Sector
Healthcare
MEP design for primary care, dental and clinical premises, designed to the relevant Health Technical Memoranda.
OVERVIEW
Healthcare services design is governed by the Health Technical Memoranda and Health Building Notes, which are considerably more prescriptive than the general Building Regulations and which set requirements for ventilation, water safety, electrical resilience and medical gases.
The compliance burden is real and the documents are specific, which makes early confirmation of which HTMs apply to a given premises the single most useful thing to establish at the outset.
DESIGN
What drives the design
Ventilation to HTM 03-01
Specialist ventilation requirements apply to treatment and clinical areas, with defined air change rates, pressure regimes and validation requirements.
Water safety to HTM 04-01
Healthcare water systems carry a higher duty than ACOP L8 alone, with augmented control measures and a written water safety plan.
Electrical resilience to HTM 06-01
Supply resilience and safety services are defined by the criticality of the clinical activity rather than chosen by the designer.
REGULATION
Statutory and guidance documents
Scotland and England take different statutory routes. Where a document applies to one and not the other, it says so.
- HTM 03-01Specialised ventilation for healthcare premisesUK-wide
- HTM 04-01Safe water in healthcare premisesUK-wide
- HTM 06-01Electrical services supply and distributionUK-wide
- SHTMScottish Health Technical MemorandaScotland
- BS 7671:2018+A4:2026Requirements for Electrical Installations, including medical locationsUK-wide
SCOPE
Typical scope in this sector
- Primary care and health centre MEP design
- Clinical room ventilation
- Water safety plan input
- Electrical resilience and safety services
- Medical gas coordination where required
SERVICES