Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on Hygiene Management of Central Air-conditioning Ventilation Systems

• Document Number：Order No. 70 of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government
• Area of Law： Construction Industry
• Level of Authority： Local Government Rules
• Date issued：08-08-2011
• Status： Effective
• Issuing Authority： Shanghai Municipality

Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on Hygiene Management of Central Air-conditioning Ventilation Systems
(Promulgated by Decree No. 70 of Shanghai Municipal People's Government on August 8, 2011)
Article 1 (Purposes)
These Procedures are formulated with a view to strengthening the hygiene management of central air-conditioning ventilation systems in this Municipality, preventing and controlling the occurrence and prevalence of air-borne diseases, and safeguarding public health.
Article 2 (Application Scope)
These Procedures apply to the hygiene management of central air-conditioning ventilation systems in the following buildings within the administrative area of this Municipality:
1. commercial buildings including hotels, catering places, shopping centers, public bathrooms, sites of business operations of public utilities companies or financial institutions;
2. office buildings, including administrative buildings, commercial office buildings;
3. buildings for cultural, sport, and recreation activities, including museums, libraries, art galleries, memorial halls, science and technology museums, archives, gymnasiums, music halls, movie and opera houses, recreation halls, song and dance halls, and cyber cafés;
4. buildings for transportation purposes, including airports, railway stations, bus terminals, metro stations, and port terminals;
5. buildings for education and public health purposes, including schools and medical institutions;
6. residential buildings, including dwelling houses; and
7. other buildings for social and public activities.
Article 3 (Administrative Departments)
The municipal administrative department of public health is the competent administrative department responsible for supervising and managing the hygiene performance relating to the central air-conditioning ventilation systems of this Municipality.
The district/county administrative department of public health is responsible for supervising and managing the hygiene performance relating to the central air-conditioning ventilation systems within its jurisdictions.
The administrative departments of planning, land and resources, construction and communications, housing support and building administration, quality and technical supervision, transport and port, entry-exit inspection and quarantine, and railway shall accomplish the relevant administrative work within the scope of their respective duties.
Article 4 (Duties of the Administrative Department of Public Health)
The administrative department of public health shall perform the following duties:
1. to formulate the norms for hygiene management of central air-conditioning ventilation systems;
2. to administer hygiene examinations of the construction project's central air-conditioning ventilation systems as a preventive measure;
3. to organize and carry out the publicity and education activities to popularize the knowledge about preventing and controlling air-borne diseases;
4. to direct the establishment of hygiene management systems for central air-conditioning ventilation systems;
5. to provide information services regarding the hygiene management of central air-conditioning ventilation systems;
6. to monitor the hygienic condition of central air-conditioning ventilation systems; and
7. to perform other duties provided by the Municipal People's Government.
Article 5 (Industry Associations)
This Municipality shall encourage and support relevant industry associations in their role as a self-regulator, and in their efforts to enhance the industry's reputation, to publicize and popularize the knowledge about hygiene of central air-conditioning ventilation systems, and to promote the implementation of a hygiene management system thereof.
Article 6 (Hygiene Requirements for Designs)
When constructing, reconstructing, or expanding a central air-conditioning ventilation system, the development unit shall entrust a properly qualified designer unit to design the system according to the hygiene management standards for central air-conditioning ventilation systems, and use equipment and facilities of central air-conditioning ventilation systems that meet relevant quality provisions.
Article 7 (Submission of Hygienics Evaluation Reports)
The development unit shall comply with relevant provisions of the State and this Municipality and include, in its submissions during examination of its design documents and during the acceptance inspection of the project, information in the hygienic evaluation reports made upon completion of the design and upon the acceptance inspection regarding the central air-conditioning ventilation system. The hygienics evaluation report mentioned in the preceding clause shall be issued by a hygienics evaluation institution with competent professional and technical capabilities. Such capabilities shall be subject to examinations administered by the municipal administrative department of public health.
Article 8 (Requirements on Hygienics Evaluation Reports)
The hygienic evaluation institutions shall issue hygienics evaluation reports in accordance with relevant provisions of the State and this Municipality, and shall not issue falsified reports.
Article 9 (Requirements on Hygiene Management)
The owner of a central air-conditioning ventilation system or the professional management unit entrusted thereby (hereinafter jointly referred to as the "management unit") shall establish a management system of regular clean-ups and inspections of the central air-conditioning ventilation system, formulate a plan for handling emergencies, designate a managerial staff for the central air-conditioning ventilation system, and organize the training of its relevant employees regarding hygiene, so as to ensure that the hygienic quality of the central air-conditioning ventilation system meets the hygiene management standards.
Article 10 (Hygienic Requirements on Daily Operation of Equipment and Facilities)
The operation of the central air-conditioning ventilation system shall meet the following hygienic requirements:
1. The room of the air-conditioner shall be kept clean and dry;
2. The cooling (heating) coil pipes shall have no dust and mildew;
3. The condensate water plate shall have no leakage, corrosion, dirt, dust or mildew, and the drain pipe shall be kept unobstructed;
4. The inside of the cooling tower shall be kept clean, and routine water treatment operations, such as filtration, corrosion inhibition, scale inhibition, sterilization and algae removal, shall be satisfactorily completed;
5. The ductwork shall be kept intact, with its maintenance port ready for opening and normal use, and no wastes, animal bodies and excrements shall be left therein;
6. There shall be no dust, moisture, mildew in and near the vents of the fresh air ducts, the air-intake ducts, the return air ducts and the exhaust hoses, nor shall there be any dripping from the vents. The surrounding area shall be kept clean; and
7. There shall be no dirt, dust and mildew in the humidifiers and dehumidifiers, and the water source shall meet the requirements set forth in the Standards for Drinking Water Quality.
Article 11 (Registration and Report)
The municipal administrative department of public health shall establish a registration system for central air-conditioning ventilation systems.
The management units shall report about the use of central air-conditioning ventilation systems to the local district/county administrative department of public health within 60 days after such systems are completed and delivered for use.
Article 12 (Cleaning Requirements)
The management units shall have their central air-conditioning ventilation systems cleaned on a regular basis in accordance with the requirements set forth in the hygiene management standards for central air-conditioning ventilation systems.
The management units may do the cleaning by themselves or entrust the job to the professional cleaning agencies.
Article 13 (Hygienic Indicators in Daily Operation)
In the course of the operation of a central air-conditioning ventilation system, indicators such as the fresh air volume, carbon dioxide density, pathogenic microorganisms, total bacterial count, total fungus count, and the content of respirable particles and dust, shall meet the hygiene management standards for central air-conditioning ventilation systems.
Article 14 (Requirements of Periodic Tests)
Management units shall have the hygienic condition of central air-conditioning ventilation systems tested in accordance with the requirements of the hygiene management standards for central air-conditioning ventilation systems, and such testing shall be conducted at least once a year.
Management units shall entrust testing agencies with proper metrology accreditation to do the testing, and management units with proper metrology accreditation may do the testing on their own.
Article 15 (Actions to be Taken in Case of Unsatisfactory Test Results)
If the test results show that the pathogenic microorganisms indicator fails to meet the hygiene management standards for central air-conditioning ventilation systems, the management unit shall engage a professional cleaning agency to clean and sterilize the central air-conditioning ventilation system within three days upon receiving the test report, and see to it that the relevant hygienic standards are satisfied.
If the test results about the hygienic condition of a central air-conditioning ventilation system show that the total bacterial count, the total fungus count, or the dust content of the inner surface of ducts fail to meet the hygiene management standards for central air-conditioning ventilation systems, the management unit shall clean the central air-conditioning ventilation system on its own or engage a professional cleaner to do the same within 45 days after it receives the test report, and see to it that relevant hygienic standards are satisfied.
Article 16 (Emergency Hygienic Measures)
Where persons with an infectious disease or suspected to have an infectious disease are found in a building with a central air-conditioning ventilation system, thus making the spread of such disease probable, the administrative department of public health shall order the management unit to shut down the parts of the central air-conditioning ventilation system for the relevant areas, and sterilize such areas in accordance with the requirements of the disease prevention and control agency. Such parts may be put into use only after a hygienics evaluation finds them satisfactory.
Article 17 (Preventive Hygienic Measures)
When an air-borne disease breaks out or spreads, the management unit shall clean, sterilize or replace relevant equipment and facilities of the central air-conditioning ventilation system in operation, in accordance with the requirements of the State and this Municipality.
Article 18 (Filing of Records)
Each management unit shall establish a filing system for the hygiene management records of its central air-conditioning ventilation system, and such records shall include the following materials:
1. instructions by the designer of the central air-conditioning ventilation system, and documents regarding such system's acceptance inspection ;
2. records of employees' training, and records of maintenance, repair and on-spot inspection of equipment and facilities;
3. hygienics testing and evaluation reports; and
4. cleaning and sterilization records.
The hygiene management records shall be managed by specially-assigned persons, and shall be kept for not less than four years.
Article 19 (Supervision and Inspection)
The administrative departments of public health shall establish a supervision and management system, which shall include routine inspection, periodic selective examination, and key-point testing, and supervise the hygienic performance of central air-conditioning ventilation systems during their operation.
When an administrative department of public health finds in its supervision in accordance with the law that relevant indicators of a central air-conditioning ventilation system fail to satisfy the hygienic standards, it shall order the management unit to clean the system in accordance with the provisions of Article 15 of these Procedures.
Article 20 (Information Service)
The municipal administrative department of public health shall establish an information platform for the management of the hygienic services of central air-conditioning ventilation systems, and make public in a timely manner hygienic standards of central air-conditioning ventilation systems and information regarding hygiene supervision over them.
Article 21 (Social Supervision)
Any unit and individual may lodge a complaint with or report to relevant administrative department of public health regarding violations of these Procedures. The administrative department of public health shall immediately investigate and handle the case upon receiving such complaint or report, and duly make a reply.
Article 22 (Application of Other Laws)
Where other laws and regulations have provisions that impose penalties on violations of these Procedures, such provisions shall prevail.
Article 23 (Penalties for Failure to Meet the Requirements of Hygienics Evaluation, Cleaning or Testing)
In any one of the following cases, the administrative department of public health shall issue an order for rectification, give a warning, and may impose a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 30,000 yuan; where the case is serious, a fine of not less than 30,000 yuan but not more than 50,000 yuan may be imposed:
1. The hygienic evaluation institution, in violation of Article 8 of these Procedures, fails to issue a hygienics evaluation report in accordance with the provisions of the State and this Municipality, or falsifies such report;
2. The management unit, in violation of Clause 1 of Article 12 of these Procedures, fails to do regular cleaning in accordance with the hygiene management standards for central air-conditioning ventilation systems; or
3. The management unit, in violation of Clause 1 of Article 14 of these Procedures, fails to have a test of the hygienic condition of the central air-conditioning ventilation system in accordance with relevant provisions.
Article 24 (Penalties for Failures to Comply with the Hygienic Requirements on Routine Operation)
In any one of the following cases, the administrative department of public health shall give an order for rectification, and may impose a fine of not less than 3,000 yuan but not more than 10,000 yuan on the management unit; where the case is serious, a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 50,000 yuan may be imposed:
1. Failing to keep the inside of the cooling tower clean in violation of Item 4 of Article 10, or failing to satisfactorily perform the routine work of water treatment, including filtration, corrosion inhibition, scale inhibition, sterilization and algae removal;
2. Failing to comply with Item 5 of Article 10, leaving the ductwork damaged, rendering the maintenance port incapable of being opened or used normally, or allowing wastes, animal bodies and excrements to remain in the ductwork;
3.Failing to comply with Item 6 of Article 10, allowing dust, moisture, mildew to accumulate in or near the vents of the fresh air ducts, the air-intake ducts, the return air ducts or the exhaust hoses, or allowing any dripping from the vents, or failing to keep the surrounding area clean; or
4. The water source fails to meet Standards for Drinking Water Quality in violation of Item 7 of Article 10.
Article 25 (Penalties for Failure to Clean When the Hygienic Standards Are Not Met)
If the management unit fails to do the required cleaning and sterilizing in violation of the provisions of Article 15 of these Procedures when the test results indicate that pathogenic microorganisms, total bacterial count, total fungus count or dust content on the inner surface of ducts fails to satisfy the hygiene management standards for central air-conditioning ventilation systems, the administrative department of public health shall issue an order for rectification, give a warning, and may impose a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 50,000 yuan; where the case is serious, a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 100,000 yuan may be imposed, and the case may be put on public notice.
Article 26 (Definition of "Central Air-conditioning Ventilation System")
"Central air-conditioning ventilation system" mentioned in these Procedures refers to the sum of all equipment, pipes, accessories, instruments and meters that are involved in centralized air treatment, transmission and allocation to ensure that set requirements and other parameters are met regarding air temperature, humidity, cleanliness, and air velocity in rooms and enclosed spaces.
Article 27 (Effective Date)
These Procedures shall be effective as of December 1, 2011.
With respect to central air-conditioning ventilation systems that have been put into use before the implementation of these Procedures, the management units shall report to the local district/county administrative department of public health about their use within 60 days from the effective date of these Procedures.