(V) Verification tests. Upon completion of the installer
inspections and tests and after closing of walls, verification tests
of the medical gas piping systems, the warning system, and the gas
supply source shall be conducted. The verification tests shall include
a cross-connection test, valve test, flow test, piping purge test,
piping purity test, final tie-in test, operational pressure tests,
and medical gas concentration test.
(VI) Verification test requirements. Verification tests
of the medical gas piping system, the warning system, shall be performed
on all new piped medical gas systems, additions, renovations, or repaired
portions of an existing system. All systems that are breached and
components that are added, renovated, or replaced shall be inspected
and appropriately tested. The breached portions of the systems subject
to inspection and testing shall be all of the new and existing components
in the immediate zone or area located upstream of the point or area
of intrusion and downstream to the end of the system or a properly
installed isolation valve.
(VII) Warning system verification tests. Verification
tests of piped medical gas systems shall include tests of the source
alarms and monitoring safeguards, master alarm systems, and the area
alarm systems.
(VIII) Source equipment verification tests. Source
equipment verification tests shall include medical gas supply sources
(bulk and manifold) and the compressed air source systems (compressors,
dryers, filters, and regulators).
(IX) Written certification. Upon successful completion
of all verification tests, written certification for affected piped
medical gas systems and piped medical vacuum systems including the
supply sources and warning systems shall be provided by a party technically
competent and experienced in the field of medical gas pipeline testing
stating that the provisions of NFPA 99 have been adhered to and systems
integrity has been achieved. The written certification shall be submitted
directly to the facility and the installer. A copy shall be forwarded
to the department by the facility.
(X) Facility responsibility. Before new piped medical
gas systems, additions, renovations, or repaired portions of an existing
system are put into use, the facility shall be responsible for ensuring
that the gas delivered at the outlet is the gas shown on the outlet
label and that the proper connecting fittings are checked against
their labels.
(XI) Documentation of medical gas and clinical vacuum
outlets. Documentation of the installed, modified, extended or repaired
medical gas piping system shall be submitted to the department by
the same party certifying the piped medical gas systems. The number
and type of medical gas outlets (oxygen, vacuum, medical air, nitrogen,
nitrous oxide, etc.) shall be documented and arranged tabularly by
room numbers and room types.
(iv) Steam and hot water systems.
(I) Boilers. Boilers shall have the capacity, based
upon the net ratings as published in The I-B-R Ratings Book for Boilers,
Baseboard Radiation and Finned Tube (commercial) by the Hydronics
Institute Division of GAMA, to supply the normal requirements of all
systems and equipment. The number and arrangement of boilers shall
be such that, when one boiler breaks down or routine maintenance
requires that one boiler be temporarily taken out of service, the
capacity of the remaining boiler(s) shall be sufficient to provide
hot water service for clinical, dietary, and patient use, steam for
sterilization and dietary purposes, and heating for emergency, recovery,
treatment, and general patient rooms. However, reserve capacity for
space heating of noncritical care areas (e.g. general patient rooms
and administrative areas) is not required in geographical areas where
a design dry bulb temperature equals 25 degrees Fahrenheit or higher
as based on the 99% design value shown in the Handbook of Fundamentals,
1999 edition, published by ASHRAE, Inc. The document published by
the Hydronics Institute Division of GAMA as referenced in this rule
may be obtained by writing or calling the Hydronics Institute Division
of GAMA, P. O. Box 218, Berkeley Heights, N.J. 07922-0218, telephone
(908) 464-8200.
(II) Boiler accessories. Boiler feed pumps, heating
circulating pumps, condensate return pumps, and fuel oil pumps shall
be connected and installed to provide normal and standby service.
(III) Valves. Supply and return mains and risers of
cooling, heating, and process steam systems shall be valved to isolate
the various sections of each system. Each piece of equipment shall
be valved at the supply and return ends except that vacuum condensate
returns need not be valved at each piece of equipment.
(v) Drainage systems.
(I) Above ground piping. Soil stacks, drains, vents,
waste lines, and leaders installed above ground within buildings shall
be drain-waste-vent (DWV) weight or heavier and shall be: copper pipe,
copper tube, cast iron pipe, or galvanized iron pipe.
(II) Underground piping. All underground building drains
shall be: cast iron soil pipe, hard temper copper tube (DWV or heavier),
acrylonitrile-butodiene-styrene (ABS) plastic pipe (DWV Schedule 40
or heavier), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic pipe (DWV Schedule 40
or heavier), or extra strength vitrified clay pipe (VCP) with compression
joints or couplings with at least 12 inches of earth cover.
(III) Drains for chemical wastes. Separate drainage
systems for chemical wastes (acids and other corrosive materials)
shall be provided. Materials acceptable for chemical waste drainage
systems shall include chemically resistant glass pipe, high silicone
content cast iron pipe, VCP, plastic pipe, or plastic lined pipe.
(IV) Drains above sensitive areas. Drainage pipes shall
not be located above sensitive clean or sterile areas such as sterile
processing, storage of food or of food preparation and serving areas,
etc. unless protected from leaks or condensation by an approved method
such as drip pans.
(V) Sewers. Building sewers shall discharge into a
community sewerage system. Where such a system is not available, a
facility providing sewage treatment must conform to applicable local
and state regulations.
(vi) Thermal insulation for piping systems and equipment.
Insulation shall be provided for the following:
(I) boilers, smoke breeching, and stacks;
(II) steam supply and condensate return piping;
(III) hot water piping and all hot water heaters, generators,
converters, and storage tanks;
(IV) chilled water, refrigerant, other process piping,
equipment operating with fluid temperatures below ambient dew point,
and water supply and drainage piping on which condensation may occur.
Insulation on cold surfaces shall include an exterior vapor barrier;
(V) other piping, ducts, and equipment as necessary
to maintain the efficiency of the system.
(vii) Pipe and equipment insulation rating. Flame
spread shall not exceed 25 and smoke development rating shall not
exceed 150 for pipe insulation as determined by an independent testing
laboratory in accordance with National Fire Protection Association
255, Standard Method of Test of Surface Burning Characteristics of
Building Materials, 2000 edition. Smoke development rating for pipe
insulation located in environmental air areas shall not exceed 50.
(viii) Identification. All piping including heating,
ventilating, air-conditioning (HVAC) shall be color coded or otherwise
marked for easy identification.
(ix) Asbestos insulation. Asbestos insulation shall
not be used.
(B) Plumbing fixtures. Plumbing fixtures shall be made
of nonabsorptive acid-resistant materials and shall comply with the
recommendations of the National Standard Plumbing Code, and this paragraph.
(i) Sink and lavatory controls. All fixtures used by
medical and nursing staff and all lavatories used by patients and
food handlers shall be trimmed with valves which can be operated without
the use of hands. Blade handles used for this purpose shall not be
less than four inches in length. Single lever or wrist blade devices
may be used.
(ii) Clinical sink traps. Clinical sinks shall have
an integral trap in which the upper portion of a visible trap seal
provides a water surface.
(iii) Back flow or siphoning. All plumbing fixtures
and equipment shall be designed and installed to prevent the back-flow
or back-siphonage of any material into the water supply. The over-the-rim
type water inlet shall be used wherever possible. Vacuum-breaking
devices shall be properly installed when an over-the-rim type water
inlet cannot be utilized.
(iv) Drinking fountain. Each drinking fountain shall
be designed so that the water issues at an angle from the vertical,
the end of the water orifice is above the rim of the bowl, and a guard
is located over the orifice to protect it from lip contamination.
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