Standards Development

Scope

Standardization in the field of laboratory design including site selection and design planning, the functional division of experimental areas, the determination of scientific and technological processes, layouts and design of furniture, and the scientific design of the facility taking into account environmental conditions and impact.

Excluded:

• IEC/TC 64 (Electrical installations and protection against electric shock);

• IEC/TC 81 (Lightning protection);

• IEC/TC 66 (Safety of measuring, control and laboratory equipment);

• IEC/TC 85 (Measuring equipment for electrical and electromagnetic quantities).

Once the new TC is established, liaisons with other relevant ISO technical committees will be established, including ISO/TC 48（laboratory equipment）, ISO/TC 212 （Clinical laboratory testing and in vitro diagnostic test systems）and CASCO as well as relevant IEC technical committees (IEC/TC 45(Nuclear instrumentation), IEC/TC 62 (Electrical equipment in medical practice), IEC/TC 65 (Industrial-process measurement, control and automation), IEC/TC 76 (Optical radiation safety and laser equipment) and IEC/TC 104 (Environmental conditions, classification and methods of test).

Note: the TC will support the contribution of the laboratory design industry to UN Sustainable Development Goals and enable countries to address a wide range of global issues including eradication of hunger and poverty, health, climate change and economic development.

Purpose

The new TC will stipulate technical design requirements for a diverse range of laboratories with different functions and responsibilities. It will include, but not limited to:

1. site selection and design planning;

2. layouts and design of furniture (e.g workbenches, fume hoods, safety showers, biological safety cabinets, etc);

3. electrical, water and gas supply systems, drainage, fire prevention, HVAC, auto-control and decoration;

4. laboratories featuring bio-safety, constant temperature and humidity, and other special laboratories;

5. laboratory safety, staff health, environmental protection, and energy saving;

6. Smart laboratory (use of new technologies such as big data, cloud computing, block chain, etc. to empower laboratories, e.g. increase the depth and width of services provided to clients, improve the servicing level during the consulting, design and maintenance phases.).

Initial Work Programme over 3 to 5 years will develop and prepare common design requirements for different types of laboratories and submit international standards (IS): “General Specification of Technical Requirements for Laboratory Design” and “Technical Requirements for Smart Laboratory Design”.

The programme will:

a. build the framework for drafting “General Specification of Technical Requirements for Laboratory Design”;

b. classify laboratory types and define terminology;

c. clarify the principles of laboratory design requirements for various disciplines and acceptance requirements of laboratory functions;

d. clarify the technical design requirements for laboratories utilizing digital technologies for building management and environmental control;

e. prepare IS “General Specification of Technical Requirements for Laboratory Design”;

f. prepare IS “Technical Requirements for Smart Laboratory Design”.

Based on categorization of laboratory types and framework of the “Technical Requirements of Laboratory Design”, future Work Programme over a period of 3 to 5 years will develop the technical requirements for design of various types of laboratories, e.g. food and agricultural product, medical, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, university etc.