FEATURE
He explains that in the past, all fixtures had to be
provided with an anti-symphonic vent pipe, which
had to discharge above the roof. This system had the
advantage that even if you open the access lid, the
air in the piping moves up in the vent pipe and even
sucks the air into it to discharge it upwards and out of
the building. The hospital drainage system must have
these ventilation pipes to prevent contamination of
the building.
“This is just one solution, but there are a number of
other solutions such as special designed pipe ducts
which are ventilated. There are institutions that have
done extensive research and have found proof of the
contamination of the internal and external environment
of hospitals.
“To just wash hands is no longer a solution – we have
to go further,” he adds.
Vollie’s research
“I have been busy with research on hospital water
services such as the sanitary drainage system and
the hot- and cold-water systems. I always feel that
it is important to link any technical discussion to the
institutional situation and therefore if we talk about
the hospital water services, then we must link it to the
NBR, the Act, and what follows.”
The NBR is relevant for all buildings and therefore the
design drawings of all buildings must be submitted for
approval by the local Building Control Office (BCO). The
NBR, SANS10400, only contains a Part for Sanitary
Drainage and not a Part for Domestic Water.
The Sanitary Drainage Part, SANS10400-P, contains
seven regulations, namely P1 to P7 and these
regulations are compulsory. This part also contains
a number of ‘deem to satisfy’ rules, which are not
compulsory unless the owner wants to apply it
to comply with the seven regulations. There is no
requirement under the NBR to submit water drawings
for approval except for the fire water drawings and
therefore the BCO doesn’t accept building water
services drawings for approval.
“However, lately SANS10400-XA, which is a
standard on energy conservation, but has also been
promulgated as a regulation, requires the design and
installation of the hot water system to comply with it,”
says Brink.
He says his research on sanitary drainage of
hospitals has revealed interesting information and
also potentially dangerous situations in the existing
‘deem to satisfy’ rules design method. “There are a
number of new challenges in the design of hot water
generation and reticulation and I have found that
many designers are not aware of it and therefore their
design is not compliant.
January 2020 Volume 25 I Number 11
“A WHO investigation into the outbreak
[of SARS] later pinned the blame on
inadequate plumbing at the hotel. This
demonstrates how important plumbing is
to health, and especially hospitals.”
“I have found that important new information does
not get communicated to engineers. Saice (the South
African institute of Civil Engineers) has now established
a new Saice/SABS forum in an effort to get important
information to the engineers. These challenges relate to
the disease Legionella and the minimum temperatures
to combat Legionella. But there are also other new
requirements which relate to water conservation which
have not yet been promulgated which pose new design
challenges when promulgated,” says Brink.
“The present situation is that there is no specific
National Building Regulations for the design and
installation of hospital drainage and water systems.
The only solution is to have a ‘rational design’ for both
services and even use an international standard.”
drainage system when there is a blockage in the piping
inside and outside the building. This also happens
when the access lids are opened inside the building
to clear a blockage and the air in the piping escapes
out of the piping into the room and contaminates the
environment in the building,”says Brink.
53
Harscan Distributor owner,
Malcolm Harris.
SANS10252-1 is a Water Design Code of Practice
which was promulgated under the Water Act as a
regulation, but not applied by the BCO. This document
also does not contain a specific Hospital Water Design
section. There is a document, R158, which is used
for the design of hospitals but it only states that the
water services must be designed by an ‘experienced
engineer’.
“From my 65 years working, and mostly with design of
hospital services and also for a time involved with the
operation and maintenance of hospitals which included
all the services including steam, I fully agree that
hospital services must be designed by an ‘experienced’
engineer who is a professional registered engineer.
“I am also of the opinion that in future, the facilities
management (FM) operator must also become part
of the design team, but this is difficult as the FM is
usually not yet appointed during the design. I have also
found that when the FM is replaced the new FM has
other preferences.
“I have found on many projects that when one FM
company is replaced with another FM company that
in many cases the information such as drawings and
critical manuals with critical information gets lost.
The design engineers only have to keep drawings and
operation manuals for a certain period.
“I have always propagated, and have applied, what I
call a ‘Works Information Document’ which contains
all the design information and specifications including
standard details and a pro forma for quality assurance
for the installation, which is the responsibility of the
contractor but also guides him with regard to what is
required in terms of quality assurance,” says Brink.PA
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