New guy here, first post.
Per 2018 NFPA 99 para 1.3 Application:
This Code shall apply to all health care facilities other than home care and veterinary care.
This is the only use of the word "Veterinary" in NFPA 99. I can find no AHJ type of criteria requiring separation of these two systems. Spoke to one of our local Third Party Certifiers, and they were also not aware of any rulings disallowing this interconnection.
Did some googling, and about the only references I can find are specific-institution requirements.
MD Anderson (a nationwide health care provider) does not allow it.
LSY (a major Architectural firm on the east coast with major Health Care projects) does not allow it.
The VA (Veterans Administration) Plumbing Design Manual does not allow it.
A client we are working with wants to combine these systems to save costs; and I can find no AHJ requirements to disallow their inclination. Note that there Veterinary Service already uses a WAGD system, as do the other Med Vacuum user areas, so that issue is not a concern.
In general, this sounds like a bad idea, regardless that it is not specifically disallowed. NFPA has not allowed combined Dental/Medical vacuum for years. This combined Veterinary/Medical vacuum seems similar enough to also be not allowed.
Comments welcome.
Hi Mitch:
Our state licensing of health care facilities would not allow a non-health care facility use of a health care facility's medical gas system including vacuum systems because the state health care facility licensing agent has no enforcement authority in non-health care facilities to ensure the performance, maintenance, installation and testing of the portion of the system in the non-health care facility are in accordance with NFPA 99 for the protection and safety of the patients in the licensed health care facility.
You are correct NFPA 99 does not apply to non-health care facilities. It is the AHJ that administers and enforces the code not NFPA.
You may get approval from the local AHJ for the connection but highly improbable at the state and federal AHJ level.
Excerpt from 2018 NFPA 99:
Respectfully,
Milt Werner