commissioning, with additions as appropriate to address the special requirements for health care facility commissioning.

1.1.2

This Standard is intended to assist the commissioning team in the preparation and implementation of a commissioning plan. This plan specifies commissioning requirements for newly installed or renovated building systems and includes, but is not limited to, descriptions of the following:

a) the commissioning process;

b) the resources required to complete commissioning;

c) the responsibilities of the commissioning team; and

d) the sequence and integration of commissioning activities.

1.1.3

This Standard applies to building services that support medical equipment and systems, but does not apply to the operational commissioning of the equipment or systems, whether installed by the owner or by others.

Note - Although the commissioning activities under this Standard do not include the commissioning of medical equipment and systems (e.g., sterilizers and MRI machines) the facility commissioning process is likely to include steps to ensure that contracts with external companies for equipment commissioning are being followed.

1.1.4

The Standard does not include clinical commissioning.

Note: Clinical commissioning refers to the activities undertaken to determine the readiness of staff, procedures, and other non-infrastructure elements of the clinical program prior to commencement of patient care. This is generally done in-house as part of the program team requirements.

1.2 Specific systems

1.2.1 General

The systems covered in this Standard include, but are not limited to:

a) architectural (building envelope, fenestration, door hardware and interior space assemblies that are environmental separators);

b) vertical and horizontal transportation systems;

c) mechanical systems, including

i) plumbing systems (domestic cold and domestic hot water, storm and sanitary drain systems, medical gases, fuel oil systems);

ii) HVAC and refrigeration systems; and

iii) fire protection and fire suppression;

d) control systems and integration (BAS, energy management control systems, and lighting control systems);

e) electrical (incoming utility, main switchgear and branch distribution, essential power generation and distribution, UPS systems, lighting, and fire alarm and detection systems);

f) electronic safety and security (access control, intrusion detection, and CCTV); and

g) communication (structural cabling, wireless systems, nurse call, paging systems, and life safety communication systems).

Notes -

1) The systems used in the HCF, and the resulting commissioning requirements, will depend on the scope and complexity of the HCF.

2) HCFs have multiple communication systems for the safety of patients, staff and visitors (e.g., emergency assistance alarms; infant abduction; patient wandering, etc.).

1.2.2 Building enclosure and site services

For the purposes of this Standard, commissioning includes:

a) the building enclosure; and

b) site services outside the building, insofar as they affect the safety, reliability, and effectiveness of health care delivery.

Notes -

1) Examples of site services outside the building include:

a) emergency duress stations;

b) multiple utility service connections; and

c) exterior storage of medical gases.

2) The extent to which site services will be included will be defined in the commissioning plan.

1.3 Terminology

In CSA standards, shall is used to express a requirement, i.e., a provision that the user is obliged to satisfy in order to comply with the standard; should is used to express a recommendation or that which is advised but not required; and may is used to express an option or that which is permissible within the limits of the standard.

Notes accompanying clauses do not include requirements or alternative requirements; the purpose of a note accompanying a clause is to separate from the text explanatory or informative material.

Notes to tables and figures are considered part of the table or figure and may be written as requirements.

Annexes are designated normative (mandatory) or informative (non-mandatory) to define their application.