FEATURES
Any company concerned with its governance would in
any case have such a policy, given most companies
today would like to achieve some form of ‘green’
rating. Given the poor level of enforcement in South
Africa, this is mostly voluntary. “When undertaking such
work for a company, what governs the quality of the
work is the client’s own values and priorities, typically
larger companies which ensure their lab design is best
practice. It’s a growing trend that companies represent
themselves as having a minimal environmental impact,
so that in turn their products can be marketed as eco-
friendly. A company could go for PVC and no-one would
be any the wiser – opting for environmentally friendly
materials is a voluntary practice.
“In dealing with clients for a new development, we
always offer them the option of neutralisation when
discussing the design of their plan for wastewater. It
is important to know where the waste will be going,
and whether the material will be compatible – and
typically at this point the client will reveal they have no
A summary of the law
as it applies
By By D.S. Brink Pr. Eng. 16-08-2019
1. THE INSTITUTIONAL SITUATION:
1. ‘Any’ building with all its services, including
the water services, must comply with the
National Building Regulations (NBR).
2. The building water services consist basically
of the drainage of effluent and supply and
reticulation of water systems.
3. There are various types of laboratories which
range from educational, industrial, medical
and testing, but most require water and
drainage installations.
4. The abovementioned services are not very
different from any common building water
service except that the fixtures, furniture,
equipment and materials used must be
suitable to convey the specific effluent and
water used in the specific laboratory.
5. The design of a laboratory is primarily the
responsibility of the architect in terms of
the NBR, complete with special fixtures and
furniture which require water and drainage.
6. The design is specialist work by a specialist
architect and specialist engineers, and it can
only be by means of a ‘rational design’, which
requires it to be by a competent person and
a competent person in terms of Form 2 is a
professional registered engineer, architect, or
scientist and in terms of the Engineering Act,
October 2019 Volume 25 I Number 8
knowledge of these specialised pipes. This requires
an education process regarding the pipes, their
specifications and costing, at which point the client
would determine whether their costing would allow for
it,” says Laridon. If their budget allows, he explains, they
would generally go for it and make it their standard in
future developments.
EC Laridon has a specialised installation team, who are
not plumbers except for one licensed plumber – as the
system requires a plumber to connect it to the general
water system. “A neutralisation system will require a
COC. Our internal work that runs through our furniture
is far simpler where we connect to provided points.
However, contractors will use actual plumbers to install
the pipes that are routed through the
building, underground, under slabs, as well as the
neutralisation system.”
Another trend in laboratory design, he says, lies
in increased safety. Laboratories are dangerous
environments, requiring readily accessible eye washers
and full safety shower facilities, but also the highest
quality of taps and fittings with are quick, easy rotation
– thereby less distracting in the effort required to
revolve. “To operate, a lab has to meet certain rigorous
occupational health and safety requirements dictated by
the Department of Labour.
Act for Architects and Act for Scientists.
stored in a sump and treated with something like sodium
hydroxide. Once it has reached the pH of seven, it can
be carted away by a waste company like EnviroServe.
If a company does not neutralise its wastewater before
it is taken away, the company bears all the risk of any
subsequent personal injury or damage incurred.”
59
Vollie Brink, design engineer
and regular contributor of the
Dear Mr Plumber column in
Plumbing Africa.
drainage of the effluent.
7. There are no specific regulations or rules for
the design and installation of laboratories in
the National Building Regulations (NBR). 13. The design and completed installation must
be approved by an approved authority and
certified as compliant.
8. SANS 10400-Part P only address the drainage
of housing and office buildings in detail and
with a set of performance regulations (P1 to
P7 in annexure A and B). 14. The type of piping, material and quality for the
specific water and drainage is ‘very, very, very’
important.
9. There are no formal water regulations in the
NBR, but SANS10252-1 is used for design of
water systems or the Engineer doing a rational
design may use international norms and
standards. There are international standards
for laboratories.
10. The most important elements of the water and
drainage systems are the following:
- The water supply from the water supply
authority must be protected by means of
‘backflow prevention devices’ to prevent
contamination of the water supply of the
water authority.
- The hot water system must comply with
SANS 10254 and SANS 10252-1 and
SANS10400-XA and the latest water and
energy conservation standards.
- Most of the laboratories require emergency
showers and other emergency equipment.
- The drainage system must de designed to
comply with SANS10400-P, P7 and the local
by-laws, if any exist.
15. Compliance with the Institutional
requirements (relevant Acts and Regulations)
are extremely important.
16. Water tightness of piping and piping joints
and the manufacturer’s requirements must be
followed.
17. Strict quality assurance must be applied with
certification and guarantees.
18. Quality assurance must be applied by a
third party.
19. There are various levels of hazard for the
various types of laboratories. This must be
addressed, and the piping material and
fixtures must be suitable and usually specified
by the design team.
20. In most cases the equipment, fixtures and
furniture are provided for the plumber to
install only.
11. The overall design, installation and operation
must comply with the relevant parts of the
Health and Safety Act. 21. The most important element is ‘safety’ and to
realise that a laboratory is a special type of
building and needs special competent design
and construction or installation and safety
is a high priority during installation and for
operation after completion.
12. It is critically important that fixtures, furniture
equipment and piping is compatible and
suitable for the quality of the water and the 22. Environmental issues are also very important.
The Act states very clearly that ‘the polluter
shall pay’. PA
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