Whether you are building a new facility, renovating, or adding on to an existing laboratory, equipment planning is an essential tool for the success of your project. Equipment planning services range from project to project but typically manage all equipment documentation, details, and requirements for existing and new equipment that will comprise the future facility. The inherent value of the process was first widely recognized and successfully utilized in facility planning for the healthcare industry and is now a part of many forensic projects. With an ever expanding array of new technologies in laboratories of all types, equipment planning for the laboratory community is a growing demand. This article will define the process and explain how your forensic facility can benefit from this value-added service.

THE EQUIPMENT
Scientific equipment for forensics has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years, merging multiple advanced technologies with the latest and greatest of new scientific discovery methods. Much of this equipment has specific operational tolerances and requires forethought for the design and construction of its environment. It is the equipment planner’s responsibility to monitor and understand these requirements to help design more efficient, sustainable, and optimized facilities.

Laboratory equipment (existing, new, and future) greatly affects a facility’s structure. The extents include anything from additional foundation requirements and structural framing for vibration control to specialized shielding or mechanical, electrical, and plumbing requirements for the correct and safe installation of equipment. Having timely equipment information minimizes the risk of costlyredesigns and missed schedules.

When planning for a new forensic facility, it is never too soon to schedule this service as part of your project. Ideally, the effort begins as soon as possible to allow the equipment planner to stay ahead of the facility design. This ensures that sufficient equipment information is available when needed by the rest of the design team.