Utility areas

In order to easily and efficiently do their job, agency staff require sufficient access to carefully designed utility areas. These areas can, for example, provide a place for printing work, sending items out of the building, or to store various items. The following sections outline the requirements for these areas.

General requirements

• Situate utility areas away from the main work areas.
• Where possible, civil defence equipment and first aid supplies should be kept in the utility areas or kitchens.
• Use sound-absorbing wall coverings to dampen sound, protect wall surfaces and provide a pinnable surface for notices.
• Heavy equipment, such as network servers, printers, scanners and copiers, which are often equipped with wheels, should be anchored securely to improve safety.
• Cupboards and storage may be possible with mobile cabinets to allow for easy redesign and relocation.
• Partitioning around utility areas may not need to be full height.

Network communication rooms and riser cupboards

Ideally, your network communication rooms or riser cupboards should be located:

• away from public space
• away from any main building water pipes, ducts or hydraulics
• in a well-ventilated area that includes air vents to remove dust and air conditioning as required to keep the equipment within optimal operating conditions
• away from inter-tenancy walls
• within a securable structure, with two locked security doors requiring swipe-card access between the network communication room or riser cupboard and public area or inter-tenancy space
• centrally, to reduce cable runs.

The room or cupboard needs to be large enough to hold server racks, power management systems, additional cooling if required, cable management and site connection links.

The walls should be full height from concrete floor to concrete ceiling, lined with at least 9mm plywood on the inside. Access should be larger than standard – for example, double swing doors sufficiently secured. Flooring should be at least anti-static vinyl or better.

There shouldn't be any workstations within the network communication room or riser cupboard, regardless of the size of the space.

Access to the room or cupboard should be limited to authorised technical services staff or their authorised agents. Other staff should only be permitted entry when they are escorted by an authorised staff member. Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) requirements can be provided and fitted by the agency if required.

If your fire standards require water sprinklers, power will need to be able to be terminated and the UPS shut down before any water sprinklers are activated. Specific fire suppression requirements will need to be reviewed for specific sites.

Laboratory space and secure storage

If your organisation requires an area for equipment to be tested and built, it may need to include multiple power and data points, a bench-type work station and limited access security systems.