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TITLE 25HEALTH SERVICES
PART 1DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES
CHAPTER 131FREESTANDING EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE FACILITIES
SUBCHAPTER GPHYSICAL PLANT AND CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
RULE §131.143Construction Requirements for a New Facility

    (K) Duct access doors. Unobstructed access to duct openings in accordance with NFPA 90A, §4.3, shall be provided in ducts within reach and sight of every fire damper, smoke damper and smoke detector. Each opening shall be protected by an internally insulated door which shall be labeled externally to indicate the fire protection device located within.

    (L) Restarting controls. Controls for restarting fans may be installed for convenient fire department use to assist in evacuation of smoke after a fire is controlled, provided that provisions are made to avoid possible damage to the system because of closed dampers. To accomplish this, smoke dampers shall be equipped with remote control devices.

    (M) Make-up air. If air supply requirements in Table 1 of §131.148(a) of this title do not provide sufficient air for use by exhaust hoods and safety cabinets, filtered make-up air shall be ducted to maintain the required air flow direction in that room. Make-up systems for hoods shall be arranged to minimize short circuiting of air and to avoid reduction in air velocity at the point of contaminant capture.

(h) Piping systems and plumbing fixture requirements. All piping systems and plumbing fixtures shall be designed and installed in accordance with the requirements of the National Standard Plumbing Code Illustrated published by the National Association of Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors (PHCC), 2003 edition, and this paragraph. The National Standard Plumbing Code may be obtained by writing or calling the PHCC at the following address or telephone number: Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors, P.O. Box 6808, Falls Church, Virginia 22046; telephone (800) 533-7694.

  (1) Piping systems.

    (A) Water supply piping systems. Water service pipe to point of entrance to the building shall be brass pipe, copper tube (not less than type M when buried directly), copper pipe, cast iron water pipe, galvanized steel pipe, or approved plastic pipe. Domestic water distribution system piping within buildings shall be brass pipe, copper pipe, copper tube, or galvanized steel pipe. Piping systems shall be designed to supply water at sufficient pressure to operate all fixtures and equipment during maximum demand.

      (i) Each water service main, branch main, riser, and branch to a group of fixtures shall be equipped with accessible and readily identifiable shutoff valves. Stop valves shall be provided at each fixture.

      (ii) Backflow preventers (vacuum breakers) shall be installed on hose bibs, laboratory sinks, janitor sinks, bedpan flushing attachments, and all other fixtures to which hoses or tubing can be attached. Connections to high hazard sources, e.g., X-ray film processors, shall be from a cold water hose bib through a reduced pressure principle type backflow preventer (RPBFP).

      (iii) Flush valves installed on plumbing fixtures shall be of a quiet operating type, equipped with silencers.

      (iv) Water heating equipment shall have sufficient capacity to supply water for all clinical needs based on accepted engineering practices using actual number and type of fixtures and for heating, when applicable.

      (v) Hot water distribution system serving all patient care areas shall be under constant recirculation to provide continuous hot water at each hot water outlet.

      (vi) Water temperatures shall be measured at hot water point of use or at the inlet to processing equipment. Hot water temperature at point of use for patients, staff, and visitors shall be in the range of 105 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

      (vii) When potable water storage tanks (hot and cold) are used, the water shall be used and replenished. Domestic water storage tank(s) shall be fabricated of corrosion-resistant metal or lined with noncorrosive material. Water shall not be stored in tanks for future use unless the water is tested weekly for contaminates/bacteria.

      (viii) Purified water distribution system piping shall be task specific and include, but not necessarily be limited to, polypropylene (PP), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe. Final installed purified water system piping assemblies shall be UL approved and fully comply with applicable American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Fire Resistant/Smoke Density requirements. The applicable documents are available from ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, P.O. Box C700, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania 19428-2959.

      (ix) Dead-end piping (risers with no flow, branches with no fixture) shall not be installed. In any renovation work, dead-end piping shall be removed. Empty risers, mains and branches installed for future use are permitted.

    (B) Fire sprinkler systems. When provided, fire sprinkler systems shall comply with the requirements of NFPA 101, §9.7, Automatic Sprinklers and Other Extinguishing Equipment, and the requirements of this subparagraph. All fire sprinkler systems shall be designed, installed, and maintained in accordance with the requirements of NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, 2002 Edition, and shall be certified as required by §131.147(c)(1)(C) of this title (relating to Construction, Inspection, and Approval of Project).

    (C) Piped nonflammable medical gas and clinical vacuum systems. Piped nonflammable medical gas and clinical vacuum system shall be designed, installed, and certified in accordance with the requirements of NFPA 99, §5.1 for Level 1 Piped Systems and the requirements of this subparagraph.

      (i) Nonflammable medical gas and clinical vacuum outlets shall be provided in accordance with Table 3 of §131.148(c) of this title.

      (ii) Medical gas piping systems including source tanks and related piping shall be installed only by, or under the direct supervision of, a holder of a master plumber license or a journeyman plumber license with a medical gas piping installation endorsement issued by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners.

      (iii) Prior to closing of walls, the installer shall perform an initial pressure test, a blowdown test, a secondary pressure test, a cross-connection test, and a purge of the piping system as required by NFPA 99.

      (iv) Qualifications verification testing shall be performed and inspected by a party, other than the installer, installing contractor, or material vendor. Testing shall be conducted by a medical gas system verifier registered with an acceptable organization by this department and is technically competent and experienced in the field of medical gas and vacuum pipeline testing and meets the requirements of The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) Personnel Standard 6030, Professional Qualifications Standard for Medical Gas Systems. The document published by ASSE Personnel Standard 6030, Professional Qualifications Standard for Medical Gas Systems as referenced in this rule may be obtained by writing or calling The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) at ASSE International Office, 901 Canterbury, Suite A, Westlake, Ohio 44145, telephone (440) 885-3040.

      (v) 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 testing of the medical gas piping systems and the warning systems 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 all be 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) 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) Before new piped medical gas systems, additions, renovations, or repaired portions of an existing system are put into use, facility medical personnel 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.

      (x) 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 Cont'd...

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