The design of a health care facility requires engineers to “place the public welfare above all other considerations,” as defined by the engineer’s creed. While this is equally important in the design of every project, health care facilities are unique in that patients and medical staff with a wide variety of age, health, and physical ability are brought together into a common environment.

Because occupants of hospitals are immunocompromised or are heavily reliant on others for care, these facilities require a focus on life safety, system reliability, infection control and
many other considerations that may not be present in other facilities.

There are many codes and standards that engineers of health care facilities use to establish minimum requirements for the design including NFPA 99: Health Care Facilities Code, ASHRAE 170: Ventilation of Health Care Facilities and state hospital licensing regulations.

In a recent article for Consulting-Specifying Engineer, Matt Short, PE, explores what scope is covered by NFPA 99 in hospital design; highlights requirements within NFPA 99 that are misunderstood or misapplied during design; and discusses options engineering teams have when encountering these challenges. (The article begins on page 22.)

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