Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 11th April 2024 Issue no. 1109
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Swiftclean welcomes changes to duct cleaning standard
Gary Nicholls, managing director of Swiftclean Building Services, and a member of the Building and Engineering Services Association (B&ES) Steering Committee responsible for TR/19, has welcomed its recently unveiled changes.
The new TR/19 (Second Edition 2013) guidance document: Internal Cleanliness of Ventilation Systems, brings TR/19 in line with both BSEN: 15780, which was published in November 2011, and BSRIA's BG49/2013 Commissioning of Air Systems guidance document.
"We now have a framework which classifies ventilation ductwork systems according to their use and sets out clearly the standard of cleanliness which they must meet at the start of their working life," says Gary.
"For the first time TR/19 spells out the requirement to hand over a ventilation system in a clean condition prior to commissioning. This is essential as in the past we have seen too many systems which evidently had too much mileage on the clock in terms of hygiene from the outset; something we would not accept in any more visible part of a building."
The new classifications, grade ventilation systems as high, medium or low; a high classification being for high quality offices, operating theatres, laboratories, clean rooms or anywhere that the operator feels requires a high degree of hygiene. Medium systems might be for offices, hotels, restaurants, schools, theatres, residential homes, etc. while a low classification system might serve rooms with only intermittent occupancy e.g. storage rooms or technical rooms, in which good air quality is still desirable, but its purity is less process critical.
"Keeping in mind the purpose of the system and how often it will need to be inspected and cleaned during its working lifetime, will also help designers to bear in mind that they must incorporate and install inspection doors which will aid ongoing maintenance - and therefore system efficiency - from the earliest stages of the design process," adds Gary. "Installers too, will now understand from TR/19 the condition in which they must hand over a new system for commissioning."
The new edition of TR/19 contains clearly laid out tables which will indicate to a building manager or a responsible person how frequently ventilation systems should be tested and cleaned in accordance with their purpose and classification. "This takes the guesswork out of keeping ventilation systems compliant with TR/19, and also with BSEN:15780 and BSRIA's BG49/2013 Commissioning of Air Systems guidance document," explains Gary. "As all three documents are now in agreement and deliver the same clear message on systems compliance, we hope and anticipate that the new guidance in TR/19, which is widely accepted as the leading guidance document in the industry, will help to encourage more appropriate standards of design, installation, commissioning and regular maintenance as a whole.
"Let's face it - the ventilation system is what carries the air that we breathe, so the management of good hygiene levels is essential.
For further information about achieving compliance to TR/19 guidelines, visit:
17th July 2014