Containment, pressure cascades, validation
Commissioning software for laboratories where a pressure cascade a few pascals out fails the whole room.
Laboratories and research facilities depend on fume cupboards, containment and pressure cascades performing to a tolerance most buildings never need to consider, then proving it through a validation process before a single sample is handled. Deskely tracks each room, containment zone and piece of critical equipment against its own performance criteria, with validation evidence built in as it is generated.
- Unit
- Room, zone, containment tier
- Tolerance
- Pressure cascade, ACH
- Process
- Commissioning then validation
- Gate
- Qualified for occupancy
Choose your project type
The problem
Commissioning proves the system works; validation has to prove it separately, in writing.
Fume cupboards, biosafety cabinets, containment suites and clean spaces depend on precise air change rates, pressure cascades and face velocities, all interacting with each other across adjoining rooms.
A validation process then repeats much of the testing under its own protocol, and any gap between the commissioning record and the validation requirement becomes rework at the worst possible time.
Deskely defines room-level performance criteria once and structures both commissioning and validation evidence against the same room and equipment tags, so the two processes reference one dataset instead of two.
Setting up the register
Rooms, containment zones and critical equipment carry their own performance criteria.
Laboratories, containment suites, cleanrooms, fume cupboards, biosafety cabinets and specialist gas and vacuum services are tagged with the specific air change rate, pressure differential and face velocity criteria they must meet.
Adjoining rooms and their pressure relationships are modelled explicitly, since a cascade failure in one room is frequently caused by a change in an adjacent one.
Room data sheets, HVAC schedules and equipment specifications are parsed into that structure, so the pass/fail criteria used in testing come from the approved design rather than a technician's memory.
Execution
Pre-functional checks, functional testing and validation protocols share one evidence trail.
Pre-functional checks confirm installation of ductwork, dampers, controls and containment devices before functional testing measures air change rates, face velocities and pressure cascades against the room's defined criteria.
Fume cupboard and biosafety cabinet performance is tested and recorded against the specific unit, with results held against both the equipment tag and the room it serves.
Where a validation protocol repeats a test, it is executed against the same room and equipment record, so commissioning results and validation results are traceable to the same underlying data rather than duplicated by hand.
Handover and qualification
A room is qualified for occupancy when both commissioning and validation agree.
Room qualification certificates are issued from the combined commissioning and validation record set, with any deviation logged as a punch item against the room or the piece of equipment causing it.
The O&M and validation pack hands over containment performance history, alarm setpoints and calibration records together, which is what a research organisation's quality function will ask for at audit.
Ongoing periodic verification, once occupancy begins, references the same baseline data rather than starting a fresh testing programme from scratch.
How it runs
From shell space to a qualified laboratory.
Laboratory fit-outs are unforgiving of any gap between commissioning and validation, which is precisely the gap a shared register closes.
- 01
Define room performance criteria
Air change rate, pressure cascade and face velocity criteria tagged against every room and adjoining room from the approved design.
- 02
Register containment equipment
Fume cupboards, biosafety cabinets and containment devices tagged with their room and their performance specification.
- 03
Run functional and validation testing
Air change, pressure cascade and containment device performance tested and recorded against the same room and equipment tags used by validation.
- 04
Qualify room by room
Room qualification certificates issued from the combined commissioning and validation record set, with deviations tracked as punch.
FAQ
Questions about Laboratories and research facilities scopes.
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