New Healthcare Facility Design Standards for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi

The new standards set the requirements for health facility design and construction as well as the prequalification of healthcare design consultants.

The standards aim at improving medical outcomes and minimising errors caused by inappropriate healthcare facility design, and is a step towards improving the knowledge base for the health care industry.

The new standards are a comprehensive tool that all future Healthcare facilities as well as currently refurbished ones need to comply with to be licensed.

Adeeb Al Zaabi, Manager of Health Facility Licensing at HAAD, said: “All Healthcare design consultants who wish to design and submit projects for licensing applications will need to be pre-qualified in accordance with the standards. Owners and operators of Healthcare facilities will need to be familiar with the new standards as they engage consultants and embark on new projects.

The new standards provide in-depth information and ready-to-use standard components for the briefing and design of healthcare facilities at no cost.

The new standards are set out under 5 parts as follows:

• Part A- Administrative Provisions; outlines the licensing process for healthcare facilities and the prequalification process for design consultants
• Part B- Health Facility Briefing and Planning; includes architectural and healthcare facility planning Standards
• Part C- Ergonomics, Occupational Health and Safety; includes the over-riding requirements for access, mobility, OHS and security
• Part D- Infection Control; incorporates the requirements for infection prevention and control
• Part E- Building Services and Environmental Design; focuses on the engineering systems and environmental settings such as Temperature range, humidity control, etc…

“The standards will be used for the evaluation of applications for Healthcare Facility Licensing as well as Inspections. Some pre-existing International Standards have been referenced in these standards, however, the specific and unique requirements over-ride any other standards”, Al Zaabi added.

The new standards have been prepared by a team of specialists, drawing on their experience in creating such standards as well as information from around the world with specific customisation for the UAE. These are amongst the most detailed and comprehensive standards of their kind in the world.

Aladin Niazmand, Global Director of TAHPI, Health Facility Planning Specialist, said: These standards place emphasis on achieving Health Facilities that reflect current health care functions and procedures in a safe and appropriate environment. They represent patient focused, research based, modern and efficient planning principles.”

“The new standards provide invaluable knowledge in the most specialised area of Healthcare Briefing, Design and Construction. It is more than the typical proscriptive building regulation. It educates and guides, provides terminology and tools, offers ready-made standard components, encourages further innovation and It is locally aware and regionally sensitive”, he added.

The new HAAD health facility standards are available through HAAD website www.haad.ae/hfg. The standards will be periodically reviewed and updated to respond to new operational models of healthcare, technology and public expectation.