Commissioning for Operations and Regulatory Compliance
Tiffini Lovelace, RA, NCARB, The WorkingBuildings Companies
Containment laboratories are becoming increasingly complex to design, build, and operate. As an industry response to this complexity, commissioning has become widely accepted, ensuring the complex systems are aligned with the reason the laboratory is being built, or the design intent. With factors like changes in technology, scientific techniques, government regulations, rising energy costs, budget constraints, and the "value engineering" process, it is easy to understand how the intent gets lost during the design and construction process, but what is more difficult to understand is at what cost to owners and users.
The ultimate goal of the design and construction team is to complete a building on time and within budget, and then hand it over to the owner. This, however, is only the beginning of the process for an owner. The enormous task of safely and efficiently operating this dynamic facility is a challenge that must begin during the design process and include the commissioning team. Protocols, scientific processes, and regulatory requirements must be discussed in as much detail and depth as energy recovery options and laboratory casework configuration. In order to ensure a successful laboratory is delivered, the laboratory must be able to be safely and efficiently maintained and operated on a daily basis for the life of the building. Additionally, the users must be able to obtain the appropriate certifications and accreditations that are required to ensure their clients that the integrity of the services being provided, and the research being performed, is of the highest standard and trustworthy.
Commissioning for operations and compliance builds upon the traditional commissioning process and follows the design process from conceptual design where operations and compliance issues are defined, through the construction process where appropriate testing procedures are written. This ensures that the new laboratory can be operated and maintained as intended and that the facility requirements for regulatory authorities are sound and appropriate. In order to provide the design, construction, and commissioning teams the necessary information to insure successful operations and compliance, owners and users must provide a great deal of information to the teams, and in as much detail as possible. Scientific and operational protocols, regulatory requirements, incident response plans, and security paradigms are only a few of the items that need to be reviewed and coordinated prior to writing appropriate commissioning tests.
This presentation will outline what information is required by owners and users and how it is to be interpreted by the design team for incorporation into the construction documents and the commissioning plan.
Biography:
Tiffini Lovelace is a registered architect, laboratory planner, and containment specialist with more than 10 years of experience dedicated to research and diagnostics laboratories. Ms. Lovelace's experience includes a diverse range of public and private facilities that are committed to excellence and safeguarding public health through diagnostics, research, surveillance, and emergency response preparedness. Ms. Lovelace has led the programming and design effort on complex laboratories located throughout the world, bringing expertise in regulatory requirements (National Fire Protection Association, Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, National Institutes of Health, and U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research service, etc.) and a focused commitment to laboratory design. Ms. Lovelace is currently an integral part of The WorkingBuildings Companies' Pre-Certification Services and Operations Teams and works to ensure clients a smooth transition from construction to operations.