I was asked to perform an inspection on a dental installation in April of this year. Upon arrival I found the following conditions:
The tubing was installed to the outlets.
Tubing was exposed and could be inspected.
Tubing was pressurized to 150+ PSI.
N2O and O2 were cross connected temporarily with a hose running between the DISS connection points of each system gas.
Installer was not present (could not check credentials or ask questions).
Labeling was not complete.
Alarm, valves, and gas supply sources were all category 2 typical "dental-type" equipment.
I asked the question to the GC for information about the owner. I was told it was an oral surgeon.
"Will general anesthesia be administered?" I inquired. I was hesitant to provide any reports. I asked the GC to provide a statement from the owner stating that no general anesthesia would be performed. I informed the GC as to why I was asking for this information.
A few days later I was sent a letter from the oral surgeon confirming that yes he was intending to administer general anesthesia.
I provided the GC with code references stating in part the following:
"15.1.1 Category 1 dental piped gas and piped vacuum system
requirements shall be applied in facilities where general anesthesia
and deep sedation is performed, as defined in 3.3.65.1
and 3.3.65.2." (2018 code reference)
I informed him that IMO the equipment and installation did not meet the requirements of current NFPA 99 requirements. I told him I would not perform further inspection or verification of the facility unless changes were made to the design. (Based on the layout of the facility I doubted this was possible.)
Emails were sent back and forth for about two weeks. Try as I might, I do not think I was able to convince him that the installation was not per the NFPA 99 code. After a week or so I thought he gave up/got someone else.
It was silent until a couple of days ago when he requested a report. (All was documented in prior emails.) I sent him another email today stating that there were significant issues with the system on the day of inspection. I listed these issues as bluntly as possible.
He wants a refund of the inspection fee and still does not think that an oral surgeon doing general anesthesia requires a category 1 (dental) system, in part because it is such a small facility.
In closing, I want to thank you for reading my 815 PM rant this evening. I would also like to ask if I missed something. Should I continue to email someone who clearly does not understand my POV? Reach out with suggestions or similar stories if you have them..
Thanks again,
Bob W.
